Page 60 of Tutoring Mr. Hotshot

Aries ignores us to take out his phone. I have no doubt he’s texting Raymond. The man is obsessed with his boyfriend. Can’t say I blame him. I’m starting to see I might have an obsession of my own with Andry.

“What is it?” I ask him.

“Coach wants to meet you.”

“He does!?”

Andry nods. “He does. When I told him everything, he was furious. He wants to show a united front and make the team aware you aren’t the enemy.”

“They’re going to hate me even more.”

Aries chooses that moment to jump back in. “Even if they do, there isn’t anything they can do about it. You’re going to be everywhere they turn. And more people will see you and take notice. They won’t get away with bothering you because there will be more eyes on you than ever.”

I shiver at the thought. I’m not sure I want all those extra eyes on me. That leads to more scrutiny. What if people hate me, and I wind up with more bullies instead?

My thoughts must show on my face because Andry plucks me out of my chair and puts me in his lap. I gasp at the sudden movement.

“Nothing bad will happen to you again, little genius. You have an army of protectors behind you now. I’m sorry my bad decisions caused this.”

“Bad decisions?”

Aries snorted. “This guy didn’t even have a solid passcode on his phone. It was 1-2-3-4. Very easy for the idiots to crack, especially if they’ve seen him open it.”

“I’m sure they have,” Andry replies. “I’ll set something harder. And if you ever get another message like that, I want you to come find me right away. I don’t care where I am, you show up and confront me.”

The doorbell rings as I’m nodding. We hear Ma rush to answer it, then she’s squealing in delight.

“Raymond! Come in, come in.”

A second later, she appears with a flustered Raymond behind her. He makes a beeline for Aries, who welcomes him with open arms. Raymond drops into my brother’s lap and buries his face in his neck.

“Rough morning?” Aries asks.

There’s a hum of agreement before Raymond mumbles, “Missed you.”

I smile at the pair, happy to see how perfect they are for one another. Then I look back to Andry, whose gaze isn’t on them, but on me. And the look I see there is full of devotion and promise.

He cares for me as much as my brother cares for Raymond.

“I love having all my boys here at once. How perfect. Aries and Raymond. Andry and Rodney. Wait! I don’t think I ever noticed the initials for both are A and R. Oh!” She presses a hand to her chest, then turns away muttering in Spanish about fate and presents.

“Do you think she’s going to buy us a bunch of monogrammed stuff now?” Aries asks me.

I giggle. “Probably so. She always hates that she missed that train when we were little. Now she has a reason to go all out. She might even use the allowance you give her to do it.”

Aries shouts excitedly. “Hot damn! I’ll take whatever couple shit she sends our way if it gets her spending my money.”

We all laugh at his outburst, and it feels like family.

It feels like home.

I’m not sure what I’ve done to deserve these people. I just hope I get many more moments like this with them for as long as I can.

CHAPTER21

ALLIANCE OF DADDIES TEXT CHAIN

Aries:I welcome you all to the chat of Daddies. We will henceforth be known as the Alliance of Daddies.

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