Page 74 of Except You
Suddenly, Beau appears next to me, freezing slightly when he sees who’s standing on my porch.
Oh hell.
“Who’s this?” Matt asks, his head cocking to the side, taking Beau in with curiosity.
I swallow. “A friend.”
Matt’s gaze swivels back to me and his eyes narrow.
“The fuck?”
“Oh, you must be a brother of Max’s. I’m Beau,” Beau says sweetly, holding out his hand, but Matt just stares at it. A look of disgust comes over his face, like he doesn’t want to touch Beau, like he doesn’t want to catch the gay.
This. This right here is why I have been putting distance between my family and myself. This is fucking horrifying. I’ve never been more embarrassed in my entire life.
“Shake his hand, Matt,” I say, teeth clenched, as Beau’s arm starts to fall to his side.
“It’s okay, Max,” Beau whispers, but I can hear the hurt in his voice and it makes something rage inside of me.
“It’s not okay. Shake his fucking hand.”
Matt’s cheeks are red, clearly angry and confused. I don’t talk to him like this, but everything is changing. I’m changing.
“Why the fuck are you insisting on this?” he spits.
“Because it’s the goddamn decent thing to do.”
He scoffs and then reaches out and shoves me again. It’s not hard, but it’s enough to make the rage building in me erupt. My hands slap on his chest, and I push him backward.
He stumbles and then charges at me, his arms wrapping around my middle and throwing me back into the house. I can hear Beau shouting, but the blinding anger surging through my mind is focused solely on Matt. My brother, my best friend for so many years, who refused to even touch Beau’s hand.
It’s fucking wrong. My whole family is wrong.
“I’m so fucking sick of you and your bullshit,” I grunt when we fall against the couch and Matt’s hand pushes my face back. My neck strains, and it’s almost hard to breathe, but I’m not backing down. He came to my house, he insulted my Bow-tie.
I’ll teach him his fucking lesson, so help me.
“My bullshit?” he grunts. “More like your fucking bullshit, Max.”
I don’t want his hands on me, so I bite down on his finger, and he hisses, pulling away, giving me a chance to swing my fist. It lands on his cheek with a crack, and he stares at me with wide eyes, hurt lancing through them before they shutter and he comes for me. His fist knocks me in the eye and pain pulses through me, but I don’t stop, the two of us full-on brawling now. Doggo is barking and whining, and Beau is shouting, but I hear only the hum of it all.
All that pent up fury comes rushing out, and I can’t fucking back down. This is for Beau, but also for Magnus.
For me.
Our fists land with cracks and grunts, and we only stop when ice-cold water is sprayed on us, ripping us apart.
We stop and stare at Beau who is standing in front of the open back door, the garden hose in his hands.
“You better stop, or I will do it again,” he shouts, and when Matt lunges for me again, Beau lets the hose go, pelting my brother in the chest. It stops him momentarily as he bats the stream away.
“Fucking stop, you fuck!”
“I won’t. I will keep this up until you both grow some sense! You’re brothers. You damn well better act like it.”
We glance at each other, Matt slicking his wet hair back. His lip is bleeding, his eye starting to swell shut. I’m sure I look worse, but I can’t feel the pain yet. I’m so amped up. Still pissed. Still so fucking angry.
“What the hell, Max? You guys together? You a homo like Magnus?” Matt asks, his words making me lurch toward him, but the hose hits me, and I stop. My floor is soaked, and I swear there’s gonna be property damage, but I don’t give a shit. I just want my brother to shut his ugly mouth, to keep those horrific words inside.