Page 33 of Loving Trent (Love in the Bootheel #5)

Now it’s my turn to say, “What the fuck?” The room is spinning, and I brace my hands against the floor to keep myself from tipping over.

My uncle just told another man he loved him.

Quickly, I run back through as much of our history as I can to find anything that I might have missed.

For fuck’s sake, I live with this man, but…

yeah, nothing. I have no memory of him ever bringing anyone home or speaking about his love life.

Uncle Joey takes my hands and shatters my image of him with two words. “I’m gay.”

“What?” I say again. It seems my brain is refusing to work.

There is no way that he’s gay, and I never knew.

How did he hide this from me for so long?

Was I so blinded by what I was going through myself that I didn’t see it?

I shake my head, trying to get all the confusing thoughts to slide into place, but it doesn’t help.

Uncle Joey let’s loose a slight chuckle. “I’m ga?—”

“I heard you. How didn’t I know this about you?

” I pull my hands out of his and start picking at the skin around my thumb, but Uncle Joey quickly stops me.

I haven’t done that in a long ass time. Back when I was younger, every time I was nervous or upset, I would pick at my skin until it started bleeding.

Why am I feeling like a bad person for not knowing something about the man who gave up everything to raise me?

Is it my fault that he hid it from me? Could I have done something different?

“I guess I hid it just as well as you did,” he says, smiling at me, but I don’t feel like smiling. No, once again, my nose is tingling, and a sour taste is in my mouth.

“This is fucking gold,” Harley says, which pulls Uncle Joey’s attention off me and onto her.

“How do you fit into all this?” He asks.

I scoot back so I can see both of them and breathe a sigh of relief that the attention is off me for a second. Harley shrugs her shoulders. “Easily. Trent here found me at a camp in Ohio and saved me. He gave me the option of what I wanted to do next, and I chose to live with him.”

“Huh?” Uncle Joey’s eyes bounce between me and Harley. This… this is something I can talk about, and it helps to quell that horrible feeling in my gut that I somehow fucked something up.

“I’ve been searching for the people who ran Camp Arrow for almost a year.

A couple of friends are helping me in the search.

We found out about the police in a small town in Ohio looking into a local camp due to a tip they received that the kids were being mistreated.

When I got there, I found Harley. Her story is the same as mine.

The only difference is she doesn’t have a cool uncle like I did to step up and take her.

By this afternoon, I’ll have all the legal papers I need to be her guardian,” I say, reaching out and taking Harley’s hand in mine to offer her anything she needs right now.

I haven’t had time to talk to her about what Demon found, but I will as soon as I recover from this conversation.

She looks at me and smiles that same smile that always makes me feel like I’m doing something right.

“Your parents?—”

Harley shrugs again. “They don’t want someone dirty like me.”

“I’m going to fucking kill them,” Uncle Joey says before leaning forward and pulling Harley to his chest. He looks straight at me. His eyes are no longer light blue, but they are dark. Almost sinister looking. “I’m going to kill them all.”

The sound of a car door shutting pulls our attention to the big window behind me.

We all watch a man pause next to a yellow Mustang.

He shakes his hands out and wipes them on his pants before looking up.

The first thing I notice is how short he is, and the second is how small he is.

But then, when I take a closer look, I recognize him. “Holy shit, that’s Ryan.”

“I know,” Uncle Joey says, but I can’t pull my eyes off the man I’ve known for years as my uncle’s best friend. No wonder the voice sounded so familiar. I’ve had plenty of dinners with this man over the last two years. He spent every major holiday with us. How did I miss this?

I point out the window at Ryan, who is walking up toward the front door. “That’s Ryan. As in Ryan, your best friend. Your business partner. How the hell did I miss this?”

A small knock on the door sounds through the house. Uncle Joey releases Harley and stands up. “I know,” he says as he heads to the front door.

“Do you know a guy is sitting out on the curb without shoes on?” Ryan’s voice floats through the house.

The fact that my uncle is apparently in love with his best friend and his business partner doesn’t matter anymore.

Shawn is still here. He’s sitting outside without his shoes on.

I thought he would already be gone. I honestly thought he would have called someone to come get him.

My whole body aches to go to him, but I saw the panic in his eyes.

I pushed him too far… Hands reach out of nowhere and push me sideways.

I look over and see Harley glaring at me.

“What are you doing sitting here when he is sitting outside?” She pushes me again and keeps pushing until I have no choice but to stand up to get it to stop. “Get going. Go figure out what is going on with him.”

“But—” I look over my shoulder to see Ryan and Uncle Joey standing in the hallway, hands intertwined and their gazes on me.

“No buts,” Harley says, standing up and heading straight toward me. She plants her hands in the middle of my chest. “Go,” she pushes me backward. “Fix,” another push. “This.”

“Fine, just stop pushing me,” I say, turning around and walking toward the front door. I put on my shoes, grab Shawn’s, and pick up my coat.