Page 67 of Hello Forever
“Don’tsay…”
“Douche,” Scotty interjected. “I know. Just answer thequestion.”
I tried to hide my smile behind my coffee mug, but it wasn’t easy. Man, Scotty killed me. What agreatkid.
“There are just some people in the world who don’t think it’s okay for a guy to have a boyfriend. I don’t have a better explanation than that. Because thereisn’tone.”
“Dad didn’tlikeAxel?”
“Dad didn’t evenknowAxel. He just hated the idea of Axel and I together. See, Axel and I were friends in Ohio. And then I didn’t see him for a long time…” Cax turned his head to give me a little smile. “But then he moved here to work for the athletic department. And when Dad saw him that day I had the headache, he kind offlippedout.”
“Notkind of,” Scotty scoffed. “He had a major freakattack.”
“Yeah, and I’m sorry,” Cax said softly. “It’s not what I wanted for you.OrAxel.”
Scotty made a grumpy noise in his throat. “Is it awful that I’m glad he’s gone and you’re here? There’s no one screaming at usanymore.”
I saw Cax close his eyes. He leaned back on the sofa, his little brother’s head resting against his shoulder. “You aren’t awful, Scotty. You could never beawful.”
We were all quiet for a minute. I sipped my coffee, feeling self-conscious. But Cax’s hand reached across the sofa, finding the fingers of my broken arm where they protruded from my cast. He held themgently.
“Cax?” Scottyasked.
“Yeah?”
“Would now be a good time to ask you if I could watch the newest Avengers movie? It just hitNetflix.”
Cax chuckled. “Sure, kid. Turniton.”
Scotty pointed the remote at the TV and began to click around, looking for his movie. When he found it, Cax let go of my hand and stood. “You need anything?” heaskedme.
I shookmyhead.
“I’m going to try to talk to Jared.” He walked behind the sofa, then paused, his hand inmyhair.
“Cool,” Scotty said, his eyes on the fight scene that opened themovie.
Cax leaned down and placed a silent kiss on the top of my head. Then he lefttheroom.
“Who’s your favorite Avenger?” Scottyasked.
It took me a second to realize that I was the target of the question, because the kid’s eyes never left the screen. “Thor,” I saidquickly.
“Not Iron Man?Really?Why?”
“I like his, um, hammer,” I said, then inwardly snickered. Thor was my favorite because I wanted to lick Chris Hemsworth’s sixpack. But the kid didn’t need toknowthat.
“Cool,” Scotty said, his small face pointed right at thescreen.
I took another sip of coffee while the movie lit the room. A surprising contentment settled over me, and even Scotty gave ahappysigh.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Cax
Iknockedon Jared’s door, but there was noresponse.
Typical.
