Page 50 of A Case of You
“Come on. Let’s get this over with.”
He climbed out and waited at the front of the car for Stuart to join him. He knew the chances were slim of some gang of corn rustlers coming along and robbing their car, but he hit the door lock on the key fob anyway before slipping it into his jacket pocket and following Stuart up the yard and to the front door.
* * * *
Stuart was beginning to regret this. The closer they approached his parents’ house, the tighter his stomach felt, wound dangerously taut, pain setting in.
Familiar pain he hadn’t recognized, at first.
Until he realized it was something he’d nearly always felt, to some degree, when he’d lived here in Iowa. Since his teenaged years when he realized he was gay, what it meant, and that it also meant he couldn’t come out to his family while he was living under their roof and within Jake’s punching distance.
Despite Brandon’s comforting presence to his left, he still wanted to turn tail and run.
He forced himself to walk up to the front porch, open the storm door, and knock on the wooden door, knowing the doorbell didn’t work and doubting it’d been fixed since he’d last been there, considering it had never in his memory ever worked.
The one time he’d offered to fix it, after getting his vo-tech training, his father had almost angrily brushed off the suggestion.
Stuart hadn’t offered again.
When he stepped down and let the storm door swing shut on its wheezy pneumatic arm, Brandon’s fingers brushed the back of Stuart’s left elbow before falling away. Comforting without uncomfortably smothering him with physical affection.
The man’s a genius.
He heard footsteps and it was his mom who opened the front door. Her eyes widened. “Stu!” She called over her shoulder. “Carl, it’s Stu! Get down here.” She shoved the storm door open and reached out to hug him.
Only when she leaned back and was going to wave him inside did she seem to notice Brandon standing there, holding the storm door open.
Her gaze swept him up and down. “Hi.”
Brandon offered a charming, handsome smile. “Hello, Mrs. Powell.”
Stuart cursed himself for his stupidity. “Mom, this is Brandon Ziegler. My husband.”
He was prepared for her to continue the pointless argument that Brandon wasn’t his husband. She pleasantly surprised him with a too-tight smile, but a smile nonetheless. “Nice to meet you, Brandon. Won’t you come in?”
Stuart let out a sigh of relief. Polite voice. That meant she wasn’t exactly happy, but she wouldn’t be rude.
He’d take it as a win.
He heard his father trudging down the stairs as they walked back toward the kitchen after hanging up their jackets in the entry. “Ellen, what’d you yell?”
“It’s Stu, Carl. Put in your dang hearing aids.”
“I need new batteries.” They came face-to-face with him at the bottom of the stairs. Stuart was surprised to see Brandon stood at least two inches taller than his dad, who was a little taller than Stuart.
Somehow, he’d had it in his mind that his father would be…taller.
Brandon took point and extended his hand with a smile. “Mr. Powell, Brandon Ziegler. Nice to meet you.”
Stuart wasn’t sure his dad would shake with him, at first, until he finally took Brandon’s hand. “Nice to meet you. Carl.”
“Thank you, Carl.”
His dad scratched at the back of his neck. He’d obviously shaved that morning, and looked like his mom had made him get a haircut in the past day or two. “We’re having lunch in a minute. BLTs, if y’ant some.”
Brandon touched the back of Stuart’s arm again, gently prodding him forward. “Thank you very much, we’d love that.”
Stuart waited for his dad to follow his mom, who’d already gone ahead. When Stuart glanced back, Brandon dropped him a wink that hardened his cock right there.
