Chapter two

“That’s it, kid. You’re done for the day,” my Uncle Garrett says, knocking on the roof of the car I’m working on. I pull my head out from under the hood and see my giant of an uncle, arms crossed, looming over me. I check the time on the large wall clock Garrett made out of a hubcap and see that my shift is over.

I only work part-time at Garrett’s garage while I’m at Flora Vista University. I didn’t really want to do college, but Garrett said it would be a good idea and that one day, I might want to open my own shop. A business degree will look really good to investors. I’m happy working for Garrett, but I decided he was right. With all my tattoos and piercings, I might not look like the kinda person investors will want to take a chance on. Not that I really care, but I listen to my uncle.

He took me in when I was fourteen, and my parents decided they didn’t want a gay kid. Garrett is my dad’s brother. He adopted me, and a few years later, we moved out here after Garrett bought the shop from an old college buddy.

He’s done so much for me that I figure the least I can do is put his mind at ease by going to college.

It’s not really a hardship. I fucking ace my classes, there is a great queer scene, so I’m never without a hookup when I want, and my best friend is taking all the same classes.

Speaking of my bestie. A beat-up Honda Civic pulls into the lot and out struts Kait in her workout gear. She waves bye to the cute guy in the car before making her way over to us as he leaves the lot.

“I was going to stay a little longer, but I think I’m about to have plans,” I say to Garrett, chuckling. I unpin the hood and close it carefully. This baby deserves respect.

“You’re looking at that car like you want to make it eggs in the morning,” Kait says like butter wouldn’t melt. When I first met her the summer before my senior year of high school, I never thought she would become my ride-or-die. My person. The first thing she asked was if I was homophobic. She said I looked cool, but if I had a problem with gay people, we wouldn’t be friends. Once I told her I wasn’t and that I flew the rainbow flag with pride, she took me back to her place, and I had dinner with her queer dads while Lexi, her gay brother, was sick on the sofa. He looked like an adorable little puppy feeling all sorry for himself.

It was cool seeing a gay family. Not that I want to have kids when I’m old. I just liked seeing that it was a possibility.

When she said that she and Lexi wanted to go to Flora Vista University, I made sure I applied as well. When you find your people, you keep them.

“Who’s the guy?” I ask her, cleaning my hands with a rag.

“No one.” I raise my eyebrows, knowing she’ll cave. “He’s on the football team. Coach Phillips called everyone in, and I decided to stay and work out for a bit. He offered me a ride here because I thought we could have a movie night.”

She claps her hands together, smiling like we don’t already have weekly movie nights.

“It’s movie night tomorrow. Lexi will be pissed if we move it forward.”

“Not if you suggest it, but I wasn’t thinking that. I was thinking we’d just have two movie nights.”

“Something from the last five years?”

Kait rolls her eyes. “Sure.”

Kait and Lexi are obsessed with nineties movies. Especially teen movies. I would happily bet my life that they have seen them all. Fuck, I’ve probably seen them all, given the amount they’ve made me watch. Their dads are really into them, and it’s something they kept doing when they moved out and went to college. Kait and Lexi aren’t how I imagined twins to be. They both look completely different. Kait has light-blonde hair, while Lexi’s is dark chocolate brown. Kait is petite, and Lexi is built. He’s not the biggest guy on the cheer team, but he’s bigger than me and my lean frame.

“Okay, but—”

Before I can finish my sentence, I’m cut off by a notification from my phone. A very specific sound.

Kait shakes her head. “No, no, no, no, no. You already said you’d hang out with me. You’re not abandoning me for a hookup.”

“I would never. But can we remember that we hung out last night, and we’re already hanging out tomorrow night? So I wouldn’t be abandoning you if I didn’t hang out tonight.”

“Stop talking logically. It’s weird,” Kait says with a smile. A throat clears behind me, making me jump.

“Forgot about me, huh?” Garrett asks quietly. Anyone who doesn’t know us might think he’s pissed off at me, but I know he isn’t.

“As if anyone could forget about you, Garrett.” Kait smiles at him, making Garrett roll his eyes.

“How are Lexi and your dads doing?” Even though Garrett and Kait’s dads are all queer men, they’ve never really become friends. I think that’s mainly because Garrett is a big old introvert. He pretty much only talks to me and the rest of the guys who work here. They always get along when we hang out, like for Thanksgiving, which we usually spend with Kait and Lexi’s parents. I wonder what we’re gonna do this year. It’s still a couple of months away, so that’s not something I need to worry about.

“My dads are good. They miss us, but Pa loves being closer to the beach and Dad is so happy in his new job at the local high school. And Lexi is fine. He’s killing it on the team.”

“That’s good. Say hi from me the next time you talk to them.” Garrett turns to me. “Enjoy your evening. I want to have dinner soon, okay?”

“Sure thing.” I grab my stuff, and we say goodbye before making our way to my baby. My ’95 Ford Thunderbird SC.

“So,” I say, buckling my seat belt. “Don’t think I didn’t miss the way you totally changed the subject earlier. What’s going on with the football player?”

“I might be considering adding him to my roster.”

“Your roster of men?” I chance a quick look at her from the corner of my eye.

“Yup,” she says with the same confidence she has when she’s cheering.

“And what number would he be?” I ask curiously.

“One”

“Is that because he’d be the only man on there?”

“Fuck off,” she says, laughing. I love being right. “There is the opportunity for more men to be added.”

“Okay, but make sure Sammy and Liz vet the guys you add.”

“I’m glad you didn’t suggest you vetting them.”

“Oh, fuck no. I’d pick you out of all the crazies.” Another reason why, when it comes to men, I’m here for a good time and not a long time. All the guys I go for are toxic as fuck. Kait laughs, but it’s not like they wear their red flags with pride. Well, I guess some might.

Whatever.

It’s not like I’ll be getting into a relationship anytime soon.

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“Hey, Kait,” I say from my corner of the sofa, where I’m already snuggled under blankets after we’ve returned to her place. Todd, Kait’s Pa, is amused by my obsession with Kait’s fluffy blankets. He says it’s like that meme of the biker at a toddler’s tea party. One Christmas, Lexi bought me my own black fluffy blanket that I fucking love. Lexi and I get on okay, but I hadn’t realized he noticed shit like that. I still sleep with it on my bed.

“What’s up?” she says, flicking through whatever streaming site she’s on, looking for a movie.

“Is everything okay with Lexi?”

She pauses and looks at me, eyebrows knitting together. “Yeah, why?”

“You said he was fine earlier. You only use that when shit isn’t fine.” She shrugs and returns to the TV.

“He hasn’t said anything to me. He’s just a bit quiet lately. I’m pretty sure he’s okay.”

“Shouldn’t you check? Do we need to call your dads?”

She smiles at me reassuringly. “Lexi wouldn’t tell me if I asked, and my dads will be down soon, so we don’t need to call them. Lexi has the cheer guys. If I thought something was seriously wrong, I’d ask him…or them.”

I don’t get the chance to say anything else because, at that moment, the man himself walks through the door, wearing a stained shirt.

Lexi frowns. “You’re watching a movie? It’s not Thursday.”

“Thursdays are for nineties movies. We’re watching a movie from this century.” I smirk at him, making him roll his eyes.

“Fine, so what are you watching?” he asks.

“Captain Marvel,” Kait says, not bothering to look up from her phone. I turn my head to look at her so fast that I swear I have whiplash.

“Kait, that’s set in the nineties!” I whine. “I am fully on board with the Hart siblings’ obsession with nineties movies, but I was really hoping for a movie from this century.”

“It was made in this century. Just most of it is set in the last one,” she says, finally looking at me.

“Semantics,” I scoff, crossing my arms. “Lexi, who do you think is right?” I give him my best puppy-dog eyes that usually get me whatever I want. Lexi grits his teeth and looks away quickly.

“Yeah, I’m not getting between the two of you. Night.” He stalks out of the room and heads upstairs.

I turn to Kait. “That was weird, right?”

“He clearly didn’t want to upset you by admitting I was right.” She shrugs, looking smugly at me.

I just roll my eyes and let Kait put the movie on.

I find it hard to get into the movie. The look on Lexi’s face plays in my mind. I don’t know why it’s bothering me so much. He’s usually so chill that it worries me when he seems upset. I imagine it takes a lot to upset him. I’m probably overthinking this. He didn’t want to hang out, and that’s fine.

The next time I see him, I’m going to try to make him smile.