Chapter 51
We rushed up the stairs and hurried inside, and he slammed the door and locked it behind us. Then he pretended to wipe sweat off his forehead. “Phew, we made it.” He kicked off his shoes and hung his keys on a hook next to the door. “Come on in. Make yourself comfortable. Please take off your shoes.”
I toed off my sneakers as I took in his home. It was one big room, running the entire length of the single garage. It was sparsely decorated, but personal. A huge desk with three monitors took up a substantial chunk of wall space to the right. On the left side, he’d pinned all Star Wars movie posters in a neat line, and—if I wasn’t mistaken—in chronological order. Beneath them, stood a low, rickety bookcase stuffed to the brim with books about computers and programming, and next to it a rolled-out yoga mat.
The opposite wall from the entrance was screened off with rainbow-colored drapes, and since I couldn’t see a bed anywhere, I assumed it was hidden behind the fabric. In the corner next to the door was the tiniest excuse for a kitchenette I’d ever seen. I doubted he could boil water and make toast at the same time.
“I know it’s not much, but it’s mine,” he said, voice bursting with pride and a touch of defensiveness.
“I like it. It’s very you. I’m a bit surprised by the yoga mat, though.”
“It’s good exercise.”
“I’m sure. What do your parents think about it?” The Byrnes were a very religious family and obeyed the word of the Lord to the letter…as long as no one tried to condemn any of Mary Byrne’s kids. Then all bets were off. Matt had told me about what had happened when Levi had come out at fifteen. Their pastor had suggested trying to pray the gay away. Mrs. Byrne had gotten redder and redder in the face as she’d listened to him, and then she’d spent twenty minutes yelling at him before storming out of the church, never to return. After that, they found a new, LGBT-friendly congregation where no one tried to convert Levi into something he wasn’t.
I’d always been in awe of that. My own parents still tried to convince me every time we spoke—which grew more infrequent with every passing year, I hadn’t talked to them since Christmas—that bisexuality wasn’t a real thing, and theywere supposed to be liberals.
“They wouldn’t care.”
“They wouldn’t?” Defending your child from someone who wanted to hurt him was one thing but practicing something so closely linked to non-Christian religions was different.
“You’re right. Maybe they wouldn’t approve. But they won’t say anything.”
“How come?”
Levi threw himself down in one of the two high-backed desk chairs and gestured for me to join him. He leaned his head back and flung his arm over his face.
“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t wanna,” I hurried to assure him.
“No, it’s…” He removed his arm and studied me where I was perched on the edge of the chair. “I trust you, Beckett.”
His words made my heart grew two sizes bigger in my chest and the corners of my mouth drew up in a happy smile.
“I…help out,” he said.
I had to force myself to focus on his words and not the fluttering muscle inside my ribcage. “I know.”
“No, I mean…financially.”
“Oh.” I pulled off the beanie and rubbed my hand over my hair. Wow. I sank back into the surprisingly comfortable chair.
He closed his eyes. “I have ever since my business turned a profit, which was more or less from day one. I’d already done work for a lot of people while I was in high school. They spread the word and came back for more. Before I knew it, I had more clients than I could handle. Me! Who was nothing but a kid fresh out of school. Overnight, I had a successful business. And I hadn’t spent a dime on marketing.”
That was…I hadn’t expected that. I put the beanie back on as I tried to collect my thoughts. There was no way Matt knew about this. He told me everything—even details about his sex life I’d rather not know about—and he would definitely have blurted it out to me if he found out.
“That’s very generous of you,” I said in a soft voice.
“Eh.” He shrugged and threw his arm over his face again. “I heard them talking. Mom was pregnant with the twins. She cried. They said they didn’t know how they would make it. Matt was at college and Esther got married when she turned eighteen and they were so relieved we were only seven left in the house. Now they were adding two more. Back to square one. It was a month before graduation and I made up my mind that day.”
“You…you are amazing.”
He lifted his arm a little and peered under it at me. “You think so?”
“I do!”
He lowered his arm again, but it didn’t hide the smile spreading on his face. “It’s not like I need the money. I save a chunk each month. I give them the rest. I live here for free. What more do I need? Besides, they give me a lot of leeway. I mean, look at all this space.” He straightened and gestured at the room with a sweep of his arm. “It could easily be converted to two rooms. Or even three. That way Luke and Samuel wouldn’t have to share.”
He had a point. I doubted that two guys in their upper teens enjoyed sharing a bedroom. “So why doyou have it to yourself?”
“I can’t work in the house. Too loud. And I guess they want to reward me?”
“Makes sense.” I leaned forward and after only a moment’s hesitation, I lay my hand on his knee. His body heat penetrated me through his clothes, and I wanted to keep my hand there forever, but I gave it a quick squeeze before I withdrew. “I’m honored you told me. I won’t betray your confidence.”
His hand fell to his knee and the spot where I’d touched him. “I know you won’t.” He opened his mouth as if to say something else but was interrupted by his phone. After a quick conversation, he hung up and apologized to me, saying he was needed in the big house.