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“You didn’t want to know?” Wes asked her.

“We found out before but decided we wanted it to be a surprise this time,” she told him.

“Not me. I couldn’t handle that. I’m thinking it’s a boy, though. You said you were naming him, Braden, right?” he teased Yvonne, who threw a pillow at him.

“I’m thinking one Braden is enough in this family.”

“You can say that again!” Evan added.

“Hey. What’d I do?” Braden hung one of his arms over Wes’s leg, surprised when the man laid a hand on his shoulder.

“You almost gave me a heart attack, more than all your brother or sisters combined,” his mom said. “We never knew what you were going to do or say.”

“And that’s a bad thing?” he asked.

“I didn’t say that.” His mom looked at Wes, then back at Braden. “You may have always been surprising us, but we were always proud of you, too. You’ve never been one to back down to anything. You’ve always been a strong, honorable man.”

Wes squeezed his shoulder and Braden looked up and winked at him.

“I took him to a basketball game when he was...oh, I don’t know, about eight,” his dad said.

“No, nine,” Mom confirmed.

“Close enough.” He rolled his eyes at her with a smile. “So we’re at this game and the cheerleaders come out. Braden says, ‘Wow dad, they’re pretty.’”

Braden dropped his head back on Wes’s lap, unable to believe they were going there.

His dad continued. “I told him yes and agreed. A minute later the team comes out, and this time Braden looks at me, dead in the eyes at nine years old, and says, ‘Number twenty-one...he’s cute, too.’”

Wes’s hold on his shoulder loosened and Braden held his hand up, latching their fingers together. “Wow. They’re trying to impress you for me. They’re giving you my coming-out story,” he teased, and Wes’s grip tightened again.

“What did you do?” Wes asked his dad.

“Well, I about swallowed my tongue first. I wasn’t sure what to say, but as I looked at him, I saw it, saw that he was testing me in a way. He was being honest, but he wanted to know it was okay, wanted to make sure I was okay. I’m not going to lie and say I wasn’t confused, but he’s my son, so I wasn’t going to let him down, either. I told him yeah, that I could see how someone could think that. I told him it was okay for
him
to think that.”

“Then he tells his dad, ‘I know.’ Can you believe that?” his mom added, and everyone in the room laughed.

“Then he grew up and dated every girl in our high school, including all my friends.” Lizzy raised a brow at him.

“Hey... Not
all
your friends.”

She rolled her eyes but it was Wes who spoke. “All women?”

Braden looked up at him again and nodded. “It wasn’t as if we had a bunch of guys who were out at my high school.”

“It had been so long since that basketball game and he’d never mentioned anything again.” His mom set her hand on his dad’s leg. “It didn’t matter to us either way, but we just assumed the comment had been, I don’t know, confusion, maybe? As I’m sure you know, Braden had more surprises for us, though.”

Wes laughed, still holding his hand. “Why am I not surprised about that? What he do then?”

“He came home one day his senior year in a horrible mood. He’s so easygoing we almost never see him mad, but that day—”

“I was pissed.” He had been.

His mom picked up the story again. “I asked him what happened, and he said there was a boy at his school who they found out was gay—Gavin, great boy. I’d never heard of him at the time, though. He wasn’t someone that Braden spent time with.”

“He was in the band,” Braden told Wes.

“He was a shy kid, but so sweet. Everyone was giving him a hard time when they found out, though, Braden’s friends included, teasing him and such. So I asked Braden what he did, and he looked me in the eye, shrugged and said, ‘Asked him to prom.’ I won’t say I wasn’t worried. His father and I told him that, too. There are a bunch of—excuse my language, but...ignorant assholes out there. I was worried that he didn’t know what he was doing, or that he’d done that just for Gavin. But he told me, sat me down and told me, ‘I like boys, too, Ma.

“That was all we needed to know. Sure we were still worried, but we were proud as hell of him at the same time. The school fought him, but he took that boy to prom. I don’t know how he realized it, but he knew that if he accepted Gavin, others would, too. Gavin never hung out with Braden when he was with his friends—too different—but they accepted him because Braden did. They accepted Braden with a boyfriend, and they never gave Gavin trouble after that. Bless his heart. It wasn’t as if that poor boy didn’t have enough to deal with.”

Braden tugged Wes’s hand and Wes leaned over him. “See? You landed yourself a pretty incredible man.” He winked and Wes smiled. He’d never get enough of that smile.

***

“A
conceited man.” Wes shook his head but kissed Braden on the forehead before sitting up again.

“I didn’t know Braden had a boyfriend in high school.” He looked at Braden’s family, fully knowing where Braden got his traits from. They were good people, good people who loved their family unconditionally. He was honored to be there with them.

“High school and after. The dummy moved halfway across the United States with him after graduation,” Bill grumbled.

Whoa. He didn’t know that. Not that it mattered, but he didn’t expect it.

“Oh, Bill. Stop it.” Emmy smacked his leg. “Gavin is a good man, and it wasn’t halfway across the United States.”

“I never said he wasn’t, I just always knew he wasn’t the one for Braden. Don’t pretend you didn’t, either.”

“Okay, I’m thinking that’s about enough of the Family Braden Hour. I went, I had fun. It wasn’t just for Gavin. You knew I never wanted to stay around here after school, Dad. That just wasn’t my thing. I always planned on exploring.”

“Here we go again,” Lizzy groaned.

So this was obviously a conversation they’d had before, and as much as Wes probably should agree with Braden and want them to stop, curiosity nagged at him.

“You have to admit, the way you did it wasn’t the best way, Brady. You came to us after graduation and said you were leaving in a couple days. I get it. I understand what Gavin was going through, and I know you. That’s what you do. When someone needs you, you’re there. You jump right in and do whatever they need, even if it’s not what’s best for you. You’ve always been the first to make sacrifices like that, because you have this strong sense of honor. But you know it hurt us, too. And you know deep down you made yourself think you cared about Gavin more than you did, because he always felt like he needed you.”

With each word that Emmy spoke, Wes’s gut sank deeper.

Braden’s vow from earlier slammed into Wes.
That’s not me. I don’t walk away. I won’t leave you.

Was he with Wes because he wanted to be, or because that’s just who Braden was? From the beginning, he’d been the first one try and help Wes out—because of what? The sense of honor that his parents spoke of? Because from the way they made it sound, that’s the way he’d been with Gavin, too.

“There’s more to the story than you guys know, and that’s all I’m going to say about it.” There was finality in Braden’s voice that Wes had never heard from him before.

The family went on talking about other things, but Wes’s mind was still on what he’d heard. He head a heaviness in his chest that he’d thought long gone since things with he and Braden had gotten more serious.

Alexander had fallen out of love with him, yet stayed out of responsibility before just walking out one day, the same way his father had walked out on his mom. Not that Braden was in love with him—those words had never left his mouth—yet he’d stayed, stuck around, brought Wes and Jessie here because they’d needed him. What happened when Braden realized that wasn’t enough? When he didn’t want to be stuck in the kind of town he never permanently wanted to be in, or didn’t want the responsibilities that came with Wes? When he did what was best for him rather than what he thought was best for Wes and Jessie? Braden did a lot of thoughtful things, but that’s just who he was. He said he loved Jessie, and Wes didn’t doubt that. Still, he loved his family, yet picked up and left them. Is that where Jessie and he stood, too?

He hadn’t realized he squeezed Braden’s hand tighter until the man looked up at him, questions in his eyes. Wes shook his head as if to say he was okay, but he really didn’t know if he was. It made him nauseous to think of Braden being with them—of sticking around because that’s just what he did. That it was just who he was. He didn’t walk away when he committed to doing something. He needed Braden with him because it’s where he wanted to be.

Wes tried to keep his head in the game the rest of the night, but his mind stayed in the conversation Braden’s family had had.

Braden must have realized it, because when they were all saying their goodnights, he stopped Wes in the hallway.

“Hey, everything good?” he asked. Wes looked down, distracted by Jock, who sat at Braden’s feet.

“You never told me how he got his name?” he asked.

Braden’s brows pulled together but he answered, “I named him Tom when I first got him, but soon realized the dog had a crazy obsession with jockstraps. He got a name change pretty quickly.”

“Tom?” It wasn’t as if any of this mattered, and he wasn’t even sure why he’d brought it up.

“From
Tom and Jerry
, of course. What’s up with you, Wesley?” Braden stepped forward, boxing Wes between his body and the wall.

“Nothing.” He shook his head. “I just have a lot on my mind. I’m gonna hit the sack. I know we’re leaving early in the morning.”

Braden frowned but still stepped back so Wes could move. When Wes got to his bedroom door, Braden’s words stopped him. “Hey. I’m not going anywhere. Whatever you need, I’m here.”

He couldn’t help but wonder if he’d said something similar to Gavin.

––––––––

“M
om says you’re welcome back anytime. Lydia and the kids can come too, ya know.” Braden looked over at Wes as they drove back home. He’d been quiet since last night, though Braden wasn’t sure why. He was about ready for it to end, though.

“Your family is great. That’s nice of them.”

Which wasn’t a,
sure, I’d love to go!
Or even a,
we’ll see
.

Braden glanced into the backseat at Jessie, who was coloring. He had to bite his tongue not to ask Wes what the fuck was going on, but he knew it wasn’t right to do it in front of her.

The rest of the ride was just like the first part, sporadic conversation here and there, always started by Braden and Wes being hardly involved.

By the time they pulled into the driveway, Jessie was passed out in the cab, with Jock’s head in her lap.

“I’ll grab the stuff if you want to carry her in,” Braden said softly as not to wake her. 

Wes nodded. A few minutes later, Braden leaned against the back of Wes’s couch as the man carried Jessie to her bedroom. Jock jumped on the couch and laid down as if he belonged here.

“She stay asleep?” Braden asked when Wes came back into the living room.

“Yeah. She had a big few days. I’m sure she’s exhausted.”

Braden was, too, but instead of getting ready to go home, he asked, “You want to have a drink or something? Or if you want, we can work on Chelle’s room again.”

Wes’s eyes dulled with sadness. “No. I’m pretty tired. I was thinking about taking a nap, too.”

That was a hint if Braden had ever heard one. Too bad for Wes he planned to ignore it. “Hey. Come here.”

He thought for a minute Wes would refuse, but he ended up walking over to Braden. He wrapped his arms around Braden’s waist and leaned his forehead against Braden’s. Wes felt good there. He felt right.

“You sure everything’s okay? You’re being ‘Grumpy Wes.’ I thought we’d seen the end of him.”

Wes didn’t laugh like he’d hoped he would. “I just have a lot of shit on my mind.”

“Hey, this isn’t about Gavin, is it? You don’t need to be jealous, Wesley. It wasn’t serious with him. Hell, I’ve never really been serious with anyone—”

“Yet you left your family to move with him?” Wes cut him off too soon for him to add the “before.” “Why would you do that for someone you weren’t in love with?”

Braden shrugged. “Because it was the right thing to do. He wouldn’t have gone without me and he needed to go. Is that really what this is about? Yeah, Gavin and I dated. We weren’t serious but we dated, and he’s a good friend of mine. It wasn’t like...”
Like it is with us.
Why were the words still stuck in his mouth?

Wes pulled back. “That’d make me a pretty big asshole if I was jealous because of a past relationship. That’s not...” He shook his head. “I’m just trying to figure shit out. You know how I get. I just...just let me figure it out.”

Anger surged through him, squeezing in and filling all the space inside him. After spending five days with him, after Braden falling for him, he needed to figure shit out?

“Figure what out? You’ve been figuring things out since we met. Listen, I get it. I know you have Jessie to worry about, but I love that kid. You know I wouldn’t hurt her. I feel like I’m running in circles with you.”

Circles he thought had ended. Braden pushed around him, pacing the room. Didn’t Wes get it?

“I didn’t ask you to do that, Braden. You knew I had stuff going on. You’re the one who pushed.”

“Fuck you, Wes. Of course you didn’t ask me to do anything, because that would mean you gave a shit about something. We all know you can’t do that. God forbid you come out of that bubble you keep yourself locked in.”

Wes flinched as though Braden punched him, making guilt slam into Braden. “Fuck. I didn’t mean that. I—”

“Yeah, you did. If that’s how you feel, why the fuck stay?” Wes raised his voice but seemed to realize it. After he eyed the hallway, his voice lowered, but no less filled with anger. “Because that’s what you do, right? You stick around when you think someone needs the great Braden Roth. You make it better, whether you want to be there or not.”