Serpentine Walls by CJane Elliott

Author:CJane Elliott [Elliott, CJane]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: JMS Books LLC
Published: 2024-03-08T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter 10

Bud and Pete sat at a dead standstill in a huge line of cars on I-66.

“I knew this was going to happen. I told you to be ready earlier.” Pete’s voice sounded whiny even to his own ears. Crap. This is a shit way to start winter break, he thought, wondering why he was even in a hurry. It wasn’t like going home was anything to look forward to.

“Big deal. The way traffic is around here, we would’ve needed to leave at the crack of dawn. Can we change the station?” Bud reached toward the dial.

“No!” Pete snapped.

“God.” Bud slumped down in his seat and pulled his baseball cap over his eyes.

After twenty minutes of silence, in which they inched forward about a mile, Pete decided talking to his cousin was better than fuming over the fucking traffic situation.

“What’re you doing over break?”

“Going skiing this week.”

“Cool.”

Must be nice. Bud had only one sister, Heather, and their family was wealthy. Pete tried not to envy them. It wasn’t like his family was poor or anything, but given how many there were of them, they couldn’t take ski trips at a moment’s notice. And now that his parents had split…Shut up.

“Hey, but I’ll see you on Christmas Eve, bro.” Bud’s parents had hosted a huge party for family and friends every Christmas Eve for as long as Pete could remember. “You and Jed.”

“Jed?”

Bud stared at him like he was dense. “Jed—your boyfriend? He’s gotta meet the family sometime.”

“Jed isn’t my boyfriend. Wait—you didn’t invite him…?”

“‘Course I did!” Bud said, indignant. “I don’t care what you call him; you guys have been hooking up for months, right?”

“That doesn’t make him my boyfriend! Crap. Why’d you have to invite him to the family Christmas party?”

“Well, what is he then? What—you too good for Jed? You can’t bring him around? You’re such a snob, Pete.”

“Shut up.”

“No, I’m serious, man. You finally get someone who likes you—a normal guy, not one of those—”

“Bud, shut the fuck up. If you say one more thing, I’m gonna smash your face in.” Pete said this knowing that threats never stopped Bud, and, true to form, he barreled ahead, crossing his arms over his chest with a belligerent scowl.

“All I’m sayin’ is you finally get a guy who’s into you and you blow him off. For what? That Aidan guy? Gimme a break.”

Pete gripped the steering wheel, wanting to pull over and punch Bud out, although he’d never actually do that. He couldn’t pull over anyway. They were trapped on I-66, surrounded by wall-to-wall automobiles, and there was no escaping Bud’s continuing diatribe.

“I don’t even know what you see in that asshole. He fucks everyone in sight. You’re better than him, bro, even if you’re a dumbass at times.”

“Can we stop talking about this?” Pete said through gritted teeth.

“Yeah, fine. But I got one more thing to say. If you don’t think you’re boyfriends with Jed, you should tell him, ‘cause he thinks you are. And I ain’t disinviting him from the Christmas party.

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