Page 83 of The Photograph

Alex’sfather?

“Alex!” I hiss. “Alex!” He pulls his earbuds out of his ears. “Your father’s here.”

His eyes go wide, then he closes them. “Oh, Jesus.”

He stands up. “Fuck. Fuck,” he says, walking around the living room in a circle. “What am I going to do? You won’t want him in here, will you? I could go down and …”

“No,” I say. I’m not leaving him to deal with this alone. He hasn’t seen anyone in his family for seven days.

“Send him up, Darius,” I say into the handset before placing it in its holder by the door. If we’re doing this, we’re fucking doing it.

Alex’s face crumples, a deep groove between his eyebrows. “Why’s he here?” he whispers.

“Who knows? But I want to be with you for this,” I say, taking his hand in mine and squeezing.

He nods, eyes fixed on the floor. “Okay.”

Then the buzzer goes.

I open the door to find a rotund guy with a fuzz of dark, gray-flecked hair surrounding his bald head, a brown belt holding up his taupe pants, and a pair of spectacles balanced on the end of his long nose. And in that moment, I hate the fact that Alex got his nose from his father. He stares past me into the apartment, gaze landing on Alex standing in the middle of the rug in the lounge.

“Alex,” he says, voice hoarse as he strides forward. “Son.”

Alex backs off as his father holds out his hands as he’s heading toward him. I close the door, my eyes drilling into his father’s back, which I’d quite like to stick a knife into. I follow him across the floor to where Alex has stopped, skirting around his father to stand beside Alex, folding my arms on my chest. His father still doesn’t look at me.

“Why are you backing away from me? My own son,” he says, voice breaking.

Heat starts on the back of my neck.Seriously?

Alex’s eyes are fixed on his father like he’s a dangerous snake, and his eyes narrow when his father says this. “I’m going to pretend you didn’t just say that to me.”

He sounds so angry, it makes me want to dance across the room.

His dad shakes his head. “You need to come home. I know I lost my temper, but this nonsense …” His eyes flicker in mydirection for a beat, but he doesn’t make it past my feet. “You belong at home with your mother and me.”

“Dad, I’m twenty-four. Living at home these past two years has been a huge mistake, and it allowed you to believe you still have a say in my life. I’ve let you treat me like a kid, some kid you can control.”

His dad just stares at him.

“I’ve known I was gay since I was thirteen.”

His dad winces, and I turn and gawp at Alex. All that uncertainty when I first met him?Wow. God, how far he’s come in such a short time. That he can say something like this to his dad. It’s amazing, and I want to see him unleashed all over again. He lets himself loose sometimes during sex when he gets growly and pushy and wants to dominate, and I can sit back and let him take control. It’s the hottest thing in someone who’s normally so reticent, so quiet.

“Alex, you’re notgay. You’ve had girlfriends, lovely girlfriends. We’ve been looking at potential matches for you.” He licks his lips. “Inourcommunity. You know how important that is, despite whatever they’ve been telling you.” His eyes flick toward me again, making it to the bottom half of my legs this time.

“Yes, Dad, I’ve had girlfriends and I felt not one thing for them.”

“That’s normal, Alex! Just keep working on it. The right one will come along for you.”

Alex snorts. “Let me know myself, okay? Don’t whitewash my experience. The whole kissing thing with girls …” He shudders. “At least it’s not weird now,” he mumbles.

A flinch flickers over Alex’s dad’s face, red starting up on his neck. The admission that he’s been doing that with me is probably more than he can take. Then he starts forward with his hand outstretched, and I shift instantly: He’snottouching him.His father’s eyes snap to my face, and he stops, taking a step backward, hand dropping as I glower at him.

He swallows. “That’s perfectly normal, believe me. You’ve been brainwashed into thinking …”

Alex raises his eyes to the ceiling. “I haven’t been brainwashed, Dad. Did you listen to what I said? I’ve known since I wasthirteen.”

“It’s all habit. I’ve been reading up on all this and there’s research that says …”

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