Sullivan (Leopard's Spots 7) (2 page)

It’ll probably get really loud in a few minutes, and there might be yelling, too. Just remember, it’s all a joke. I don’t want to freak everyone else out.” He didn’t want to miss what was going to happen any moment now. Wesley had left his bedroom to shower, and Sully had taken advantage of that fact to set up his prank. Sure, Wesley would smell Sully’s scent in the room, but it wasn’t like Sully never went in there. They played video games together a lot. Or they had. Now Wes would have to find someone else to stomp all over in those shooter games.

Normally, his mom would have grilled him on what he’d done, but this time she only nodded and her eyes welled as she turned and left his room.

Sully was beginning to think he wasn’t going to make it through this without losing it.

Just when he had that thought, a loud series of explosive sounds rang out from Wesley’s room. Wes’ scream could have shattered windows, and Sully ran for his brother’s door just in time to see Wes drop and scramble across the room—and away from the desktop computer still blaring out the obnoxious racket.

Sully burst out laughing as Wes came to his feet, his face dark with anger and embarrassment. “You fucker! You…you fucker!” Wes shouted, shaking a finger right under Sully’s nose. “That was—”

“Awesome, I know.” Sully slapped Wes’ finger aside and laughed again as Wes’ face turned a darker shade of red. “Aw, man, Wes. I’m going to miss screwing with you. Wish I’d have recorded that.”

Wes huffed and sputtered, but after a few seconds, he snorted and went over to the desktop. He muted the speakers even though the racket had ceased, then he turned back to Sully. “That was actually pretty smart, and evil,” Wes admitted. “I can’t wait to do it to Sheila. Or Dad. It never would have occurred to me to go in and change the sound settings for the start-up, or to crank the speakers full blast.” Sully shrugged even as he beamed at his brother. “Kind of the same thing as leaving the car radio up all the way as a morning wake-up for the folks.”

“Yeah, ‘cause that didn’t get you grounded for a week,” Wes scoffed.

“It was worth it.” Sully chuckled, remembering the shriek his dad had let loose when he’d started the car and an annoying pop song had blasted out. “I still don’t think that was just coffee on his pants.”

“Hey, that was reason enough to ground you. He almost burned his…you know,” Wes said, gesturing to his own groin. “Stuff.”

“Stuff?” Sully asked, infusing as much innocence into his voice as he could. “What stuff?”

“Oh, fuck you,” Wes snarked, “I am
not
talking about our dad’s private parts. Gross.” He mimed himself gagging and Sully felt it like a kick to the gut, how much he was going to miss his little brother.

But he would always be the big brother, so he had to act the part, especially if it meant giving Wes grief. “Bro, you’re going to mess up and say the f-word in front of Mom or Dad or both of them—or Sheila—and it’ll be a bad deal for you.” Wes groaned and walked over to flop down on his bed. “What the hell, man. I’m eighteen. I’m legally an adult—”

“Living off your parents,” Sully pointed out. “Under their roof, their rules, and all of that stuff they’ve lectured us on before.”

“Ugh. You’re so lucky you’re going away.”

Sully didn’t necessarily see it that way. He’d miss his family. He
was
lucky they could afford for him to go, but it wasn’t like he was counting it as an escape or anything. It was just what he had to do to get his degree.

“You’re gonna miss me,” he teased Wes, then darted out the door when Wes threw a pillow at him.

The rest of his packing didn’t take long. He had his jeans, his T-shirts, a few dressier things, shoes, socks, underwear…

Sully jumped like he’d been goosed and dashed over to his dresser. He pulled open the middle drawer and dug back past the clothes he’d decided not to take. As soon as he felt the sort of sharp edge of a sequin he sighed and hooked his finger around the decorated thong and pulled it out of the drawer.

Sully blushed just looking at the thing. How’d he ever have the balls to buy it in the first place? It was…bright, yeah, and there wasn’t a whole lot to it. Normally he didn’t consider himself a loud guy, not in any manner, despite his love of pranking people, but this thong was definitely loud. He’d bet it screamed through layers of clothing so that everyone knew it was being worn.

I might not be loud, but I’ve sure got an overactive imagination.
Sully made sure to tuck that thong deep down in his suitcase, just on the off chance his mom decided to put something in there. She wouldn’t dig around, but he still didn’t want to risk her seeing that thong. There were just some things mothers and sons shouldn’t know about each other, like whether or not they had kinky underwear.

Sully looked around his room, seeing the shelves with a few books and his baseball trophies and feeling a pang of homesickness even though he hadn’t left. The bedroom had been his sanctuary throughout his adolescence, the one place he could hide away from his younger siblings when he needed a break. Once his parents had given him permission to lock his bedroom door, Sully had thought he was The Man. Now he was going to miss his annoying brother and sister banging on his door.

No more playing the X-Box with Wes, or helping Sheila with her homework or her pitching.

Sully shook his head, trying to dislodge the melancholy thoughts before they took root and he ended up teary-eyed.

He walked over to his bed and straightened the blanket, tucked it under the pillow the way his mom had taught him. A wrinkle in the material caught his eye and Sully smoothed it down. The familiar pattern on the quilt—his mom had told him it was called Jacob’s Ladder—had fascinated him as a kid. He’d traced the diamond shapes when he’d been bored, or sad, or just wanting to chill out. Comfort—that was what the blanket meant to him.

Sully pulled it off the bed and folded it neatly. He added it to his stuffed suitcase with a lot of grunting and cursing, but he wasn’t leaving the hand-made quilt behind. His dad had given it to Sully on his tenth birthday, which was the age his dad had been when he’d been given the blanket from his mother.

Someday, Sully wanted to be able to hand it down to his son or daughter, whichever he had first. He’d always dreamed of having kids, and adopting them was fine with him. Sully knew his ability to love a child wouldn’t be dependent on them sharing DNA. Being gay didn’t mean he couldn’t be a father someday. Until then he’d take care of the quilt. He couldn’t leave it behind. Sully re-made the bed with another blanket, a store-bought one, then he picked up his suitcase and checked the room one last time. There was so much he had to leave here, for now at least. Maybe it was silly to be sad about not being able to take his trophies and stuff, but Sully couldn’t help it. He was a sentimental fool.

“That was a good joke you played on Wes,” a beloved voice said from behind him. “Are you ready, son?”

Sully turned to his father who was standing in the doorway. He pasted on a smile he hoped conveyed confidence when in truth, he was scared as hell. “I’ll have to show you how to do it when I come back, and yeah, just making sure I got everything.” His father’s knowing look told Sully he hadn’t fooled him, but at least he didn’t call Sully on the lie. “All right, guess we’d better get your things loaded in the trunk. You’re going to be pushing it if you don’t get on the road.” Rather than feel he was being pushed out, Sully knew his dad was just trying to watch out for him and make sure he made it to San Antonio with time enough to get settled in his apartment and attend his first day of classes. Two days, that was it, and it kind of blew Sully away how much his life was about to change.

“Yes, sir.” Sully started for the doorway but his dad stopped him, coming in and catching Sullivan in a fierce hug.

“I’m going to miss you, Sully,” his father said in a gruff voice.

Sully hugged his father back just as tightly. “I’m gonna miss you too, Dad. All of you.” He wasn’t going to cry, though. Sully sniffled and sealed his eyes shut as he held on.

His father rubbed his back, then ruffled Sully’s hair. “You’ll be fine. Maybe you’ll even find yourself a nice boyfriend or two while you’re there.”

“A boyfriend or
two
?” Sully asked, glad his voice didn’t crack as he was trying desperately not to cry. “I’d be happy with one.”

“Well, sure, but sometimes the first one is a test copy, you know?” His dad patted his shoulder and they separated. Sully looked into his dad’s eyes, the colour deep blue, unlike Sully’s own green-brown eyes. “Now, don’t tell your mom I said that, but you’re leaving and I imagine you’ll want to sow your wild oats and all that. Just… be careful, okay?” Sully nodded. “Of course, Dad.”

“Not just with yourself, Sully,” his dad said as he tipped Sully’s chin up. Sully was tall at six-two, but his dad had five inches on him. “Be careful with other people’s hearts and emotions. You’re a good-looking man, but that doesn’t mean you should be taking advantage of that attractiveness, nor should you be callous with other people’s feelings.” Sully frowned at his father. “I won’t. Why would you think I would?” His father stepped back and sighed as he scrubbed a hand over his brow. “Well, Sully, I just… I know there hasn’t been anyone for you to, er, date, here.”

“Okay, gotcha.” Sully darted past his father and into the hallway. He didn’t want to hear any more about it. He was well aware he was a virgin, but damn it, it was embarrassing that his father knew it, too. Justice, Colorado wasn’t more than a dot on a map, so gay boys hadn’t been in abundance growing up.

Sheila and Wes were waiting in the living room. Sully’s dad took his suitcase and went out the front door as Sully hugged his brother and sister goodbye.

“Dude, I am so taking your fucking bedroom,” Wes grumbled, but his voice had a tight sound to it, as if he had to work to sound surly. He was still in his emo phase, wearing as much black as their mother would let him get away with. She’d never give on the argument over allowing Wes to dye his shaggy hair black. “Your shit can go in my room—ow!” Wes yelped and pulled away from the hug.

“You watch your mouth, Wesley David!” their mother snapped. “Next time I’ll twist your ear right off your head!”

“Yes, ma’am, sorry.” Wes rubbed at his ear and glowered as he moved back.

Sheila all but tackled Sully in a hug that involved not just her arms, but her legs, which she wound around his hips. “Don’t leave me here with him,” Sheila said, “he’s no fun at all!” Sheila, so vibrant and happy, started sobbing and that was the last straw for Sully.

Tears burned his eyes and sneaked over his lower lids to wet Sheila’s hair. She burrowed her head against his neck and cried like her world was coming to an end. Despite their nine-year difference, Sully had always been close to Sheila.

“It’s not like he’s never coming back,” Wesley grumbled from a few feet away.

“Although why anyone would want to come back here—”

“I’ve had enough of your mouth, Wesley David Ward!” Sully grinned as his brother groaned. They both knew what their mother was going to say next.

“I believe there are several gifts in the back yard left by the dogs, and each one has your name on it.”

“Aw, Mom,” Wesley whined, “I’m just having trouble adjusting to Sully leaving, like…separation anxiety or something.”

Even Sheila snickered when Wesley yelped again. “Maybe one of these days he’ll grow up.”

Sully snorted and helped his sister get her feet under her. “Right. I don’t think so. He’s gonna be living in Mom and Dad’s house forever. If he flunks his senior year again…” Sheila hitched one shoulder up and glanced in the direction their mother and brother were walking. “He’s not stupid, he just acts that way.” Sully wasn’t sure he agreed, but if Wes was stupid, it was his own fault. He was lazy and didn’t even bother to try. “Walk me to the car?” Sheila gave him a watery smile. “Of course.” She stood on her tiptoes and wiped at his cheek. “I promise, no more crying. It makes my head and heart hurt.”

“And your nose red,” Sully teased. Sheila swatted at his arm but took his hand as the headed out front.

Their father was leaning against Sully’s car, which was not quite a beater car but not too far from it. “Dad.” Sully hugged his father again, then his mom, who’d come around from the back yard.

“You call us when you stop tonight, and again when you leave in the morning, and when—”

“Kelly, he’s a grown man,” his father groused, but Sully saw the sheen to his eyes. “Let him get in the car and go.”

“He’s still my baby,” his mother retorted, but she let him go and kissed his cheek. “Be careful. We love you.”

“Love you too,” Sully returned, giving Sheila a one-armed hug. He stood awkwardly for a moment, then bobbed his head. “I, uh, I’ll call, okay? Tell Wes bye for me.” Sully got in the car and started it after buckling his seatbelt. He drove away, watching his family in the rearview more than he watched the road. As soon as they were out of sight, he pulled the car over and took several deep breaths. He was terrified and exultant at the same time.

Finally, he was escaping small-town life. He could start over again, and not be the big freaky gay kid like he’d been labelled in Justice. No one had ever really messed with him, as he was more than capable of defending himself. They hadn’t messed with him physically, at least. Words—that had been another matter. Sully had heard enough snide comments to last him a lifetime and then some. Being a shifter meant he could hear much better than a human, and that wasn’t always a blessing.

Sully shook off his funk and got the car back on the road. He had a long drive, and a new life waiting for him in San Antonio.

The apartment had looked a lot nicer online. Sully wrinkled his nose at the mouldy smell of the place. The carpet wasn’t pretty and white—it was dingy and mottled with stains.

He’d be afraid to go barefoot for fear he’d catch something that would cost him a limb. He eyed a particularly gross-looking blackish-grey spot. Maybe he’d die, even, from some weird bacteria, something no one else had died from before, and they’d name it after him…