Love and Chaos: A Growing Pains Novel (35 page)

“Can we get back on topic, please?” Roger’s stare had not left Peter. “We need to figure out what to do with this problem.”

“It’s not a problem,” Jace interjected calmly.

“Stay out of this, Jason, this doesn’t concern you.”

“He’s my brother
; it concerns me as much as it does you,” Jace fired back.

“How long have you known?” Demetri asked quietly, staring at his hands clasped on the table in front of him.

“For sure?” Peter asked back, just as quietly. “Just after high school.”

“Why didn’t you tell us?” his mom wanted to know.

“Because he knew it was against God, that’s why,” Roger spat. “He knew it would bring shame to this family. What do you think people will say, Rebecca? They’ll say, ‘There goes Roger’s faggot son’, that’s what they’ll say.”

“Dad, that’s too far.” Jace stood, his height and girth topping his fathers. “He’s your son. He can’t help his sexual orientation.”

“Oh, his sexual orientation—is that what they’re calling it? He hangs around with other men doing unspeakable things and flaunting disgusting behavior. I’ve been to San Francisco—I know what really goes on there!” Roger jammed his pointer finger onto the table. “No son of mine will be a gay under my roof!”

“He doesn’t live under your roof, dad,” Nick said quietly, his head lowered to match Demetri’s.

Roger’s gaze shifted to his mutinous son. A wild gleam lit in his eye. “Did you know about this, too, Nicholas?”

“
Jenn suspected. I kept it to myself.”

Roger nodded in determination. “That’s right you did. Because that is the sort of thing a person keeps to himself.”

“Why did you bring Cassie if…you know…” Demetri kept his gaze downward, but angled his head to show he was talking to Peter.

“I wasn’t sure I would say anything. But then she and Jace ended up liking each other, and I was keeping them apart, so I figured I had to go through with it.”

Demetri hunched a little more.

“And she was okay with this? Does she know?” Roger asked in an accusatory tone.

An intensity ran through the room that had everybody glancing at Jace. He turned to his father, his muscles going taut. “I would be very careful how you speak about Cassie, Dad.”

Roger’s face went from flushed to pale in one beat. He didn’t back down, though. Roger rarely backed down from anyone. Instead, as a man
who had wielded a lot of power in large companies, he shifted focus. “Well, regardless, I will not accept this. Peter, you will have to try harder.”

“At what? Pretending I’m something that I’m not?” Peter shot back.

His father stood rigidly, glaring. “You are not
gay!
Stratford men are not gay, do you hear me? And until you stop talking this
nonsense,
you will leave this house. Do you understand me? I will not have this talked about under my roof.”

“Now, wait a minute,” Becky spoke up, glancing at Roger. “That’s not fair, Roger. You can’t condemn him for something he can’t help.”

“Rebecca, you wouldn’t understand. That is just propaganda for people to feel special. They want us to applaud their differences as they prance around asking for government handouts and contracting AIDS. Well, I’m not buying it. It’s not natural and I will not have it. Maybe if he’s cut off he’ll think twice about his little rebellious streak.”

“Gay men don’t get any more handouts than anybody else,” Peter said into the table. “It’s not like I get a subsidy for liking another guy. If anything I get crapped on for it.”

“
Enough!”
his dad roared, pounding the table again. “I will not hear this. Get out of this house! Until you come to your senses, you are no son of mine.”

“I go, too.” Jace
stood and took a step back from the table. “If you don’t support him, dad, or at least ignore the things you don’t like, you divide this family. That’s your choice, but I back him.”

“Wait—“ Becky stood as Peter did, tears in her eyes.

Nick and Demetri both sat with their heads bowed, refusing to get involved. A heavy weight settled deep in Peter’s stomach.

“No, Rebecca, this is for the best.” Roger stood firm from his perch at the h
ead of the table, his hands shaking slightly right before he braced them on the table.

“Okay.” Peter turned to leave. Jace waited for him patiently.

“No!” Becky hurried around to the other end of the table, stopping Peter with a harshness he hadn’t heard from her since he was a kid. She stepped between Jace and Peter and faced Roger, one trembling hand on each of her boys. “For years I have heard that the home is the woman’s domain. Looking after the kids and keeping a welcoming home was always
my
duty. You brought home the money, and I kept up the domestic end of things. That was my
job.
Well, that makes me the boss of this house. And as the boss of this house, in charge of looking after my children, I say he stays as long as he wants.

“If you don’t like that,
Roger, well then, by California law I get half of everything you own, and I will take it. God help me, I will take it so my baby always has a place to come back to. Do you hear me, Roger? You will not chase my baby away from me!”

Nick and Demetri turned toward their mother with wide eyes and slack jaws. Roger’s
stance turned rigid, not sure what to say in the wake of his wife putting her foot down. It hadn’t happened in Peter’s memory.

Becky turned to Peter with tears in her eyes. “I am your mother, Peter, and I love you. You have a home, okay? You always have a home.”

Peter’s throat tightened up and a tear leaked out of his eye. He hugged his mother tighter than he ever had in his life. She’d stood up for him when she’d never stood up for herself. She threatened to leave the only thing she’d known for over thirty years to ensure he wasn’t locked out in the cold. That sacrifice spoke louder than words.

As Peter walked away, Jace clapped him on the back and said softly. “The first battle is always the hardest, but you have people on your side. He’ll come around.”

Peter nodded hopefully.

Cassie pulled up to Marcus’ house the next afternoon, having left early the morning after Peter broke the news to his family. Yes, they could’ve stayed. But since his parents had had a screaming match after the meeting broke up, he wanted to go, and she was thankful for it.

The good news was that Nick and Demetri
had both sought Peter out individually before he left. Nick had had more time to think on it, so he was a little more open to the idea, but even though Demetri had been blind-sided, and wasn’t wholly comfortable, he still shook Peter’s hand and wished him a good trip home.

“Home.” The sigh in Peter’s voice spoke volumes.

Cassie threw her car into park and sat for a quiet moment. “How do you feel with all the insanity six hundred miles away?”

Peter stared through his window at his and Marcus’ front door—even though Marcus hadn’t officially added him to the lease yet. “It went better than I
expected, all things considered. It’s just my dad, but Jace says that with everyone against him, he’ll come around enough to maintain control of the family. I doubt I’ll get any warm hugs, though.”

“But he’s not a hugger, anyway, right? Warm or otherwise.”

Peter huffed out a laugh. “True.”

“And at least now you don’t have to try to impress him. You could win a Pulitzer, or get really famous, and you still wouldn’t. That’s
gotta lift a weight off your shoulders, huh? Now you don’t have to strive for anything, and you’ll get the same reception.”

Peter laughed again as a large silver truck rumbled up next to them.

“What’s he going to do with his trailer?” Peter glanced out the window as Jace started backing into an open parking spot behind them. “Oh, he’s going to break them apart. Got it.”

“I thought he said that was the old truck? Three years old isn’t exactly old. And it’s a high-dollar truck. The man is smoking something.”

“Five years old, I think,” Peter clarified.

Cassie rolled her eyes. Jace had made out like the shiny Dodge with an extended cab, big tires
, and all sorts of lights and fixtures was some sort of beater. If this was the crappy ride, she hated to wonder what the nice one was like. She said as much.

“Very expensive. Mercedes convertible. Wasn’t his taste,
though. He bought it for her.”

“Is he rolling in money, or something?”

“Mostly, yeah. He makes the most out of any of the brothers, but is always labeled the screw up by my dad. Well, until me, I guess.”

Jace hopped out of his truck and walked to the back, probably getting set to unhook the trailer. “You’re not a screw up
,” Cassie said. “You’re sexually confused. You’ll see the light one day.”

“It
’s amazing that this is helping.” Peter looked behind him through the car to check on Jace’s progress. He looked back at his house. “What are we waiting for?”

“I want to watch Marcus as he meets your brother. It
’ll be priceless.” Cassie smirked, a strange sort of apprehension worming its way into her middle. She was happy to be home, but now she had to introduce Jace to all her friends. Which was exciting, and great, but it was do or die. Her friends judged harshly, and if they thought they were protecting her, they’d try to run him off.

“Are you trying to make me jealous, doll?”

Cassie laughed harder, needing jokes to loosen the tightness in the situation. “It will be equally priceless watching Jace’s reaction. He won’t know whether to preen or walk away. Bet you.”

Peter smirked as Jace got back into the truck and pulled forward again, the truck now detached from
the trailer and Harley. He’d packed up yesterday in zero time, wanting to provide a unified front with his brother and leave at the same time. He also didn’t want to send Cassie off alone, but he hadn’t admitted it. She knew the score, though. He was trying to stay tough, but she knew where they ranked as a couple. Woman in charge!

“Are you going to tell him about your millions?”
Peter asked.

The record screeched off the track. Cassie punched Peter in the arm before she
had the conscious thought.

“
Ow!” Peter rubbed his arm. “What was that for?”

“Don’t you mention that to him!
” She put her finger in his face. “I’m serious, Peter. Please don’t.”

“Why not? It’s a trust fund. It’s not like it’s drug money or anything.”

“I’ve gotten proposals directly after guys found out about that. I just…don’t want things getting weird.”

The roar of huge truck shut off beside them. Peter was still rubbing his arm. “When do you get it?”

“Next year when I turn thirty.”

“Cas
s, he has his own money—ow! Would you
stop!”

“Shut up, he might hear!”

Peter got out of the car with a scowl. As he walked away, he yelled at Jace, “Your lovely lady is paranoid, do you know that?” He stalked off toward the house.

Jace came around his truck, eyes delving into Cassie’s as she exited her car. He wrapped his arms around her middle. “What was that about?”

“He’s dumb. Ready to meet your new roommate?”

Wariness passed over
Jace’s face as he glanced after Peter. “What am I walking into?”

“There are no words.
After this, did you want to help me unpack after you put your stuff away, and then have sex with me? And then meet my friends K-Jaz? They’re out tonight and want to meet you. Or is this too sudden?”

Jace gave that beautiful smile that turned him from hot into freaking gorgeous. “Yes to all of those things.”

“You say yes now, but after you meet all the people close to me, you’ll probably run away screaming.”

Jace turned them toward the condo with his arm around her shoulders. “You forget what we just came from. I think we’ll be fine.”

They mounted the steps, his heavy arm feeling so natural across her shoulders—almost like they’d walked like that for years. Cassie paused at the door and rang the bell, leaning her body against Jace’s solidity. “You can stay with me as often as you want, too, you know. If you need a break from the circus inside.”

“Thanks, I—“

Jace was cut off by the door swinging open. Marcus stepped out with a flourish, a delighted smile taking over his face. “Well, oh my goodness, my pants are on fire. Look at
you!”
Marcus lounged in the doorway. “A stud to steal the sister of the young stud. How fitting!”

Jace’s
face turned toward Marcus slowly, shock barely hidden under his stoic expression.

“Cassie, darling, I see why you didn’t just bring him in. I love the showmanship. And isn’t he handsome, oh my
god
.
Very
masculine.” Marcus glanced down Jace’s body, making Jace go rigid with discomfort. “He might need a stroll through a clothing aisle, but this is promising. Hm.”