Page 42 of Fanboy in the Falls (Devon Falls #3)

“Hi, Gabe!”

Max’s cheerful voice on the other end of the phone makes me smile.

Who would have thought that spilling all your secrets to a reporter, the same secrets you’ve protected for years, would end up feeling like talking to an old friend?

When Tom called Max and he showed up at the door of the cabin, I was so nervous I was actually shaking.

But Max immediately started making jokes about signing my cast, and then he started wondering aloud why he was the one signing when I had two famous guys sitting right next to me, and the next thing I knew we were all laughing and he was telling us stories about the two giant firefighters he’s dating.

It turns out they first met when he accidentally sent them a very NSFW text, and that story’s one I won’t be forgetting anytime soon.

So, yeah, it wasn’t long before I was shaking with laughter, not nerves. And by the time he left, I could have been saying goodbye to an old friend. He even invited me to grab a beer sometime so we could discuss the pros and cons of dating two very large, overprotective men. I said yes, of course.

I’m not so worried about what that article’s going to say anymore. What the rest of my future, and Lou’s, really hinges on is what Dave does when he reads this article.

But that’s the risk I took, for me and Lou, when I decided to talk to Max. I’m not living in shame anymore, and I’m not going to let my little brother spend his life in it.

Now we fight, I said to Colin and Tom the day we called Max. That’s been my new morning affirmation ever since that day.

I can do hard things. I can fight for the people I love.

Once or twice I’ve wondered whether it’s time to expand that definition beyond Lou. But it’s too early to even think about the word love when it comes to Colin and Tom… isn’t it? I mean, I’ve been dating the two of them for about ten minutes. And they’ve been dating each other for about five.

“Hey,” I say to Max. I’m on the lounge chair of the back patio of the cabin, next to the hot tub, sitting up with my leg stretched out across multiple pillows Colin piled under it while he makes lunch.

We knew the article was coming out today, and I woke up feeling like a nervous wreck again.

Colin and Tom have been plying me with food and hugs all morning. “What’s up?”

“I just sent that article over.” Max coughs.

“And I just want to say thank you again, to you and Tom and Colin, for all the vulnerability the three of you showed me during our interview. I took that vulnerability seriously, Gabe. I promise I did. I respect the hell out of all three of you. Oh, and I ended up interviewing Dellie separately. They had plenty of their own stories to tell about that movie set. I’m writing a different article about what happened at The Good Sword, but it’s running in the same issue as the piece I’m sending over now. ”

I put him on speaker while I open up my email tab and pull up the article he’s sent over. And there’s the headline.

THREE’S NOT A CROWD AFTER ALL

A smile slowly stretches across my face as I start reading. The most important and meaningful time period of my life to date lies across the screen in my words and Tom’s and Colin’s.

I can do hard things. I can fight for the people I love.

I take a deep breath, and I read on.

The article tells the story of the fire and the inn and the renovations.

The story of what happened to Tom at The Good Sword.

Tom’s quoted there. “It took these two men, and what we’ve found here, the three of us, for me to remember that the way we stand up for each other in society matters.

I needed to remember that there’s never any shame in standing in support of another human so that all of us can live our best, most productive life.

The relationships we build, the way we take care of each other and show up for each other against hate and misunderstanding: those are the accomplishments I want to leave this world with. ”

I blink back the tears at the corners of my eyes as I move through that paragraph and onto where Colin talks about what really happened when he left racing.

“I knew I needed to leave racing. But I wasn’t ready, then, to talk about why.

Explaining about all the ways my brain was fucking up as I grieved?

That seemed like my own personal hell. So I ran as far as I could from the public eye and I hid.

But I don’t want to hide anymore.” I remember the way he looked back and forth between me and Tom as he said that, and I smile.

“What do you think,” Max asks softly, “of what I wrote about you and Lou? I kept everything really general,” he adds. “I wanted to make sure I respected your boundaries and Lou’s and didn’t cause any problems with the investigation or any future custody battles.”

I keep reading.

And I keep blinking.

It’s impossible to talk with Gabe Gomez without learning everything there is to learn about the younger half-brother who’s influenced and changed so much of his life.

"He’s everything to me," says Gabe. "All I want is to be a good role model to him. But I’ve been afraid for a while now to show him that it’s okay to love and be who you are in public.

I hid that I like people of all genders, not just women, because some people don’t understand that.

I didn’t want anyone to find out that I was dating two men, because some people most definitely wouldn’t understand that.

" Gabe pauses, and it’s written all over his face what his secrets have cost him.

Then he clears his throat. "But," says Gabe, "that’s not being a good role model. My little brother needs to know that people don’t need to understand how he loves or what he loves to appreciate him for who he is. And it’s time for me to be the role model who teaches him that. ”

“Oh, wow,” I say. “Max. This is…"

“I know,” he says. “I’m an incredibly talented writer.”

I burst out laughing as I read over the paragraphs again. “You told our story exactly the way I would have wished for it to be told. I can’t believe,” I whisper, “that I did this. That I told the world everything.”

“The publication is a pretty small one, like I told you,” Max reminds me.

“But since no one’s seen Colin in public in years, and since The Good Sword is a big franchise, both pieces got picked up by some larger outlets pretty quickly.

They’re already going viral, Gabe. So, yeah. You told the world.”

I draw in a long, deep breath and let it out. I can do hard things.

I glance back through the patio doors, where Colin and Tom are standing at the kitchen table spreading mayo on sandwich bread. I can do hard things.

And I don’t have to do them alone anymore.

“You said Jack and Benson are coming?” I ask as Tom ties my bow tie. I’m still not sure how, exactly, he and Colin magicked up a suit for me to wear tonight. I’ve never owned one. Sort of makes me wonder if they’ve been measuring me in my sleep.

“Yes,” Colin answers for him, as he slides a shoe onto my good foot.

The suit pants didn’t fit over my cast, so I’m wearing black track pants with the jacket, but Tom insists I look dapper.

He slides a giant black sock onto the foot that’s casted so it doesn’t get cold.

Both of them seem to like dressing me while I’m injured, and maybe that should make me feel weird. But it doesn’t.

It just feels like they care about me.

“They were always invited to the opening of the tasting room,” Tom adds as he finishes with the tie and leans over to kiss my forehead. “Most of the town will be there, plus some of Colin’s racing friends.”

“Because they love booze,” Colin agrees as he stands up straight. “And Claire says she loves, and I quote, ‘weird small town festivals that celebrate dead plants.’”

I snort.

“Anyway,” Colin goes on, “yeah, Jack and Benson will be there. But I heard through our very well-connected grapevine that Malachai didn’t want to come tonight, so he’s watching Lou.”

I can’t decide if that makes the pit in my stomach bigger or smaller.

It’s been three days since the article came out, and the only thing I’ve heard from the social worker is that Dave is back in town and that their investigation is ongoing.

He also told me Lou is doing well with Jack and Benson and that he misses me.

I was really hoping to at least catch sight of my brother tonight, even just for a second. But that’s probably not allowed.

“Are you worried?” I ask them. “About being out in public again now that the article’s out?”

Colin plops down on the other side of me, and just like that I’m a Colin-and-Tom sandwich. Just the way I like it. “I guess, in a way,” he says simply. “Sort of feels like the start of a race, for me, actually. Like everything in front of us is nothing more than possibilities.”

I smile. Possibilities. I like that.

“Ah, that’s a lovely way to think of it,” Tom agrees. “And we’re in the first place starting position.”

“Pole position,” Colin corrects him.

“How do you not know that?” I ask Tom. “Didn’t you go to like a bazillion of Colin’s races over the years?”

Tom scoffs as he leans over to kiss my cheek. “Little fox, do you know how many gorgeous and charming people are at those races? Believe me when I say that terminology was the last thing on my mind.”

Colin snorts, but he’s smiling.

My phone buzzes with a text, and I feel every inch of my stomach start to turn inside out as I read the words that have appeared on the screen.

It’s a text.

From Dave.

“Holy shit,” I whisper.

Colin and Tom both lean across me to look at the screen. “Is he even allowed to text you?” Colin demands.

I frown. “I bet the social worker told him not to.” But there’s no way in hell I’m not reading this text. I click on the notification and hold the phone out for both my—boyfriends? Still feels weird to call them that—to see.

Dave

Saw the article. I’m tired of all this legal bullshit. Let’s talk, kid.

“Oh, hell no,” growls Colin. “If he thinks he’s getting anywhere near you, then I—”

My phone pings with another text before Colin can tell us everything he’s got planned for my ex stepfather.

Dave

I hear you’ll be at the opening of the tasting room tonight. I’ll be behind the winery at 7:30. I hope to see you there. No fucking social workers or sheriffs or reporters, just us.

Colin and Tom immediately start chattering together above my head, about social workers and legal protocols and Benson and Ellie’s legal proceedings, but I’m too focused on the next text that comes through.

Dave

It’s what your mother would have wanted.

And just like that, I know exactly where I’ll be at 7:30 tonight.

Because I can do hard things. I can be like Tom was in that bar, standing up for what’s right and for what people deserve.

I can fight for the people I love.