Page 11 of The Amazing Alpha Tau Fratmas Experience
He sighed and dragged his feet as he closed the space between us.
I hauled him into an embrace. It was like trying to hug a porcupine. “No, it’s not fair that you get opportunities I don’t because of who your daddy is and because you’re rich and white. And you know what? It pisses me off too, but that’s not onyou, okay?”
“It’s dumb,” he muttered into my shoulder.
“No, what would be dumb is if you didn’t grab every one of those opportunities with both hands. Because you know that ifyou don’t, there’ll be a dozen other mediocre white boys ready to take your place.”
Scout pulled back and arched an outraged eyebrow at me. “You didnotjust call me mediocre.”
“Baby,” I said, fake innocence honeying my tone, “I’m just calling it like I see it.”
It could have gone either way, but Scout rose to the occasion and snorted out a laugh. “Asshole.”
Some of the tension left his frame, so I took a chance and said, “So, Christ?—”
“I alreadysaidI’m fine,” he said. “I’m not going to crash your family Christmas.”
And just like that, his spine was rigid again and I could see those walls starting to go up.
“Baby,” I said. “You know you’d be welcome.”
Scout rolled his eyes at me and moved out of my embrace. He stalked back to his suitcase. “I already said no, Trey.”
“What?” I asked. “You’re saying you’d turn down the chance to come and try Momma’s Christmas turkey? And get given two different types of festive-scented bodywash from the Dollar Tree that come out of her emergency ‘guests we weren’t expecting but turned up anyway’ stash?”
He didn’t laugh this time. He shot me a sour look instead. “I’m staying here,” he said and closed his suitcase with a finality that told me this conversation was over. “It’sfine.”
It rankled that he was being so stubborn over this, but I didn’t know what else I’d expected, honestly. Scout hated anyone feeling sorry for him, even though that wasn’t what this was—not even a little bit. He really did think I was inviting him just because he had nowhere else to go, not because I might actually love the chance to spend Christmas with him, and I knew there was nothing I could say to convince him otherwise. It might have been nice to think he wanted to spend Christmaswith me too. But instead he was playing the martyr, and we were both missing out on what could have been something special.
“Fine,” I said. “Enjoy your sad boy Christmas.”
“Calling me a sad boy would imply I have emotions, so fuck you,” Scout said.
“I mean I would normally take you up on that offer, but your suitcase is on the bed,” I said, “so no.”
On another day, admittedly one where hell had frozen over, Scout might have taken that as a joke. But I’d known he wouldn’t, even before I said it. I said it anyway, though, because he’d hurt me first. I wasn’t proud of it, but there it was.
Scout shot me with a look that was meant to murder, but if he had any scathing reply to go with that look, I didn’t hear it. I was out the door before he could reply.
Marty was digging around in the refrigerator for leftover pizza when I went into the kitchen in desperate need of a beer.
“Hey,” he said around a mouthful of pepperoni. “Did you fix Scout?”
I let out a long, guilty breath. “No, I think I made it worse.”
“Youmade it worse?” he clarified. “You, and not him?”
“Me,” I admitted and told him what had happened.
Marty chewed his way through an entire piece of pizza while he ruminated on what I’d said, and then he punched me in the shoulder, grinned, and said something that he probably meant to be reassuring but had me low-key terrified. “Leave it to me, bro. I got this.”
CHAPTER THREE
SCOUT
Iwoke up alone. I had a half memory of Trey slipping out of bed earlier and saying something about having shit to organize, so at least I knew he wasn’t actively avoiding me. I couldn’t decide if I was feeling better or worse about the whole Christmas thing today.
Better, because I hated keeping secrets from Trey, even though him knowing the situation had him looking at me like I was the last puppy at the shelter.
