Chapter Twenty-Six

Perry

I'd wanted to tell Theo about the eye thing but didn't have a chance…and also that I'm crazy in love with him, but isn't that something I shouldn't say after the best sex of my life? What if he thought I'd only said it because we'd just fucked? What if he didn't feel the same but then felt obligated to tell me because I'd just had my dick in his ass?

I'd also wanted to tell him how inspiring he is to me. How I want to be like him, that I want to go to college and follow my dream and give my father a chance. Because if I do, then at least I would know I did my part, and if he fucked it up again, there's nothing I could do to change it.

But I hadn't done any of that. He'd fallen asleep, and I'd lain here all night, tossing and turning, while all these thoughts rained down on me.

The sun is beginning to peek through the blinds. I shouldn't be awake right now, but hey, I also should have slept more than five minutes last night, and that didn't happen either.

Having my dick inside someone I love was indescribable. None of the other sex I've had compares.

I roll over, wrap my arm around him and try to get some sleep, but seconds later, there's a loud bang, bang, bang on my bedroom door.

"Perry! Get up! It's Dad! He's in the hospital!" Ty yells, trying the doorknob, but it's locked.

I shoot out of bed, heart in my throat. No, no, no. Just when I decided to try and have a relationship with him, something happens?

I tug on the closest pants I can find, which happen to be Theo's. He's sitting up in bed now, half asleep but looking at me in concern as I open the door.

"Shit. Sorry. We gotta go. He's in San Diego. He might have had a heart attack or something." Ty's speaking too fast, frazzled, running a hand through his blond hair, before Brax is there, arms around his waist, pulling him close.

"It's okay, Lacrosse. He's gonna be okay," Brax soothes him.

"Wait. He's here?" He's in town, and I didn't know, but then, I refuse to talk to him, don't I? Every time Ty tries to bring him up, I shoot my brother down too.

"He's here for work," Brax tells me. "They were supposed to meet up for lunch one day, and your dad wanted Ty to bring you, but Ty didn't get the chance to ask you. I guess your dad was on his jog this morning and having chest pains. They took him in by ambulance."

All that sounds realistic. There's no reason to doubt it, but there's that stupid voice inside my head telling me he doesn't care about me, that he doesn't want to see me. He only wanted to see Ty. And now I won't get a chance to find out because he might be dying. For all the anger I have for him, I'd never wish this on him.

"Please come with me." Ty turns to me, his eyes practically begging. It's not like him at all. Ty doesn't like to come off as if he needs anyone…well, honestly, just like me. And though he hasn't made a secret of hoping I would try and forgive our dad, he doesn't push, but he's asking me now. "I need my brother."

"Yeah…for sure. Always. Just let us get cleaned up, and we'll meet you there."

"Thank you." Ty hugs me before jogging from the room. Brax gives me a look that's part sorry, but also thanking me for being there for Ty. Brax has his own complicated dad issues, so he gets it, but he would move heaven and earth for Ty, so he wouldn't have been happy if I'd said no.

Brax closes the door on his way out, and I immediately go to my dresser and start pulling out clothes.

"Hey," Theo says, but I don't answer. Don't know how to answer. My throat feels like it has a rock in it, my chest like the weight of the whole world is sitting on it. "Baby…" Theo says, his arms wrapping around me from behind. "I'm so fucking sorry."

Feeling him lessens the weight, nudges the boulder from my throat and makes it easier to speak. "What if he's not okay? I'd just decided I want to have a relationship with him, that I want to try and see if we can fix things between us. I was going to tell you last night but didn't get the chance. I want…I want a dad. I want my dad, and now it might be too late."

Tears fill my eyes, and I don't even try to hold them back. I don't have it in me not to be real with Theo, not to let him see all the parts of me, even the ones I keep locked away from everyone else.

"It's okay, Perry. He'll be okay. And I'm so fucking proud of you for making that decision. You deserve to have everything you want. I'm so sorry this happened."

I turn in his arms, hug him, and he runs his fingers up and down my back, through my hair. I listen to his comforting words, let them fill me up, let them give me hope. I can do this with Theo by my side. I need to do it.

"Will you go with me? I can't…"

"Yes, baby. There's nowhere I wouldn't go with you." Like I've done with him more than once, Theo holds my face in his hands so I have to look at him. "Nowhere."

There's so much more than just that word in what he's saying. I feel it, know it deep in my bones. Is now the time you tell your boyfriend for the first time that you love him? I feel guilty even thinking it when my dad is in the hospital and I don't know if he'll be okay. This moment isn't about me. It's about my dad. "There's nowhere I wouldn't go with you either."

We grab clothes and head to the bathroom, washing up quickly. Brax and Ty are already gone, so we go to Theo's car. I don't trust myself to drive right now.

My leg bounces the whole drive. I don't speak, don't have it in me, fear and worry creating a tsunami inside me.

As soon as we get there, we rush into the ER. I go to the nurse at the counter, heart in my throat, vision swimming. "My…" I can't even finish the sentence. I've never said my dad this or my dad that about anything in my life.

I grab ahold of Theo's hand, squeezing it tightly.

He reads the words I can't say in how I hold him. "His dad, Montgomery Langley, is here. He was brought in an ambulance with chest pains."

"Oh yes. Your brother and his partner are in there. We're technically only supposed to let two people back, but once your father realized you were coming, well, let's just say he wasn't taking no for an answer."

My heart skips a beat, maybe a few of them. "He wants to see me?"

Her forehead wrinkles, like she's confused by the question. "Of course he does, sweetie. Come on. Let's get you two back there."

I nod as Theo's other hand moves to my bicep, giving a gentle squeeze of support. She leads us through the ER and to one of the rooms, and slides the door open.

"Your son is here."

"Let him in. Please," I hear in a deep voice I recognize.

She offers me another smile and steps aside. He's got an IV in, is on oxygen and hooked up to an EKG. Every photo I've seen of him, he always looks so put together, so strong, but in this bed, he looks small…sad.

Ty steps aside so I can get closer, then pats my shoulder, leaving his hand there in case I need him. He's an awesome fucking brother, and I'm so damn lucky to have him.

"Thank you for coming. I'm…I'm so glad to see you," Montgomery says. Dad says? I don't even know how to think of him. It's already getting all mixed up in my head.

I don't know what I'm going to say until the words fall out of my mouth. "Are you going to be okay?"

"Yes. I am. I promise. I have both of my boys in the same room with me for the first time in my life, and I guarantee you, I'm going to stick around to make sure that happens as often as you'll allow."

I nod, words a traffic jam in my throat. I never believed anything this man said to me, but this time…this time I do, and I want to see what's going to happen on the other side of it.

"You must be Perry's boyfriend, Theo," Dad says. "Ty told me all about you. It's nice to meet you. Thank you so much for coming with Perry and supporting him."

My breathing comes out easier and easier. I'd imagined him not being able to speak, not being awake, but other than all the tubes, machines, and how tired he looks, he seems okay.

"It's nice to meet you too, sir, and…I'll always support him," Theo says strongly.

He will. I know that as much as I know I'll be taking my next breath.

There's a brief knock on the sliding door before it opens. A Black woman with braids—a doctor, going by the name tag—steps in. "Wow. We've got a full room."

"These are my sons, Ty and Perry, and their partners, Braxton and Theo," Dad says proudly…proudly. I always knew he would be proud of Ty, but I think he's proud of me too.

"It's good to have family with you, but you must have pulled some strings to get this many of them in here with you." She cocks a brow. "Can I speak freely in front of them?"

"Yes." Dad's voice trembles on the simple word.

"Your labs and EKG indicate you likely had a minor heart attack. We're going to take you straight to the cath lab for more testing. Depending on what they find there, you might need a stent put in."

"What's that?" Ty asks.

"It's to help open an artery if there's a blockage. I'm not saying there is, but they'll be able to find out more information there."

We all nod, quiet. The doctor tells Dad a few other things, then asks if we have questions, which none of us do.

"They'll be in to get you in a few minutes." She slips out of the room.

"Dad, I—" I'm sorry. I want to try to have a relationship with you. I'm good at tech like you…

"I know," he tells me as if I said any of those things out loud. "But we're not going to talk right now. All I'm going to say is I love you." He looks at me, then at Ty, before turning to me again. "Both of you. And when I get out of this hospital, we'll talk and say all the things that need to be said."

I nod, let out a shaky breath, and find the words I've always known were inside me but tried to pretend they weren't, the ones I was too scared to say because speaking them gave him too much power. "I love you too, Dad."