Page 17 of Unspoken Rules

“Your ass passed out on me last night!” He pulls back, smirking at me. He looks so much like his father, yet… I don’t get that same feeling toward him that I do Cole.

Interesting. Also relieving. The last thing I need to do is crush on my best friend and his dad. Cole being gay, or at least bi, was enough of a shock. But Chris? He’s as straight as they come. I’m grateful I can look at him and feel brotherly love. Nothing more. I can’t go around fucking up every relationship I have. I mean, I could. It’s a typical Bryson thing to do, but I won’t.

Chris is as tall as his father, with the same dark hair. But where Cole’s is straight, Chris’s is curly like his mother’s. His eyes aren’t as crystal blue as his father’s, they’re dark blue—also like his mother’s. His build is similar, but he isn’t as muscular because he doesn’t do hard labor or work out, but if he did, he could pass as Cole’s brother.

Chris has always been my best friend. Ever since the first day of kindergarten when we were seated at the same table, and he offered to share his cheese puffs with me. Something connected us together, something more than a shared love over cheesy chips, and we were never apart after that.

My parents wanted me on the baseball team, Chris joined with me to make it tolerable. When my parents realized how bad I was at baseball, they tried football. Again, Chris was there to make it fun. But it was just another sport I wasn’t into. So next was soccer. Sucked at that too. I think my parents got sick of seeing how much of a failure their son was, so they stopped pushing sports after that. Though, I say parents, I mean my father. My mother never had much of a say in anything either. What Bart Montgomery wanted, he got.

There are two things I remember about my mother. First, her smile. She had a smile that lit up the room. Second, the way she barely said a word in my father’s presence. She was two different people, and I only wish she were here today so we could have each other. If only she’d held out just a few more years, I could have helped her. I would have done anything in my power to convince her to leave him. We’d have had a good life, just the two of us.

But she couldn’t handle it, and that hurts me in ways I can’t begin to express.

The fact that it was Chris and Cole there for me after she died says so many things about them and my father.

Which only makes the guilt over what I did with Cole tenfold. How could I have betrayed my best friend so easily when he’d been there for me through every hard time in my life, including this one?

I’m so fucked up.

Chris has supported me every chance he could, which is why he was the first person I came out to. And his response was exactly as I expected it to be. Complete acceptance and a stupid joke. I better not wake up to my dick in your mouth. It’s so him. It means a lot to me that Chris has always been there for me, especially since my parents weren’t.

It means even more that Cole allowed it, considering it was a struggle for him at times. My family is well-off. Both of them come from old money. Growing up, I wanted for nothing. Well, nothing physical anyway. I always had the most expensive things. Clothing, game consoles, laptop, cars. You name it, I had it—top notch. Cole, on the other hand, wasn’t poor, but he struggled after the divorce with Tabitha. Mostly because Chris preferred to stay with his dad, even though Cole paid Tabitha child support. The court ordered Chris to stay with her, but he was old enough to decide and the less Tabitha had to do, the better. I’m sure there was more to it than just that, but as a child, that wasn’t our concern.

No matter how much Cole struggled, he always made sure Chris got what he wanted. And he never told me no either. Not once. He’s always supported us in doing whatever it is we want to do, no matter what.

“I was so fucking tired, I don’t even remember falling asleep.” I move back to the couch and drop onto it. Chris sits beside me.

“We’re still going out tonight, right?” he asks.

“Hell yeah we are.”

“Good. Because Mila, Mark, and Onyx are stoked.”

“I can’t wait to see them.”

And I can’t. I’ve missed them too. The five of us were close for years, and I was the only one who moved away for college.

“They’ve been talking about you non-stop.”

I love that they have, but why haven’t they texted me? It’s a shitty thing to think since I haven’t texted them either, but I’ve been dealing with a lot. When I first left for Rhode Island, we kept in touch. But before I knew it, the only two people I was talking to from here were Chris and Mila. Second year into college, and that dwindled to just Chris.

“So, what’s been going on here? How’s the job?” I ask.

“It’s so fucking good. I feel like a kid in a toy store every morning I go in there. The commute sucks. Forty-five minutes each way, thanks to the fucking traffic, but other than that, it’s like a dream come true. What about you?”

I shake my head, holding my arms out. “Haven’t found anything yet.”

“Did you start looking like you said you were going to?”

“Figured I’d wait till I got here. You know, talk to people in person.”

He nods carefully, and I try not to read into his expression too much, because I swear it’s judgy. But then his face splits into a grin and he says, “If you need anything until then, don’t be afraid to ask, Bry. What’s mine is yours, you got it?”

I nod, but don’t like the idea of taking anything from him. He’s already letting me stay here for nothing. Either he knows me too well, or my thoughts are written on my face.

Chris adds, “Dad doesn’t make me pay for shit, so everything I make is sitting in the bank. Seriously, whatever you need.”

More than ever, I wish my father was more like Cole. Ignoring the icky feelings fluttering around in me, I force a smile.

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