Page 77 of Roleplay at Randy's
I huff out a sigh and pull the last of the waffles, unplugging the maker and pushing it back on the counter. “I’m sorry.”
Her brows fly up and so do her hands. “Don’t apologize. My brother got laid; I’m happy for him. I just happened to go to the bathroom around the time you were getting railed.”
Thank fuck she doesn’t know there weremanyrailings going on last night. Elias’ stamina is something else.
“Why assume it was me?” Eliashadexpressed a possible interest in bottoming, and while I’ve never topped anyone, I’d do it in a heartbeat if he asked.
“You’re cute, but I don’t think my brother would be shouting his own name.” She pinches her lips in a frown. “I think I need to bleach my brain.”
I think I like Miya. Fuck, I think I like this whole family.
A sharp sting hits me in the chest, and I rub my knuckles across it as if it would ease the ache.
“You’re lucky the two of you fit together so well.”
A bundle of nerves has taken root in my stomach, and I busy myself with separating the waffles onto plates. “What do you mean?”
“Roxy and I clashed right out the gate.” Miya snickers and takes her offered breakfast. “I had moved to California to pursue classical music—violin—and she heard me playing on the street outside where her derby team practices. Let’s say she was less than impressed.”
Her pursed expression tells me that’s an understatement.
“Is that what you do, then? Classical music?”
That makes her laugh. “Oh god, no. Roxy set my ass straight. By day, I’m a small business graphic designer. By night, I still play my violin but it’s much more grunge now.”
I did not know anything you did with a violin could be ‘grunge’.
“Ei used to play, too, but he never had the passion I did.”
“That’s right, he mentioned a band in college.”
Miya’s face falls, and she focuses on stuffing her face. “Yeah …” Once her throat is clear, she taps her fork on the counter. “It made him happy, and it was sort of his version of rebellion. See, our parents, while born and raised here, still hold a lot of traditional values. Music was one of their ways of keeping us connected to our culture, and while I never minded it—enjoyed it even—Ei hated every second of it. The rigidness, the rules. At the first chance he got, he threw all of that out the window.”
She turns to look at me, and there’s a deep sorrow in her eyes. “He picked up the bass strictly because it was so far from the stuffy shit we grew up with. It was his ultimate ‘fuck you’ to our parents … until it wasn’t. He fell in love with that thing. Played non-stop. Come to find out he was equally head over heels for his band mate.”
That’swhere the sour look comes from. “You mean Calum’s mom, right?”
Miya doesn’t even attempt to hide her scowl. “Egg donor is more like it,” she grumbles. “They both made that bed, and I love Cal more than life itself, don’t get me wrong, but … How do you leave a kid like that? How do you abandon your own child?”
Bile rises in my throat, and the food suddenly looks inedible. “Parenthood isn’t for everyone.”
“But she could havetried.To be in any part of Cal’s life. I know Ei called her when Cal got his diagnosis, as a courtesy, and she still saidnothing. Just a ‘thanks for the heads up’, and he hasn’t heard from her again. It’s fucking selfish and immature.”
“It’s a good thing she isn’t here, then,” I snap, bracing my hands on the counter top. “Cal doesn’t need someone like that raising him. He needs Lee. Life wouldn’t have magically been better or easier if she’d stuck around.”
“It could have taken the burden off of my brother.”
“Your brother doesn’t feel burdened.” I hate the gross taste in my mouth at the insinuation. “He wanted Cal. Still wants him. With or without help. He gave her an out. She took it. It might suck to think about, but believe me when I tell you that the last thing in the world you want is a parent who is on the fence about their child. It never ends well. For anyone.”
I haven’t spoken to my own parents since the day I left home. No contact and never looked back.
“Sounds like I struck a nerve.”
“I’m a gay trans man. I hit the parental disappointment and emotional abandonment jackpot.” My smile is supposed to be reassuring, but if it’s anything like the rueful nest in my chest, I’m sure it misses the mark.
Her eyes soften, and suddenly the resemblance between her and Lee is striking. It’s more than just their dark hair and dark eyes. It’s their demeanor. That gentle contemplation weaved with a surreal kindness.
“I care very much about your brother.” I swallow around a lump in my throat. “Cal too. He doesn’t deserve to have someone coming in and out of his life all wishy-washy with their feelings. Stability and routine are really important for autistic children.”
