Weight of Silence(44)
Jace didn’t hesitate. “Yes.” Gavin’s heart swelled at the confidence in that statement. Jace was exhausted, malnourished and freezing, but he knew who he was.
Keith and his wife shared a look. Becky seemed dazed by the confirmation. “How long have you known?” Keith asked.
“A while. More than a year, for sure. I didn’t really tell anyone until this last month or so.”
“Is this the secret that’s had you tied up in knots since you’ve been home?”
This time Jace hesitated long enough for Gavin to notice. “Mostly. School stress is the rest of it.”
Gavin looked over at Rachel, who gave him a knowing nod. She didn’t say anything, though, about Jace wanting to quit Temple. That was his secret to tell. One big announcement at a time was probably all their parents could handle.
“So are you…?” Becky trailed off as her gaze jumped from Jace to Gavin and back again. “Are you two…together?”
Jace’s hand sneaked out from beneath the cocoon of blankets and reached. Gavin clasped the warming hand tight in his, glad for the support and the honesty. “Yes,” Jace replied.
“This is a lot to take in.”
“I know, Mom. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry. Well, be sorry you scared us all to death, but not for this. It’ll take some getting used to, for all of us.”
“Yeah.”
“Can we, uh—” Keith cleared his throat. “Can his mother and I speak with Jace alone for a few minutes?”
Gavin gave Jace’s hand a supportive squeeze, then he took his cue. He followed the girls into the kitchen. Lauren turned on a radio, which filled the room with Christmas carols—the best they could do for privacy, apparently. Rachel filled the teapot with water from the tap and put it on the stove to heat. Neither of them looked directly at him, and the cold shoulder was starting to irritate, especially from Rachel.
“You know, Jace is the same guy he’s always been,” he said when the silence had lasted beyond his tolerance. Plus he hated long, awkward pauses. “He’s always been gay, you just didn’t know.”
The sisters looked at each other and grinned. Rachel took a folded bill out of her pocket and handed it over to Lauren with a growled, “Fine, you win.”
“Huh?” Gavin said.
“Lauren bet five bucks the first thing you said would be in Jace’s defense.”
He turned to stare at Lauren, the Ramsey with whom he’d had the least amount of interaction. She was a younger version of their mother, with a strong resemblance to Rachel too. She smiled at him with perfect calm, and maybe even a little gratitude.
“Thank you for caring about our brother,” Lauren said.
“Um, you’re welcome,” he said, a little dazed at her quick acceptance of him in Jace’s life.
“He can be hardheaded and super-stubborn. He needs someone to check him on his bullshit once in a while.”
“Sounds like a full-time job.”
“Probably is. You up for it?”
He glanced at the archway leading out into the living room. He was definitely up for the challenge of being with Jace; he only hoped Jace felt the same way.
Chapter Twelve
Jace came awake slowly, pulling himself out of a warm haze of rest and no dreams. He stretched his arms and legs in a tingling, wonderful full-body exercise that woke him up the rest of the way. He rolled onto his side and peeled open his sandy eyelids. The sight of Gavin asleep in his room—albeit, curled up in his papasan chair, instead of in bed with him—made him grin like a fool. A curling heat settled in his stomach as he recalled the unflagging support he’d gotten from Gavin ever since they met, but especially today.
Gavin had looked for him. Gavin had found him, brought him down and stayed by his side. Jace didn’t know what to call the things he felt for Gavin, only that he treasured the feelings.
Running away had been stupid, and he’d realized that pretty quickly. Hiding in the tree house hadn’t been his most intelligent plan ever, either. But his family had forgiven him for scaring them. Talking to his parents about everything afterward had been terrifying; knowing Gavin was close by gave him the strength to be honest about almost everything. Mom seemed more upset about his desire to quit school than Dad. He mostly wanted assurance that the choice had nothing to do with staying close to Gavin, and Jace promised that wasn’t the case—although it was definitely a check in the plus column. They made a plan to sit down and discuss his post-school plans at length after New Year’s. Jace could handle that.
The only thing still left unresolved was Jordan.