Page 86 of My Irresistible Enemy

“They really did that? They reallysaidthat?”

He threw his hands out. “Does that surprise you? You know what they’re like. It’s the same reason they called and yelled at me when the show contacted them about the interview segment.”

“Wait, what?” I blinked. “How did the show even find them? I didn’t list them as family contacts.”

“Fuck, I didn’t mean to say that.” Gabe ran a hand through his hair. “I wasn’t going to tell you.”

“Well, it’s too late for that now, so you might as well finish the story.”

He grimaced. “Someone contacted them. I don’t know who, or how, but I guess they were asked to record some kind of segment. You know,rah, rah, we support our son. But they said no.”

“And then they calledyou? To tell you? What did they say?”

“You don’t want to know.”

“Yes, I fucking do. What did they say?”

“What do you think they said, Aiden? Nothing good. It’s the same old shit. You’re trying to embarrass them, how could you think this was acceptable, how could you air yourlifestylein public and then expect them to support you.”

“That’s…fuck. They said all that?”

“Yeah. And they said to tell you that you weren’t welcome at home if you kept acting this way, and I told them they were being hateful and ridiculous, and you wouldn’t want to come home anyway. They said I should be ashamed of myself for choosing you over them, and I hung up on them. Not one of the most pleasant conversations I’ve had, all things considered.”

“They do realize you’remarriedto a guy, don’t they? I don’t know where they get off acting like I’m the only one who’s destroying the family name.”

“I think they like to pretend that I’m not,” Gabe said after a moment. “Since I didn’t come out until after I’d left home, and I’m not on national TV, they feel like at least the rest of the town doesn’t know.”

“Jesus.”

“I’m sorry.” Gabe put a hand on my shoulder. “Really. I didn’t want to tell you because I didn’t want to upset you, and because it’s honestly not important. They’re being assholes about it, and they’re not worth your time.”

“I’m not upset.” I glared at a particularly verdant banana tree down in the courtyard. “I wouldn’t give them the satisfaction.”

I didn’t think Gabe believed me, though, because he kept giving me these encouraging smiles, and then these weird, sad looks when he didn’t think I could see him. Finally, I said I needed to go back to the Wisteria and practice for next week, just to get away from him.

It wasn’t his fault, obviously. I wasn’t mad at him. I didn’t even want to be mad at my parents, because I didn’t want them to matter enough for me to care. It wasn’t like I had any reason to expect better from them.

But still, it put me in a shitty mood, one that wasn’t helped when I checked my CamFans account and saw another batch of messages oh-so-politely asking why I hadn’t uploaded a new video in two days. God forbid I have a life outside of sticking things up my ass.

@sherryboston: sammy baby, are you ok? miss you and that gorgeous smile

@TexasLovr: Can’t stop thinking about your hole. When can we expect another video? I think I’ve jerked off to your last one ten times by now. Not that I’m complaining—you’re hella sexy. But I’d love to see more

@DaddysInCharge: If you don’t post something new soon, son, I’m going to ground you and take all your toys away. Don’t you want to be a good boy? Love, Daddy

@JimPawcette1943: Sam, I hope you’re having a great week! We’ve been getting lots of sunshine down here, and my husband and I went for a long hike yesterday to the most beautiful waterfall. If you’re ever down this way, maybe we can show you.

@Spacegurl4u: Just popping in to say I’m thinking about you! Hugs!!

@kendollabs: fuck ur hot, wuld love 2 eat ur ass

Well, some were polite. Some were a little less so. Or rather, one in particular.

@HungTopXL: You fucking cock tease. You think you can play hard to get and just stop replying? I’ll show you what hard feels like when I come to your house and fuck you while you cry. Do you think your stepdad would try to stop me, if I made him watch while I violated you? Or do you think he’d join in? Fuck his son and then pimp you out to anyone I invited over? You’d fucking love it, wouldn’t you, you little slut. Keep it up, and we’ll find out for real.

I don’t know what did it. Was it the stress of the interview? Was it finding out that my parents were the exact same assholes I’d already known they were? Or was it just something in HungTopXL’s tone? Maybe it was all three. But whatever the cause, my body shook as I started to read HungTopXL’s message, and by the end of it, I was crying.

It was stupid. I knew it was stupid, knew this guy didn’t know who I was, wasn’t actually going to follow through on any of the shit he said. But I was just so sick of it. I threw my phone down on the bed and made a noise that was half-scream, half-sob, and pure frustration.

---