Page 47 of Our Hearts to Break

Spencer tips a glass to his lips and takes a long sip. “I will not let you ruin your future, Nathaniel.”

Nate grits his teeth and rises from the bed, hands balled into fists at his sides. “Try to stop me, old man.”

He presses his forehead to Spencer’s, overcome by rage and years of hatred. Natewillhit him. And I’m not sure I could prevent him from killing his dad, nor would I try.

“I won’t have a gay son,” Spencer says, his words laced with anger.

“Then, you won’t have a son.” Nate’s nostrils flare. “Simple as that.”

I watch their heated encounter, using it to avoid looking at my dad.

“You will marry a woman,” Spencer says, eyeing up Nate as he downs the contents of his glass. “I will find you someone respectable. No one will ever know about this.”

With that, Nate slams his dad into the wall. The empty highball glass slips from his hand, shattering to pieces. The dresser nearly topples over as Spencer attempts to fight back, but Nate throws his weight into the heavy wood, holding it in place.

“You little shit,” Spencer snaps, which sounds funny when talking about Nate.

He’s six foot four and two hundred twenty pounds of muscle. Even at twelve years old, he already had the body of a man.

My dad darts across the room, grips Nate’s shirt collar, and pulls him off Spencer. I shove him away from Nate. His shoulder bumps into Spencer’s, and they drop to the floor with a thud, landing on the broken glass.

Spencer groans. Blood trickles down my father’s hand, his finger sliced and dripping onto the floor.

As if the shit show isn’t bad enough, my mom and Savanna come running into the room.

Mom gasps, eyes wide, and screams. “Oh, god. Ryan, what happened?”

She hunches down beside him, and he pushes out his bleeding hand.

“No, don’t, my love. There’s glass everywhere.”

My mom inches back, tears in her eyes, and looks at me.

“I’m sorry, Momma.” My voice shakes. “I didn’t mean for it to get so… out of hand.”

“What did you do to your father?” Savanna asks Nate, her Texan accent thick and demanding.

“I’m gay,” Nate tells her. “So is River. They walked in on us kissing and…” He waves his hand. “This happened.”

“Oh,” Savanna whispers. “Huh.”

Just like Spencer, she doesn’t seem too shocked by the reveal. Although, I’m not sure why. They judge everything he does.

My mom hooks an arm around me. “I knew, Rivie. I’m your mother. Of course, I knew.”

“I wanted to tell you.”

“It’s okay.” She hugs me. “It’s okay.”

“No, it’s not,” my dad hisses, standing behind her. “He’ll never play for an NHL team if the media finds out he’s afaggot.”

His words slice into my chest like a machete. I swear my heart is somewhere in my stomach. Everything hurts. My head, my chest, every muscle in my body.

“Ryan, if you ever call my son that name again, I will file for divorce.”

“Baby, come on,” he pleads. “You know I’m right. No one will want him. He’s broken… damaged goods.”

“No, he’s not.” My mom extends her hand to me. “Let’s go, Rivie. We’re not spending the holiday with your father. He needs time to cool off.”

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