Page 94 of Unfix Me

“You need to open your mind,” I said as we turned onto the path to the football field. There was nobody around, so I moved my grip from his wrist to his hand. He was stiff when I threaded our fingers.

“We need to be more careful.”

“The trees aren’t going to talk.”

“Seriously.”

“Okay.” I pulled my hand free and pushed it into my pocket.

It was silent the rest of the way to the field. I tried not to read into it, which was hard when his expression was so blank.

I grabbed a football and jogged to the center of the field. He joined me at a slower pace and stopped twenty yards away. When I threw the ball, I wasn’t sure if he was going to actually play, but at the last second, he shook his head and shifted to catch it.

“Tell me what’s on your mind,” I called after he sent it back to me.

“Nothing.”

“Come on. I don’t like this.”

“Just stressed about classes.”

Lie.

I gritted my teeth and threw the ball hard. He had to run a little ways in order to catch it. It bounced out of his hands and rolled on the ground.

“What are your plans for the holiday?” I asked.

His fingers gripped the ball tighter. “I… Don’t know.”

“You should come home with me.”

I watched his brows furrow, then his eyes widened. It wasn’t like I expected him to automatically jump for joy, but he almost looked pained by the offer.

Something wasn’t right and every second I was with him, it felt more wrong.

“You don’t have to,” I added. “I’d love it if you did, but if you’re not comfortable…”

“I might go home.”

I caught the ball and blinked a few times as I processed his words. “Oh. Have you talked to them?”

“Yeah. My dad wants me to come.”

“Well, that’s good, right? It means they’re trying to get on board with you being gay, I hope.”

“No.”

Tucking the ball under my arm, I studied his tense expression. “I don’t understand.”

With a sigh, he met my eyes. “My dad said he’d keep paying for school if I come home for Christmas and I don’t talk about it.”

“Don’t talk about being gay?”

“Yeah.”

“And are you comfortable with that? Hiding around them, like you always have.”

“Sure. It’s not that big of a deal. But it’s not just around them. It’s with everyone.”

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