Page 31 of Awakening the Sheriff

“No!” His face flushed, and he slapped the paint on the wall with force. “I don’t want everyone to know my dad’s gay. That’s why I hit Gabe.”

That was why he’d hit him? Poor Gabe. He’d only been trying to make Byron feel better. I’d have to tell Fir what had happened. Gabe might need some counseling after that incident.

“Byron, kids can be cruel, but there are worse things than having a gay dad. And besides, your dad’s not gay. He’s bisexual.”

“Same difference. It doesn’t matter what you call it. Kids at school think he’s gay because he’s…well, he’s not like the other dads.”

“I’m not following. What do you mean?”

“Most dads in town do stuff like hunting or fishing with their sons. They watch football or baseball, go to games, or play outside together. My dad? He reads poetry and talks about Shakespeare. He doesn’t even know how to change a tire, and he dresses in those stupid formal shirts with freaking bow ties. Who does that? It’s like his fashion sense got stuck in the fifties or something.”

Damn. I would never have guessed in a million years that Byron’s frustration with his dad originated with Keaton’s sexual identity. How on earth did I navigate this? I could understand his embarrassment to a certain degree, but that was a hell of a lot of judgment toward his dad. Didn’t he understand Keaton needed to be himself?

“There’s no one way to be a man, and there’s nothing wrong with your dad being himself. Even if that means he’s a little different from most folks.”

“A little? I wish he’d be more…normal. I want to fit in with the other guys at school, but how can I when they all notice he’s different?”

“And they’re judging him for it?”

He frowned. “What do you mean?”

“There’s a difference between them speculating he’s gay and judging him and calling him slurs.”

“Why does it matter?”

“You know Gabe has a gay dad. He had two before his other dad died of cancer. And his dad is Fir Everett, our local doctor. Everyone in town sees him, even though he’s gay. And”—I made a quick mental apology to Fir, but I was pretty sure he wouldn’t mind me using him as an example—“he’s never been super masculine. He was in my class from kindergarten all the way through senior year, and we all knew he was gay. No one said anything, but we knew. And, by the way, so were two of my best friends. You know the Banner twins, Tomás and Tiago?”

His eyes widened almost comically. “Of course I do. They’re, like, super famous and shit. You know them?”

“They were in my class as well, and they just moved back to town. Or, at least, Tiago did. He’s gay and in a relationship with Cas, a local contractor.”

“What’s your point?”

“My point is that this town is pretty damn accepting. And statistics show that kids are more liberal than their parents, your generation especially, so I’d be surprised if you encountered true homophobia.”

“You don’t understand!” Tears formed in his eyes. “It’s not about him being gay or bi or whatever. What if they find out that he…?”

“That he…what?”

He looked at the floor. “That he goes to Seattle for whole weekends to have sex with men.”

Holy shit, he knew about that? I was certain Keaton wasn’t aware. He would’ve told me if he’d suspected Byron knew.

“How do you know about your dad’s trips to Seattle?” I asked, trying my best to hide the shock in my voice.

“Overheard him on the phone once,” he muttered. “He was talking to some guy he’d met up with.”

Okay, time to get brutally honest with him. “You’re sixteen, right?”

He nodded.

“Have you had sex yet?”

His cheeks flushed crimson. “That’s none of your business! And it’s, like, inappropriate to ask.”

“But you feel it’s okay to talk about your father’s sex life and judge him for it?”

He bit his lip. “That’s different.”

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