𝚆𝚎𝚍𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚍𝚊𝚢, 𝙹𝚞𝚗𝚎 𝟸𝟸𝚗𝚍
Griffin POV

Growing up around girls means that I've seen a lot of sappy stuff.

Our house was always the go-to sleepover spot for Roselyn and her possé in middle school. During those nights, I witnessed more chick flick and romance movies than I care to admit. Still, to this day, Mom and Roselyn are avid binge watchers of the Bachelorette, along with every other dating show that has been aired in the last ten years. I won't even begin to go into detail about the romantic bullshit I've seen Forrest and Roselyn do in the past.

But this little gay reunion? It's so overpoweringly sweet that I can practically feel the cavities forming in my teeth. All of those stupid romance movies have nothing on this moment.

Parkers reaction isn't the only mushy one. Roselyn runs into Miles arms next, giving him such a big squeeze that his eyes almost pop out. Both Aunt Quinn and Uncle Emmett are puddles by the time they get to greet him. Even the rest of our football buddies are ecstatic to see him—it's ten minutes of hugging, laughter, teasing, and tears.

The entire time that Miles is preoccupied with greeting everyone else, Parker hovers in the background like a security guard. He never leaves the invisible two foot radius that's around Miles, as if he's ready to tackle the first person that looks at him wrong.

Miles finally turns away from the last person and faces me, his smile twisting into a smirk. "Long time no see, Bird."

"Kilometers." I try to smile, though it doesn't reach my eyes. "That's bullshit, I literally talked to you last night."

"'Talked to him'?" Parker echos and steps forward, intentionally laying a hand on Miles shoulder. His other hand motions between the two of us. "Wait, Griffin you were in on this? And never even told me?!"

I shrug. "To be fair, I didn't tell anyone except for your parents. Besides, I got threatened with death if the secret slipped."

Not just death threats. His words from the other week still hit a wrong cord in my body.

A lot of people might be intimidated by you, but I see right through your shit, man.

This sick bitch. Now that I'm looking at Miles in the flesh, my fingers twitch. I'd love nothing more than to wipe that smug look off his face and remind him who the hell he's talking to. If it weren't for our mutual caring of Parker and how well he takes care of him, I wouldn't hesitate to swing. His cockiness is starting to piss me off.

I see right through him, too.

"God!" Parker gasps and tries to act offended, although that act drops the moment that he faces Miles. "I'm more surprised that you kept it a secret."

Grinning, Miles brushes the hair off of Parkers forehead and gives it a gentle kiss. "I am too. I almost let it slip more than once. We just wanted to make it a good birthday for you."

I'm going to drink bleach.

I turn and walk away from Thing One and Thing Two as they chatter more sweet nothings, the fury in my stomach simmering on low.

As I walk into the kitchen, the sight of our families' potluck is a welcome sight. My stomach growls as I unstick two paper plates and jump into line first, making a beeline to my aunts famous buffalo chicken dip.

Forrest comes up behind me as I slap two big spoonfuls on my plate, then he takes the scoop once I'm done. "I almost can't believe you helped Miles come home and surprise Parker."

I snort and grab a handful of cubed bread out of a bowl, dumping it next to the dip and muttering under my breath, "Home."

"What?"

"Nothing. It was nothing. He was the one that came to me about the idea. The most work that I put in was making sure that Parker stayed away from the neighborhood."

"Still, I know that this surprise means a lot to the both of them. Plus it's neat to see that you and Miles still get along. I thought that you guys would have to restart from square one." Forrest glances at me from the corner of his eye as he grabs some tortilla chips.

Shit, I must be a pretty good actor if he actually believes that we're still pals. Little does he know that I've said more to Miles in the past few weeks than I have in the last six months.

It's one thing to be able to tolerate Miles, although we certainly won't be sitting around the living room painting each other's toes any time soon. Parker is being too naïve about his return. Of course it's easy for him to forgive his boyfriend when he's finally back around in the flesh. All it will take is one pity fuck tonight and those two will have forgotten about the last six months of separation. I'm already starting to dread how he will worship Miles for the remainder of this summer. Like getting some new, shiny toy back.

Miles will officially be back in with the crew. I'm positive that my dad will soon forget about me and focus on recruiting him onto his basketball team. Him and Parker will be dads' dream team, the perfect poster children.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I snap and shoot Forrest a dark look.

He flinches and ducks his head, strands of his blond hair covering the embarrassment etched on his face. "I—It's just, I know that—Well, you had an issue with him last autumn..."

"It sounds like the cool kids are going to sit outside!" Kendric remarks, cutting off Forrest as he walks around the two of us, his plate piled high with various dips, vegetables, and chips.

Forrests' shoulders drop and he quickly follows Kendric towards the back door, his cheeks pink. "Wonderful, I was going to ask about the seating situation."

Classic Forrest. He rarely has the balls to look me in my eyes and tell me what he's actually thinking.

Rolling my eyes, I follow the two of them outside. I set my plate on the bar top and settle on a barstool while Forrest and Kendric chose their spots at the table. Atlas comes out to sit by me and Rose follows suit, joining Forrest. Joshua gets the door for Parker and Miles, jabbering to Miles about tire rotations.

I stay silent as everyone else catches up. Atlas and I stuff our faces with buffalo chicken dip, the savory flavor melting on my tongue as I use the bread to swab it up. The other boys that are here have been my friends long enough, to the point where Atlas knows not to bother talking to me while I eat. It's a small blessing amidst a shitty day.

Once everyone has settled and started to eat, Roselyn sets her fork on the table. Her palms follow as she leans forward, her eyes bright. "Okay Miles, I'm dying to know. How long are you staying here for, and when are you coming back?"

A bird chirps in a tree nearby. The sound is made obvious by the sudden silence. As I chew, I glance over at Parker and watch the way every muscle in his body freezes. The hand that he has resting on Miles' knee is taunt, as if he has his fingers on a loaded gun.

On the other hand, Miles can't wipe the smile off his face as he shrugs and swallows a carrot stick. "Indefinitely. I'll be around for as long as I'm considered family by you guys."

I am the only one on the patio that doesn't stop chewing. His news is not a surprise to me. Atlas's fork clatters next to me and I turn on my stool to give him a side-eye glare.

"What?" Kendric demands, his voice raising with shock. "What the hell did we miss?!"

"Okay, so you don't tell me that you're coming back to town, or that you're moving back?!" Parker shouts and leans closer to grab both of Miles shoulders, rattling them so hard that he makes him laugh.

"Didn't I say that it was a surprise?"

"I understand the whole coming to visit thing, but holy shit! Miles!" Parker scolds and gives him one more shake for good measure, his dinner forgotten. "You can't not tell me this stuff!"

"Does this mean your parents are done with jail?" Roselyn asks and immediately covers her mouth, her next words muffled. "Oh my god. That came out terribly wrong. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you."

Miles lets out a dry laugh and waves it off. "You're good. But, no... kinda the opposite, actually."

He leans back, eyes flicking to the ground before settling on the group around the table. "My dad's trial in April took a nose dive. New evidence kept popping up, and people who were too scared before finally testified. His connections started getting twitchy, and little jabs like slashed tires and graffiti started turning into serious issues. People started disappearing, our grandma being one of them."

Roselyn's eyes widen. "Wait, what?"

"They said it was natural causes," Miles says quietly. "But no one really believes that. Not even the cops. That's when I knew I had to get Kenya out."

Parker shifts beside him, his hand still resting near Miles' arm. "So... how'd you get back?"

He shrugs, but it's tight. "Asylum. I filed after grandma died. Said I feared for Kenya's safety, which wasn't a lie. They fast-tracked it because of the timing and the evidence. We got approved two months ago. I fought like hell to get placed back here."

"What about your mom?" Roselyn asks gently.

He hesitates before replying, "She stayed behind for now. She couldn't leave everything behind again, especially not with the charges stacked against her. She's... slipping back into old stuff, old people. I couldn't let Kenya go down with her. Especially since pops got himself a nice, long vacation for life. His people were getting more paranoid by the day when we left."

Joshua lets out a low whistle as he pops open a Dr Pepper. "Fuck."

"More like fuck him. It's about goddamn time." Parker scoffs and reaches over to rub Miles shoulder. "If it were up to me, I'd kill that son of a bitch myself."

I shake my head and finally can't keep my mouth shut. "By starvation or overdose? You seem to know enough about those two topics."

Kendric looks up so fast his neck audibly cracks. Joshua chokes on his soda. Forrest rubs behind his neck awkwardly. Roselyn gasps and turns around to give me a piercing look. "Griffin."

Miles eyes slide past all of them to stare at me. His intention is lost in the deep pool of his glare. So deep and dark that my skin prickles. It's the same feeling as walking past a nest of ground hornets, knowing that you were one step away from having a real shitty walk back to the car.

Before Parker can even blink, Kendric keeps talking, desperate to change the topic. "Did Miles get to hear about the football camp that's in a few weeks?"

"He did. I already told him about it." Parker grins as Miles leans into his personal bubble and jostles him in the ribs. If the day comes where my partner tries that with me, I'd slap them into next week.

"What about that hotel? Isn't it like five star, or something?" Atlas grabs his plate and rests it on his knees as he swivels on the stool to join the conversation behind us. I pick up my fork and jab at a cherry tomato on my plate, the watery guts spilling from the holes that the tines made.

"Trust me, as long as it has a bed, I don't care how many stars it has." From the way Miles says it, I'm sure that he ends his sentence with a flippant wink.

While everyone else groans or scolds him, Kendric makes a dismissive sound. "You guys are still lucky as hell. Coach G always makes us chip in for hotels at away games, and here you four are getting everything paid for! How much do I need to bet that they're offering you guys a private jet, too?"

"Four?" I ask around a mouthful of pasta salad and shift to look behind me.

Seven pairs of eyes turn to me, all of them reflecting various emotions. Kendric looks surprised even; I'm sure that he forgot I was a part of this conversation.

My own eyes deceive me and flick over to Miles. "Seriously? You can't let us have this one week to ourselves? What about your sister?" I spit out the last word like a cherry pit.

He inhales slowly. His shoulders roll back, his hands tighten, his eyes pinch. It's a tossup on which one of us is on the others thin ice.

Before he can get a word out, Parker jumps in. "Dude, if he can be there, I want him there. Of course he's coming with."

One year ago, Parker might have been intimidating. He was stronger than an ox, and if you caught him on the right day, he would have no problem standing up in the face of adversity.

Today, as my attention shifts to him, he recoils.

Miles, always the guard dog, notices as well. He takes it upon himself to shift around in his chair and set his hand on the back of Parkers as he prepares to stand.

It's funny how he had no problem with my little digs and comments last year, but now that Parker is weak, he suddenly feels the need to be the hero.

"Right. Of course." I mock my cousins tone and shake my head as I begin to face the bar top again.

"Whatever," Parker replies. Such a great comeback. "Just don't be a prick about it. It won't even be that bad. Him and I will take one of the rooms instead, while you and Greyson take the other."

The fork freezes halfway to my mouth.

My dad and I have to share a room?

For a week?

"Who the fuck decided that?" I spin back around, the barstool squeaking in complaint. It was going to be bad enough staying with him. Dad is a totally different story. From the way he'd talk about football and rave about Parkers playing while picking mine apart, I'd drink the hand soap in the bathroom to get away from it.

"I just did," Parker shoots back. He's all barbs and pointed edges since he has his boyfriend to hide behind again.

"Fine. Take your partner and hide him in the hotel room like the self-centered prick you are. But hey, at least you'll have someone to come back too, right? Someone to smooth your hair and suck you off after a long, hard day of pouting around on the field?"

Parker's face falls, his dominant act falling with the truth. The table rattles. Miles must have slapped his palm down. He's getting on his feet and bringing a thunderstorm with him. "That's enough."

I spit on the patio tile at the same time Roselyn gets up and hurries over. She's the only one that's brave enough, and the only one that's able, to grab my shirt and practically haul me out of my seat.

"Griffin Reed Miller, you need to go home. Right now. I don't know what your problem is, but you need to go," she says and immediately let's go once I start to move.

As I get on my feet, I lean around Roselyn and give Parker the middle finger. "Happy birthday, asshole."

"Griffin, stop. Right now."

Atlas looks away as I walk past. That's another thing that he's learned as my friend: when Griffin is fuming at the mouth, don't engage. All of them look away, except Miles.

I can feel his stare between my shoulder blades as I follow the stone path around the side of the yard and shove open the side gate so aggressively that it slams into the fence. The entire fence line rattles.

I wish that I could've replied to my sister and explained that all of my problems will be flying out to San Diego in a few weeks.

This trip is going from terrible, to an absolute shit storm.