Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 73002 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 365(@200wpm)___ 292(@250wpm)___ 243(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73002 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 365(@200wpm)___ 292(@250wpm)___ 243(@300wpm)
Wells chuckled as Matty smiled back at him. He could tell Matty was internally freaking out, but Wells was proud of him. He was doing great, even if he had the look of flight in his eyes. “Well, we dated for almost two years, and then he broke up with me—”
“Because he wouldn’t come out to your family,” Wells added, and Matty shot him a look.
“I was gonna say that.”
“Oh, I don’t doubt you a bit,” Wells teased, and Matty glared as he looked back at Avery. She was smiling, though. She seemed hesitant, but at least she was smiling. Which was a good sign, he hoped.
“What made you come out now? You’ve been gay a really long time, haven’t you? Or are you bi? Not that it matters. Please don’t think I’m judging you—I’m not,” she insisted, and Matty shook his head. “I just wasn’t sure.”
“No, I know,” Matty said quickly, waving her off. “Though you have every right to.”
“Either way, I thought Mom said you were dating a girl a couple months ago.”
Wells’s shoulders snapped back as he looked over at Matty. “What?”
Matty swallowed awkwardly as he nodded. “Yeah, I dated this girl from high school, Marie, for a couple weeks, but it was only to please my mom. Nothing ever happened.”
“You didn’t tell me that,” Wells said after a moment, staring a hole in the side of Matty’s face. Looking over to him, Wells could feel Avery watching them, but he didn’t care. The fact that Matty dated a woman was something he should have told him. It was common fucking courtesy! Who else had he dated?
“She didn’t matter. Really, it was like three weeks of awkward dates and even worse kisses.”
Wells took a breath, letting it out in a harsh gust because he sure as hell didn’t like that. He hadn’t expected Matty to stay single, but with a chick? It didn’t feel right.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean—”
“Don’t apologize,” Wells said, meeting Avery’s gaze. “It had to come out.”
“It was nothing,” Matty reiterated once more. “I’m gay. Strictly dickly.” A moment of complete silence stretched between them, but then Avery laughed out loud, her body shaking with the emotion, and Wells felt his own lips curving. When he glanced over at Matty, he was giving Wells that stoic look he swore Matty had mastered. “Or better yet, strictly you.”
Shooting Matty a sideways glance, Wells looked back at Avery and smiled. “I guess I’m the same.”
“You are.”
Wells met Matty’s heated gaze. “I am.”
“Yup.”
“Wow.” They both turned to look at Avery as she beamed back at them. “I never thought I’d ever see you smile like that. You were always so unhappy when we were teenagers.”
Looking down at the table, Matty wrapped his hands around the beer, twining his fingers together. Wells could see the pain on his face, and it actually hurt him. “Because I couldn’t be who I wanted.”
“Because of Dad?”
He nodded. “Yeah. I don’t think he’ll accept me. He’s the fucking commissioner of the NHL, Av. I mean, come on.”
Avery bit into her cheek as she nodded. “It will be a shock, for sure. I mean, I’m not really shocked, but I knew even before I confronted you about it. And I’m sure Mom and Dad are the same.”
“No, they aren’t.”
She eyed him, shaking her head. “Well, I suspected, but after I talked to Caleb and he told me you did have a thing for him, I knew I was right. But you were so dead set on denying it when I accused you.”
“I think I pushed you that day too,” he added, and Wells had to look away.
“You did.”
“I was angry,” Matty said after a long pause. “I’d wanted so badly for Caleb to love me, to want to be with me, but all he wanted was you.”
Avery pressed her hand to her chest, her eyes widening. “I had nothing to do with that, he came after me—”
“I know,” Matty said, interrupting her. “It wasn’t you, it was me. I couldn’t handle the jealousy that was brewing inside of me. I couldn’t handle the fact that I couldn’t be who I wanted because I was scared. In no way does that excuse my actions, but believe me, if I could go back, I’d change it all.”
When Wells looked up, the siblings were holding each other’s gaze. “Why can’t you be who you want? Who cares if Dad doesn’t agree? You gotta be happy, Matty. You can’t hide and stay so angry. You hurt me.”
“I know—”
“No. Really,” she urged before slamming her arms on the table. Two intricately designed tattoos covered her forearms. Wells couldn’t get a good look before she turned back to Matty. “These tattoos cover cut marks, marks I inflicted on myself because I didn’t understand what I had done to be treated the way you were treating me.” When her voice started to crack, Wells had to look away. His heart ached for her. “I looked up to you. Though we are the same age, you are my older brother, along with Seth and Laurence. I wanted so badly to be great like you three, and I wasn’t. But in no way did I change. I was me, but when it got to be too much because of what I now know to be your actions, I tried to end it all because I was a coward.”