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It gives me hope, but it also terrifies me for them at the same time. I know how this town is.
But I smile when I see them near the gym. They aren’t touching, but the way they’re looking at each other right now makes it obvious how much they love each other.
Coach Leighton heads off, but then Coach catches my eye and walks over to me. “Zach.”
“Uh, hey, Coach.” The man still intimidates me after all these years. I admire the hell out of him, and that was before he came out, apparently not giving a damn who saw it.
I didn’t get all the details, but Jameson told Adam it was quite the event in town and involved Oakley’s dad.
Maybe the town is starting to change.
“You playing basketball this year?”
I shrug. “Yeah. But only because it’s the last year. Football still has my heart.”
He chuckles and something about him seems somehow free. Just different from the surly man I’ve always known. I mean, don’t get me wrong, he still scares the hell out of me, but he seems lighter now.
“You okay?” His eyes bore into mine, and I swear there’s something he wants to ask me but doesn’t.
I don’t know if he maybe suspects I’m... well, gay... or if maybe he thinks that I could have a problem with him and Coach Leighton. But either way, I smile at him and nod. “I’m okay.”
“Good.” He smiles. “You need anything, you let me know, okay?”
I nod again. “Yeah. See you around, Coach.”
The rest of the day goes by so slowly, I want to poke myself with a pencil just to get some damn excitement. Seriously, I’m ready to graduate and be done. But I won’t let the Bates down and quit.
So I finish it out. Adam and I have basketball practice after school, but my heart isn’t in it. I’m ready to be home—in that little camper with Adam. So when we pick up the girls and bring them home, we’re in a rush to get back there, both of us on the same page.
“So what should we do?” Adam asks with a smirk when we toss our bags into the camper while we’re still standing outside.
“Hmm... how about you get your ass in there and strip down,” I say as I grab his hips and lean in and kiss him.
“Oh my God.” Shit. That wasn’t Adam. And it wasn’t me.
We both turn to see Anna standing on the trail leading to the camper and the house, her eyes wide and her mouth agape. “Anna.”
“I’m sorry. I just... I wanted to.” She’s flustered, and goddammit, I know better. I shouldn’t have kissed him outside the camper.
Adam looks more worried when he sees me freaking out than he is at seeing Anna. “Anna, let’s go for a walk,” I say and then look at Adam, hating how concerned for me he looks. I quickly peck his lips with my own, clearly surprising him, but I’m not sorry. “It’ll be okay.”
He gives me an uncertain nod but doesn’t stop me as I walk toward my sister and plead with her to hear me out. “I’m so sorry, Zach,” she starts.
I stop dead in my tracks when I meet her. I hear Adam head inside the camper and close the door, but I stare at Anna. “Why are you sorry?”
“Because I didn’t mean to spy.”
“I’m not worried about that. At all.”
She looks distraught, and I swear my heart is cracking. Anna means the world to me. So does Mary. Is she disgusted by what she saw? Is our childhood going to make this really damn ugly? I want to ask her so many things about what she’s feeling, but I’m terrified to hear the truth too.
“You and Adam?” she asks quietly.
I nod slowly. I know we’re keeping this quiet, but I’m not going to hide Adam when I’m outright asked. He isn’t my dirty little secret. “I’m in love with him, Anna. I have been for a long time.”
Her head bobs slowly as she appears to take in that information. “That makes sense. You look at him like he’s the whole world.”
I grin stupidly at that and can’t argue. “You aren’t mad?”
