Total pages in book: 120
Estimated words: 114211 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 571(@200wpm)___ 457(@250wpm)___ 381(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 114211 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 571(@200wpm)___ 457(@250wpm)___ 381(@300wpm)
The beauty of the wide, clean foyer and the upstairs banister overlooking it, and what appears to be a pristine dining room off to the left and seating area to the right, go mostly ignored as the yelling grows closer inside the house. Pete squeezes up next to me, wide-eyed, whispering that we shouldn’t be in here, as we head under the curved staircase into the living room, dimly lit by the window peering into a cozy seating area on a back porch. Opening off the living room is the kitchen, where we find the source of the yelling across a barstool-lined island. Two handsome men stand on either side, each of them equipped with a coffee mug. One’s in a heather gray t-shirt and black gym shorts, with a muscular build, chiseled jaw, five o’clock shadow, and buzzed head. The other is more slender, a pair of glasses at the tip of his nose, wearing a half-buttoned shirt and pair of slacks with the belt undone, as if he was in the middle of getting ready for the day until a seemingly minor disagreement blew up into what we’re witnessing now.
“That’s not what I heard!” exclaims the one in the glasses, responding to something I didn’t catch. “It pisses me off you’re being so flippant about this! My concerns are legitimate …”
“Trey, you got eyes, you got ears,” says the muscular one in the gym shorts—Cody, I presume. “You see how they take care of each other. Been obvious to everyone for years how they—”
“Not to me!” Trey sets down his mug too hard, causing coffee to splash over his hand. I guess it isn’t hot enough to burn, since he ignores it. They’ve probably been at it long enough for both of their mugs to go cold. “It’s one thing for our parents to be ‘there for each other’,” he says using air quotes, “and I’m happy about that. They deserve companionship. But it is—please stop giving me that look, you know I hate it—it is entirely another for them to be in a serious-ass-fucking relationship!”
“You not only cussed, which is always hot by the way, but you said ‘ass fucking’ with a straight face …”
“Cody, our parents can not get married.”
“They’re not getting married, babe.”
“Then what were those rumors? Just more lies and gossip?”
Cody leans over the counter, his tone softening. “Don’t you know your dad is the best thing that’s happened to my mom in a decade? Look at the cute-ass pair of ‘em. They’re happy, Trey. My overworked mom and your lonely dad—happy. Didn’t you see the two of them this past Christmas? Even Nadine was smiling!”
Trey’s fingers practically dig holes in the countertop. “If those rumors are true and my dad is planning to marry your mom, that would turn us into stepbrothers, Cody. Stepbrothers!”
“Only literally,” he grunts back, sips his coffee, then makes a face and spits it back into the mug.
“My husband cannot become my stepbrother! We cannot be stepbrother husbands! Is that what you want? To be stepbrother hus—? I can’t.” He cuts himself off with a choked, frustrated laugh, throwing his hands up. “I am the reverend of Spruce, Texas. A gay reverend, at that—with a husband, a reputation, expectations, and our neighboring town of Fairview staring judgily down at us …”
“So it’s all about optics?”
“Don’t be naïve. You know how the news and social media can spin things like this, making Spruce seem like a weird town where anyone marries anyone and can do whatever they want …”
“Isn’t that exactly what it is?”
“That’s all we need. Every headline from here to El Paso. ‘Gay reverend married to his stepbrother in small Texas town.’ No one will care what came first, stepbrother chicken or the gay egg.”
“Egg came first, if we’re talkin’ evolution …”
“I can’t believe my dad would do this to me. I can’t believe—”
That’s when Pete barely moves a foot, scuffing it on the floor and causing Trey and Cody to turn. From the look in their eyes, I’m not sure they realize who we even are for a solid ten seconds. All four of us become strangers in a house. Cody and Trey standing at the counter. Pete and I, the invaders, creeping into the privacy of their home where we’ve just witnessed a scene not meant for anyone’s eyes or ears but theirs. No one knows what to say or do.
Until a light bulb flicks on in Cody’s eyes so fast, it practically shatters. “Pete?”
Like an actor who’s rehearsed his lines to death, Pete stiffly steps forward. “Cody. My man. It’s been a long time. I’m so glad to finally see you again. You haven’t aged a day.”
Cody looks Pete up and down, then snorts. “Well, if that ain’t a damned lie. I’m old as fuck now.”