Page 169 of Jump Back On

"Ok," I said as I found my crew again. "Please tell me we can get out of here now?"

"Just lead the way," Dad told me.

But Max flapped his hands at his sides. "Cody, I still need to talk to you."

"Yep, outside," I agreed. "Someplace I can actually hear you."

"Sounds good," he agreed.

Then Tanner tossed his arm over my good shoulder. "So," he said, "how does it feel to be the man of the hour?"

"Shit," I drawled. "Woman, and I'll take it, because I was sure this was going to be my last weekend here."

"Not by a long shot," J.D. promised just as we reached the door.

Dad held it open, so Tanner and I walked through first, me still tucked in at his side. But we were barely out in the darkness before a pair of people waiting at the side stopped us, making all of my excitement vanish in an instant.

"Tanner?" I turned to see his parents. "We've been trying to call you. We saw the news!"

Then his father stepped forward. "Are you gay?"

"Shit," Tanner breathed.

Chapter61

"Are you gay?"Tanner's father demanded, grabbing Tanner by the shirt and pulling him away from me.

"Hey!" J.D. barked, stepping forward.

But my dad pushed his arm in front of J.D., stopping him. "You aren't in any shape to start anything," he snapped.

Tanner, however, didn't seem to need help. Turning his shoulders, he snapped his jersey out of his father's grip, then pushed in until the pair of them were face to face. Behind Paul, Tanner's mother, Lisa, had a hand pressed to her lips, looking horrified.

"Paul, you said you just wanted to ask!" she gasped.

"You know what?" Tanner asked. "No, I'm not gay. I'm pansexual. Yeah, Dad, I fuck men. I also don't care if you like it."

"Shit," Grace breathed. "Max, this isn't for us."

"You're family," J.D. told her. "Means it kinda is for you. You've had our back all weekend, Grace."

But Paul hadn't paid attention to any of that. His eyes were locked on his son, and his face was turning red with either rage or frustration. "You brought that girl to dinner with us, and then you just walked out! What was that, some kind of joke to you?"

"Girlfriend," I told him. "See, that's what pansexual means."

"It means gay!" his dad roared.

"Oh, fuck off already," Tanner groaned. "You know what, Dad? You wanna know why I don't come home anymore? This. This right here is why. Wanna know something else? I don't fucking need your approval." Then he turned his eyes on his mother. "Or yours, Mom. Because you're going to have some kind of panic attack about how this will look and what people will think. Well, you know what?"

"Don't you talk to your mother like that!" Paul Burns insisted.

"Don't you talk to him like that!" Dad growled, moving forward and pushing Tanner behind him. "You got a problem with him dating men, do ya?"

"Who the fuck are you?" Paul demanded.

My daddy just smiled. "Dean Jennings, and I'm Tanner's dad now. If you don't want him, and you - " He looked over at Lisa. " - can't appreciate him, then I'm taking him. That man's the kind who deserves some respect, and yes, fromyou."

"Dean," Tanner said softly.

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