Page 17 of Winning You
He didn’t do sports.
He’d only played goalball in high school to get his ex-dad off his back about being too nerdy and weak, and he was more than glad he didn’t have to sweat on the court any longer.
“Where are we going?” Lucas asked as he folded his cane and set it between his feet.
Gage sighed. “I don’t know. I want some comfort food, then I thought maybe we could go over to that new game shop and see if they have anything good. Now that my campaign is over, I’ve been thinking about putting together a new group.”
Lucas groaned as the car pulled out onto the road. “Dude. I know what you’re doing?—”
“Yeah, and?” There was fierce challenge in Gage’s voice. “If you think I’m going to hang around with some guy who said that shit about you, then you don’t know me at all.”
“I just don’t want to smother your ability to make other friends just because someone was mean to me.”
“Bruh. I would literally invade a small country if the king looked at you wrong.”
“I wouldn’t even know if he was so?—”
“No. Don’t deflect.” Gage’s voice was more tense than usual, and Lucas immediately realized something was wrong.
“What did he say?”
Gage cleared his throat. “Well, let me preface it by saying that everyone came to your defense.”
That did not bode well.
“I don’t actually want to repeat most of it, but he wasn’t being very kind. And everyone thought it was bullshit.”
“But?” Lucas pressed. “Let me take a guess. They still invited him back.”
“Carly said it might be a good idea. That it’s a good way to teach him how to be a better person and suggested that maybe you come back so you can show him what he thinks about you is bullshit.”
“Excuse the fuck out of me?” Lucas’s face felt hot all over, and he pressed his hands to his cheeks. He could feel the edges of a panic attack creeping in. “I’m not some token to teach bad people how to be less morally fucking corrupt!”
“I know, babe. I told her to go fuck herself,” Gage said quickly. “I left after that. I told her to call me when they got their heads out of their collective asses. And I’m not interested in wasting what little time I have off tolerating them when I could be hanging out with you.”
Lucas did appreciate that. He loved Gage beyond all reason. He struggled to remember what life was like before they met. But it stung to know how quickly his other friends would dismiss him over someone…well.
Someone they’d consider normal.
Half their group was blind, but none of them were also autistic, and all of them had a little usable vision, where he needed all the accommodation. He was used to being left out since leaving his blind school, but he’d held a bit of hope that he’d found his people.
The grief wasn’t crushing, but it was profound.
“Maybe we should just quit, you know? We’re getting kind of old for these kinds of bullshit social games anyway, and?—”
“Only if you want,” Gage interrupted. “But hanging out with you helps me feel like myself. After everything back at school…” He trailed off, and Lucas didn’t press him to go on.
“Hey. I’m not going anywhere. I just don’t want to limit you because people find me, you know, off-putting.”
“Fuck anyone who feels that way.” Gage let out a soft groan. “Uhg, screw this. Wanna go to my dad’s for dinner? I don’t know who’s there, but I could really use a bunch of hugs right now.”
That was one invitation Lucas would never turn down. Especially with how shit the last twenty-four hours had been.
CHAPTER FOUR
LUCAS
In spiteof his former house burning down, Adele’s place was still kind of the hub for the family. Lucas wasn’t surprised when they walked in and he was immediately drawn into the very familiar arms of his dad’s husband.
