Weight of Silence(16)

“Tell them what?”

Jace smiled. “Exactly.”

“You’ll have to one day, you know.”

“Yeah, I know. But I don’t think a gay son is what they want from Santa this year.”

“Good point. How do you feel about New Year’s?”

“How do you feel about Memorial Day 2018?”

“Personally I’d aim for sooner than that or you’ll be competing with The Avengers Part 6.”

He feigned shock and horror, and Rachel laughed. She patted his thigh then slid off the bed. “If you ever want to talk, you know where I live,” she said.

“Yeah. Thanks.”

“Anytime.” Rachel paused with her hand on the doorknob. “And just so you know, Gavin is pretty cute. You should totally hit that, if you haven’t already.”

He lunged. She squealed and dashed out the door before he could grab her and exact his revenge via tickling. He fell back against his pillows and covered his eyes with his forearm. Telling Rachel he was gay had been easier than he expected. She already suspected and accepted him unconditionally. The rest of his family wouldn’t be as easy. He’d tell them one day. He’d have to.

Maybe in 2020. Yeah, that was good.

First he needed to survive college. And Jordan.





Chapter Five

Gavin didn’t know who to expect when he pulled into the Ramsey driveway on the afternoon of Christmas Day. Jace, obviously, since that’s who had texted him twenty minutes ago to say he was home. Only which version of Jace? The happy, flirtatious guy he’d developed an insta-crush on over Thanksgiving weekend? Or the moody, unpredictable one he’d talked to at the party two days ago? Gavin seriously preferred the former, because the latter worried him for reasons he couldn’t put into words.

The front door of the Ramsey house opened before Gavin could decide if he should knock or honk his horn. Jace bounded down the driveway, his thick winter coat hanging open in the freezing cold, and he practically threw himself into the passenger seat. His adorable face was a storm cloud. After he snapped in his seatbelt, he took a deep breath then let it out nice and slow.

“Merry Christmas?” Gavin asked, concerned he’d inadvertently done something to cause this mood.

His voice seemed to jerk Jace out of his thoughts. The storm cloud passed and he gave Gavin a sunny smile. “Hey, yeah, Merry Christmas.”

Gavin shifted the Jeep into reverse. “So what did you want to do? And I’m still half-frozen from the tree house, so please, nothing outdoors.”

Jace grinned. “Wimp. How about we hang out at your place, then? Nothing’s really open today anyway.”

He had an excellent point, and Jace’s casual tone had no hidden innuendo in it. Not that the lack of innuendo precluded the possibility of fun physical activities, but Gavin was in no hurry. He did often wonder if, despite what Jace had said, they’d moved too fast that first time.

“Okay,” Gavin said. Once he got the Jeep turned around and headed back across town, he ventured a question. “So how was family time in Quakertown?”

Jace grunted and his smile fell away. “Same rerun as last year. It’s my mom’s family, who are all crazy Germans. My grandmother is half deaf, so you have to shout at her when you need to tell her something. My Uncle Benny shows up drunk and leaves drunker, and in between, he always lets you know exactly how he feels about working women, illegal immigrants and gay rights. Plus my Aunt Lucy harangues me every year about why I never bring a girlfriend over.”

Gavin shuddered. He would definitely not be Uncle Benny’s favorite person to talk to, since Gavin’s mother was a working, perfectly legal, female immigrant with a gay son—the trifecta. “Sounds like familial hell.”

“It is. Thankfully the family was more interested in cooing over my cousin’s new baby boy than in pestering me, so it wasn’t too awful. How about you?”

“The usual. Just me, Mama, her homemade enchiladas and a Christmas movie marathon.”

“Watch anything good?”

“The typical holiday classics. Die Hard. Lethal Weapon.”

Jace laughed. The lyrical sound made Gavin smile. At the next four-way stop, he gave Jace a quick once-over. He was grinning, his good humor restored, and Gavin’s concern quelled. Jace was stressed out from school and family. Nothing serious. Maybe this thing between them had a chance after all.

“Every year my grandfather insists we all sit down to watch Charlie Brown,” Jace said.

“I’ve never seen that one.”

“What?” Jace shifted to face him, his eyebrows somewhere up in his hair line. “Are you serious?”