Page 97 of Jace
He shrugs, a sad smile curving his mouth. “I never announced it or something. It justwas.Nobody cared about what I was doing. My father never asked. I don’t even know if he knows, he just ignores it. Ignores–” He swallows and looks down.
Ignoresme.I knew he wanted to say it. God, I can see the pain and fight the urge to grab him, hug him and lever let go. Would be weird if I carried him inside, though.
“So yeah,” he goes on, not noticing my inner turmoil. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what it’s like to come out to people who actually care about you.”
Ah shucks. I pull him to me with the end of his shirt and hug him anyway. He gives a sigh against my neck. “I care,” I whisper against his hair, because Ido.I care more than I’d ever thought possible.
It’s why I’m so damn sure of coming out to my family, because I know for a fact that this isitfor me. That my feelings for Jace arerealand here to stay, that this isn’t a mere crush or infatuation.
It’s like I’m stuck in the most beautiful storm, while whatever I had with Kaylee was just a breeze in a quiet desert; welcome, but not captivating.
Jace tightens his grip and gives me a quick kiss on my neck before he lets go. His eyes are shining though, and I swear I see the same commitment staring back at me.
I smile. “Come on. Let’s head in and see if we can give you a bigger family, because they will wrap you up in our madness. Iamafraid we’ll first have to survive some awful dick-jokes, though.”
He chuckles when we head inside, hiding his nerves about this well, which I know he has. I can’t imagine what it would be like to have relatives who don’t give a rat's ass about you like his moron of a dad. And do not even get me started on his mother who left when he was just a toddler. What kind of mom does that?
So I’m totally going to welcome him into our family, letting him experience what it’s supposed to be like.
But I get wrapped up in the Christmas chaos as soon as we enter the kitchen, letting the plan to come out get pushed to the sidelines.
I mostly help my mom in the kitchen prepare dinner, while Jace helps my dad and brothers consume a shitload of eggnog–his eyes getting brighter and his laughs getting louder with every hour that passes by.
And we all laughedveryloud at J who had the idea to make Christmas cookies, because he didn’t tell my mom he found penis-shaped cutters.
Seeing your mom munching on cookie-dick with white frosting dripping down her chin is quite a new experience.
Lamar visits for a bit as well, like he usually does, but this time he brought Missy. She and Jace huddle up together behind my late grandpa's piano. They’re laughing and singing Christmas carols while Jace mans the piano–which I didn’t know he could play–and while she sings slightly off-key, Jace is a killer. Of course he is.
At least there’s one person who cared about him back home. And Missy was it. She’s basically his family. So I’m happy he can spend some Christmas time with her.
I swear I look like a love-sick puppy while watching them play. My parents don’t seem to notice, but I think the almost empty bowl of eggnog is to blame for that.
However, I do notice J staring at Jace more and more, and get the feeling that Jace maybe was right about him. Which means I really need to man up and tell my family already because Jace ismine.
So when dinner time comes around after Lamar and Missy left, and I’m waiting at the table till Jace gets back from a bathroom break, the jitters finally start to get to me. My leg bounces up and down beneath the dinner table and I don’tknow why. I wasn’t this agitated when we came over here this morning, so I don’t get why my heart is racing right now.
Maybe procrastinating wasn’t the best idea.
Christ. I’m usually a cool cucumber and haven’t been this nervous in like, ever. Not during my first championship game in the Junior High Football League, not when I brought my first girlfriend home, nor when I had to fess up to my mom that it was me, not one of my idiot brothers, who broke the porcelain duck that was on our back porch forever,
Turns out she got it from her great aunt and she hated the damn thing, and was glad to have a valid excuse to get rid of it.
But this? Bringing Jace to my parent’s house at Christmas, trying to come out to them? I’m suddenly a fucking basket case which makes no sense, because Iknowmy parents wouldn’t give a damn. All three of us Kings already got the ‘we love you no matter what’ speech when we were young, my dad even swearing that he would get his trusty bat out whenever somebody should tell us otherwise.
My dad in question is trying to get my attention actually. “Tyler? Can you see where Jason and your friend are? Let them know we’re starting dinner?” he asks me, sitting at the head of the table.
I frown and look around the room. Only now noticing that not only Jace is missing but J as well.
“Yeah, I’ll check where the hell they are,” I say getting up.
“Language, son,” my dad says. “But please do, because the food is getting cold and your mother worked all damn day for this. I’m fucking hungry.”
“Michael!” Mom scolds, but Dad just gives me a wink and shoos me out of the room, which I gladly do.
But when I get into the hallway and find Jace there, pressed against the banister of the stairs with my brother all over him, my brain short-circuits.
I haul my idiot brother off my boyfriend and slug him in the face before I know what I’m doing. He goes down spectacularly, bringing the coat rack down with him in the process, shouting profanities as he goes.
