“He came home one day his senior year in a horrible mood. He’s so easygoing we almost never see him mad, but that day—”
“I was pissed.” He had been.
His mom picked up the story again. “I asked him what happened, and he said there was a boy at his school who they found out was gay—Gavin, great boy. I’d never heard of him at the time, though. He wasn’t someone that Braden spent time with.”
“He was in the band,” Braden told Wes.
“He was a shy kid, but so sweet. Everyone was giving him a hard time when they found out, though, Braden’s friends included, teasing him and such. So I asked Braden what he did, and he looked me in the eye, shrugged and said, ‘Asked him to prom.’ I won’t say I wasn’t worried. His father and I told him that, too. There are a bunch of—excuse my language, but...ignorant assholes out there. I was worried that he didn’t know what he was doing, or that he’d done that just for Gavin. But he told me, sat me down and told me, ‘I like boys, too, Ma.
“That was all we needed to know. Sure we were still worried, but we were proud as hell of him at the same time. The school fought him, but he took that boy to prom. I don’t know how he realized it, but he knew that if he accepted Gavin, others would, too. Gavin never hung out with Braden when he was with his friends—too different—but they accepted him because Braden did. They accepted Braden with a boyfriend, and they never gave Gavin trouble after that. Bless his heart. It wasn’t as if that poor boy didn’t have enough to deal with.”
Braden tugged Wes’s hand and Wes leaned over him. “See? You landed yourself a pretty incredible man.” He winked and Wes smiled. He’d never get enough of that smile.
***
“A conceited man.” Wes shook his head but kissed Braden on the forehead before sitting up again.
“I didn’t know Braden had a boyfriend in high school.” He looked at Braden’s family, fully knowing where Braden got his traits from. They were good people, good people who loved their family unconditionally. He was honored to be there with them.
“High school and after. The dummy moved halfway across the United States with him after graduation,” Bill grumbled.
Whoa. He didn’t know that. Not that it mattered, but he didn’t expect it.
“Oh, Bill. Stop it.” Emmy smacked his leg. “Gavin is a good man, and it wasn’t halfway across the United States.”
“I never said he wasn’t, I just always knew he wasn’t the one for Braden. Don’t pretend you didn’t, either.”
“Okay, I’m thinking that’s about enough of the Family Braden Hour. I went, I had fun. It wasn’t just for Gavin. You knew I never wanted to stay around here after school, Dad. That just wasn’t my thing. I always planned on exploring.”
“Here we go again,” Lizzy groaned.
So this was obviously a conversation they’d had before, and as much as Wes probably should agree with Braden and want them to stop, curiosity nagged at him.
“You have to admit, the way you did it wasn’t the best way, Brady. You came to us after graduation and said you were leaving in a couple days. I get it. I understand what Gavin was going through, and I know you. That’s what you do. When someone needs you, you’re there. You jump right in and do whatever they need, even if it’s not what’s best for you. You’ve always been the first to make sacrifices like that, because you have this strong sense of honor. But you know it hurt us, too. And you know deep down you made yourself think you cared about Gavin more than you did, because he always felt like he needed you.”
With each word that Emmy spoke, Wes’s gut sank deeper.
Braden’s vow from earlier slammed into Wes. That’s not me. I don’t walk away. I won’t leave you.
Was he with Wes because he wanted to be, or because that’s just who Braden was? From the beginning, he’d been the first one try and help Wes out—because of what? The sense of honor that his parents spoke of? Because from the way they made it sound, that’s the way he’d been with Gavin, too.
“There’s more to the story than you guys know, and that’s all I’m going to say about it.” There was finality in Braden’s voice that Wes had never heard from him before.
The family went on talking about other things, but Wes’s mind was still on what he’d heard. He head a heaviness in his chest that he’d thought long gone since things with he and Braden had gotten more serious.
Alexander had fallen out of love with him, yet stayed out of responsibility before just walking out one day, the same way his father had walked out on his mom. Not that Braden was in love with him—those words had never left his mouth—yet he’d stayed, stuck around, brought Wes and Jessie here because they’d needed him. What happened when Braden realized that wasn’t enough? When he didn’t want to be stuck in the kind of town he never permanently wanted to be in, or didn’t want the responsibilities that came with Wes? When he did what was best for him rather than what he thought was best for Wes and Jessie? Braden did a lot of thoughtful things, but that’s just who he was. He said he loved Jessie, and Wes didn’t doubt that. Still, he loved his family, yet picked up and left them. Is that where Jessie and he stood, too?