Page 61 of Truth or Spare

Roddy pushed out a heavy breath. “I know that now. Cassie forgave me a while ago and has been on me about coming back. Honestly, it was you I dreaded facing the most. I know how much I owe you and that I’ll never be able to pay you back. But I’m gonna try, Doob. That’s all I care about anymore,” he insisted, his voice cracking as he swiped at his eyes.

“We’ll be fine,” Dewey stated, throwing an arm around Roddy’s neck and pulling him close. He knocked his forehead against Roddy’s, the way they did when they were kids. Roddy clasped the back of Dewey’s head, shaking as he held on tight.

“I’m so sorry!” he gasped as tears spilled from his eyes. “I love you and I’ll never let you down again. I’ve missed this place and I’ve missed the hell out of you.”

“We’ll see,” Dewey replied, clapping him on the back before releasing Roddy. He waved around them, shaking his head. “It’s quiet now, but wait until Thursday night, when the blue hairs get here. You haven’t been to a league night in almost twenty years and there are more of them now,” he warned and grinned at Roddy’s panicked look.

“More?” he squeaked.

“We’re not the only ones who got older. Just about every teacher, cashier, and server you’ve ever flirted with or annoyed within a thirty mile radius will be here on Thursday night,” Dewey explained as he enjoyed Roddy’s impending doom. It would be an evening of cheek pinching, ear pulling, and finger waggingfor him. “Don’t worry. Like this, the worst will pass,” Dewey said as he gestured between them. “And they’ll just be glad to have you back.”

“Thanks,” Roddy said. “What about you and this prince? Are you sure you don’t want to run away with Theo and live happily ever after?” he teased, making Dewey groan and swear under his breath.

“I’m not sure about Theo’s plans yet, but I’m not interested in running away.”

“He seems cool, though,” Roddy said with a shrug, surprising Dewey. His older brother had never been particularly homophobic, but he’d held pretty typical beliefs about masculinity and gender roles when they were younger.

“You’re okay with us, then?”

“Okay?” Roddy gave Dewey an impatient look. “It’s not really my business as long as you’re happy. But I’ve seen a little bit of the world outside of Oslo, Doob, and I’ve experimented,” he said with a wink, stunning Dewey. Roddy laughed it off. “Not that much! I played and worked with a lot of queer people, though, and I’d like to think that most of them are still friends.”

Dewey reared back. “You have changed. All you used to ever talk about was picking up girls and messing with Cassie and you used to give me shit for barely looking,” he said, but Roddy waved it off.

“I was a kid and a full-blown idiot. It didn’t even occur to me that guys could get off together and act like anything but jerks with each other. One of my best friends, Kyle, is gay and he’s helped me deal with a lot of my own bullshit. The pride and shame shit,” he explained as he tapped his chest and his head.

“Great,” Dewey replied with a wide smile. It wasgreatand everything Dewey had hoped for. But it was still too much for Dewey to process in a day. A reunion with Roddyandcoming out of the closet to his older brother hadn’t been on Dewey’s to-do list for the week. And Dewey had just learned that he was falling for a prince. “Thanks for being cool about it,” hemumbled and shrugged. “This thing with Theo is pretty new and I’m still figuring it out.”

That got a laugh out of Roddy. “Yeah. You probably haven’t dated a lot of royalty,” he guessed.

“Haven’t dated a lot of anything,” Dewey said with a shake of his head. “Too busy and who the hell would I date around here? I can’t date someone I’ve known my whole life, like Cass,” he said and shuddered. Dewey knew there were more than a few women in Oslo who had crushes on him, but he had never wanted anything but friendship from them.

“So, you and Cass never…” Roddy’s voice trailed off and he offered Dewey a pained look. “I would understand and I’d never hold it against either of you,” he added quietly, but Dewey’s face and stomach twisted.

“Never and I’ll give you a pass this time, but don’t go there again unless you want to start a fight,” Dewey said, his tone severe. “She’sneverbeen anything other than a sister to me. I remember playing with her on the playground, when she wore her hair in pigtails and we had velcro on our shoes. I thought you’d picked a winner, because I knew how good of a girl she was. But you went and broke every bit of her heart.” Dewey’s cheeks puffed and he made an exploding sound as he recalled the years after Roddy left.

“I was such an asshole,” Roddy whispered. “I was going to send for her after I had made it. I told myself she would still be there and that she’d forgive me for everything once I was a star.”

“She didn’t give a shit about any of that. She was just in love withyou,” Dewey scolded. “She was crushed and it took a long time to help her put her life back together. But she was alwaysyoursand I never thought about her like that. I just knew that I had to make up for all the damage you had done. And I had way too much respect for Cass after she gave us Bryce and raised him with so much grace and love. Not once did I hear her curseyou or our family’s name, no matter how tough it got for her and Bryce.”

“She was always too good for me,” Roddy admitted and Dewey snorted wryly in agreement.

“She’s still too good for you and I’ll run your ass right back out of town if you so much as smile at her. Keep away from Cassie until you’ve proven you deserve to even breathe the same air. Got it?” He pointed hard so Roddy knew he was being serious.

“Got it,” he replied immediately. “The last thing I want to do is hurt Cassie again.”

“Good. I’m only strong enough to get in a few decent swings these days,” Dewey confided as he held up his fists. His arms were tired from the day’s chores and his hands shook as he jabbed at the air.

Roddy caught one of Dewey’s fists, groaning as he studied it. “Be honest with me, little brother: how bad is it and how much does it hurt?”

“Stop it!” Dewey growled and swatted him away. “It’s only bad when I push too hard and I don’t do what my doctor tells me to do.”

“Cassie says you always push too hard. She’s been worried that this place was too much and that you’d kill yourself trying to run it by yourself. That’s why I had to come back.”

That would have been a hard pill to swallow a month ago. Dewey would have denied it and told Cassie she was meddling. Now, Dewey could admit the truth and accept Roddy’s help because he wanted more time and more energy for Theo. He wanted to have afulllife, instead of working until he was worn-out and empty.

“You’re just in time,” he said to Roddy as he watched Theo with Cassie. “I’m asking Prince Charming to live happily ever after with me tonight. If I don’t chicken out.”

Chapter Twenty-Six

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