Page 93 of The MC's Little Brother

I shook my head rapidly, eyes wide. “No! God, no. Xander gave me permission to tell one to two people. That’s it. No, this is just to show where we stand. He’ll have the option to ride along, but he won’t be announced or anything. It’ll be like any kid joining a parade. He’ll be there for the fun of it.”

“Ah.” She nodded. “That makes more sense. Sounds like fun. Count me in. And don’t forget to point me in the direction of the single hotties that are good with kids.”

I snorted and waved her off, sending a quick text to Mattias that I washandling things here on my end. It took a lot of discussion to come up with something to show Xander the kind of support he deserved. And while no one but us would know it was for him, we still thought it’d help him see he was safe with the crew. He didn’t have to pretend to be someone else. Not with his family. We had his back.

50

Xander

When I lived with Jorge, I never had the opportunity to be lazy before. If he caught me lounging around, he’d come after me. And when I lived with my abuela, I had to help her with chores and stuff because she was too old to do it all herself. So spending a Saturday laying on the couch watching TV was new and freaking awesome.

Mel’s face popped up from behind the couch. “Hey, bestie. Wanna go on an adventure with me?”

I made a face, torn between being lazy and going with her. Mel always had the best ideas for adventures.

“What are we going to do?”

“That’s for me to know and you to find out,” she said teasingly. “Come on. It’ll be fun. We can even bring Thor.”

Thor had been lying on my legs, but the minute she said his name, he got up and started jumping around on the couch in excitement. If I wanted to keep my ribs intact, I had to roll off the couch to escape him. I grunted when I landed on the floor, shooting the dog a dirty look, but he hopped off the couch and licked my face, and I couldn’t stay mad at him for long.

Mel came around the couch with a laugh, offering me her hand. Shehauled me to my feet, giving me a big hug like she always did. I knew a lot of kids my age would complain about it, but I never did. I hadn’t had hugs for years and I wasn’t too proud to say I loved them. Especially from Mel. She never used them to lure me closer so she could get me into a headlock like Rooster did.

“Is Mattias coming?”

“Yep,” she said, popping the ‘p’. “He’s riding separately, though. Big baby still thinks my car is a cage.”

I snorted, ducking outside while she got Thor’s leash. Mattias was squatting beside his bike, doing something to the back of it. His helmet already dangled off the handles, and he was wearing his club jacket to stay warm. It wasn’t anywhere near as cold as Chicago, so I never complained, but he was raised here. Weather in the 60s was cold for him.

“What are you doing?”

He looked over his shoulder at me and tipped his head to gesture me closer. “Come look.”

With a shrug, I moved to stand beside him, stumbling over my feet when I saw what he was doing. “Is that–”

Pushing to his feet, he stuck his hands to his pockets. Turning to face me, he said, “I showed you that you were safe here and wanted. I figured I’d show you I’ve got your back, no matter what. Do you like it?”

Tears burned my eyes, and I scrubbed at them with the backs of my hands. It was a sticker of his club logo, but instead of the plain white background, it was a rainbow. Like a pride flag.

“Y-You don’t have to–”

Putting his hand on my shoulders, he raised his eyebrows at me. “Yes, I do. You’re my little brother. I don’t give a shit who has a problem with it. I’ll always have your back.”

This wasn’t the same as him telling me he supports me. He was telling the whole world by driving around with that on his bike. People might have even assumed he had it there because he was gay himself. And he didn’t care. Because he loved me.

Lunging forward, I hugged him around his waist. “I love you, Mattias.”

He hugged me back just as tight, leaning over me. “I love you too, little brother. Now come on. We’ve got somewhere to be.”

I looked back down at the sticker and then up at him again. “You aren’t going to tell people, right?”

He shook his head solemnly. “Who you tell and when you tell them is your business, unless you ask me to step in for you. Fair warning, the crew knows. Not a single damn one of them was upset about it.”

The relief made my shoulders sag. I had a one-on-one session with Addison about who to tell and when. I wanted to tell the crew, but it freaked me out. I liked being around them, and they were important to my brother, so I didn’t want to screw anything up. She said I had to decide if I trusted them enough and if I trusted Mattias enough to support me if they were dicks about it. She said it was fine if I asked Mattias to tell them if that made me more comfortable, and I liked that idea. I didn’t want to be there if someone said something against me. I heard enough of that from Jorge.

“Let’s go, boys!” Mel called from her car. “Matty, stop stealing my bestie!”

Mattias snorted, rolling his eyes. “Keep it up, Mel-Mel. I’ll make sure all the kids never forget that nickname.”

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