I can feel her eyes on me the entire time.
She doesn’t say anything, but she doesn’t have to.
I dry my hands on a dish towel that’s already damp and mutter a tight, “Night,” to her and Dad.
Dad grunts without looking up. Mom forces a thin, brittle smile.
Troy opens the front door for me, and I step out into the cool night air like I’ve just surfaced from underwater. I suck in a deep breath, my lungs aching with it.
I make sure to keep space between us as we head down the porch steps.
The gravel driveway crunches under our boots as we walk toward his van, each step sharp and unforgiving in the quiet. The sound grates against my nerves. I keep my hands shoved deep into my jacket pockets, shoulders locked, gaze fixed straight ahead.
He unlocks the van with a soft chirp. The porch light spills across the hood, catching in the thin layer of dust. He pauses with his fingers curled around the handle, lips pressed tight, like he’s holding something back.
“Just say it,” he murmurs.
My head snaps toward him. “Say what?”
His jaw flexes. “You’re clearly angry at me, Ashton. So just say what’s on your mind.”
The words ignite like a match to gasoline.
“Of course I’m angry at you,” I snap. The volume surprises even me. “You knew how important tonight was to me, and it was a fucking disaster. You were a complete asshole—”
“A complete asshole?” he shoots back, brows drawing together. “Your dad’s the asshole, not me.”
I drag both hands through my hair, tugging hard enough that my scalp burns. “Fuck,” I breathe, the word shaking on the way out. “I can’t believe you.”
He reaches for me, instinctive, but I step back before he can touch me. I can’t be touched right now. If he does, I might either fall apart or say something worse.
“I won’t apologize for coming out to them,” Troy says, his voice quieter now but unyielding. “I won’t lie about who I am just to appease them.”
A humorless sound tears out of me. “This isn’t about appeasing them, Troy. This is about protecting me.” I gesture back toward the house’s glowing windows. “You think they won’t get suspicious that I’m suddenly spending all my time with a bisexual man? You might as well have outed me too!”
He crosses his arms over his chest, chin tipping up in defiance. “So straight guys and bi guys can’t be friends?”
I let out a bitter laugh. “News flash, Troy—no, they can’t. Not according to my parents. Not according to most of the people in this town.”
He tilts his head, studying me in a way that makes my skin feel too tight. “Well maybe,” he says slowly, “you shouldn’t care so much about what other people think and just start living for yourself for once in your goddamn life.”
I scoff. “It’s not that easy—”
“It is,” Troy interrupts sharply. “You’re an adult, Ash. Act like it.”
I shake my head, swallowing against the sudden sting in my throat. “You don’t know what it’s like.”
His nose scrunches. “What what’s like?”
“Having parents like them,” I say through gritted teeth. “Having a father who’s never once said a single positive thing about me. Having a mother who won’t grow a spine or stand up for me—”
“You’re right, Ash,” he cuts in, his brown eyes hardening into a glare. “I don’t know what that’s like. Because my mom’s dead, you asshole.”
Shit.
The anger drains out of my body all at once, leaving something cold and heavy behind. I inhale sharply and pinch the bridge of my nose.
“I didn’t mean it like that,” I say, my voice rougher now. “That’s not whatI—”
