Page 63 of His Stepdad Wears Leather

Noah was silent.

“So I now have to process the fact I slept with my son’s brother. My ex-wife’s son.Mystepson.”

“Well, from the sounds of it, you two didn’tsleepa wink,” Lex added.

“Not now, Lex,” Brody barked.

The door from the inside of the house opened, and he heard raised voices—namely Geena and Walt’s angry voices rolling over each other. Parker stepped through and dropped Noah’s duffel on the floor before Brody’s feet before whispering, “Mom said to sneak him to your house. There’s cops outside.”

“I can’t take him to my house,” Brody whispered back.

Parker shrugged. “Noah’s dad is saying he’s only seventeen and he has to go back home with them. The cops say he has to go.”

“That’s a lie. I’m eighteen,” Noah said.

Even though he trusted Stacey to realize the age of her own son, Brody still breathed a sigh of relief at Noah’s words. That’s all he needed.

Parker headed back out to his mother, closing the garage door behind him.

“They found me in a gay club in Nashville,” Noah murmured lowly. “Just before I ran away.”

“So sneaking into clubs is a trend?” Brody asked.

“The first one was me rebelling against them. I ran away because they were going to send me to one of those conversion camps. If they’d put me in before my birthday, they didn’t have to release me until the program was over.AfterI endured whatever brainwashing they were going to try out on me.”

“Now they’re saying he’s still a minor, so they likely plan to send him against his will,” Lex said, rising to his full height. “You need to get him out of here, Brody.”

“And go where?” Brody asked.

“Toyourhouse,” Lex snapped.

“No,” Brody replied.

“Please,” Noah begged. “Ican’tgo back to that hell.” He took a step closer. “You said you’d protect me…Please,Brody.”

The instinct to protect his boy urged him into motion. But Noahwasn’this boy. Couldn’t be. And what if the kid was only lying again to get what he wanted?

Brody eyed Noah, unsure. Either way—lies or the truth—he couldn’t let Walt and his wife get their hands on Noah. He understood a little of what they were like and the lengths they’d gone to in the past to steal the kid from Stacey and Geena.Theydeserved his help, even if Noah didn’t. He lifted the duffel and handed it to Noah. “Come on.”

He, Noah, and Lex exited the rear garage door and headed for the woods lining the back of the yard. Once there, Brody stopped and saw a hint of the police presence out front. His phone rang. He grabbed it quickly to silence it and maintain their hidden position.

“I have his birth certificate here somewhere, Officer,” he heard Stacey saying. “He’s absolutely eighteen.” There was a pause before she whispered, “Take him, Brody. Please. I need time to find his birth certificate.”

“Yeah,” Brody answered before ending the call. He turned and peered at Lex. “Can you go get your truck? Meet us on the other side of the woods, up by Marshall Park?”

“Yeah,” Lex said. “Good plan.”

“We’ll meet you there as soon as we can.”

Lex nodded before departing… leaving him alone with Noah for the first time since learning the truth. He turned to stare at the boy. “This is a fucking mess.”

“I didn’t mean for all this crap to happen.”

“The current fiasco with your father and Abbie Lee isn’t your fault. At least, not most of it. The rest?” Brody replied. The lies had been Noah’s, and he needed to own those. “Come on… we’ve got a ways to walk.”

They traveled through the wooded lot behind the neighborhood, soon finding the well-worn path teens had traveled for decades to get to the park. They walked in silence—except for the thudding of his heart pounding in his ears. As they moved, Noah kept falling behind. He spun, eyeing the kid. His bubbling anger needed a vent. “Would you come on?”

“Ijustwalked across town, over multiple huge hills. My legs are sore.”

---