By how Jonathan straightened up and cleared his throat, that was some kind of scolding. The Kincaids, right. Those were Drew’s parents, plus the asshole. Good thing they were gone.
“We’ve said enough goodbyes to one another to last us a lifetime,” Francine said and smiled.
Her husband didn’t appear particularly pleased with her reply but said nothing. Then, his attention turned to Maddox. “So, Maddox, what do your parents do?”
“They run a construction company together. My oldest brother, Vern, is mostly in charge now, and whenever we have the time, the rest of us help.”
“How so?” Mr. Hamilton asked.
Maddox took a look at his hands. Jonathan had told him that he loved his hands. “I work on site, depending on the project. Yes, I’m talking about the grunt work,” he said without hesitation. He had no reason to pretend to be someone else.
“You’re majoring in–” Mr. Hamilton changed tack.
“Economics,” he supplied.
Mr. Hamilton nodded. “Jonathan says you’re doing well in school.”
There was no question mark anywhere, so Maddox didn’t say anything, waiting for more than that.
“He used to be the king of Sunny Hill. Now I’m the king,” Rusty broke the unnerving silence.
This time, Maddox moved one foot and kicked Rusty in the shin, hopefully quick enough that no one would notice. Rusty gave him a panicked glance.
“Is this title related to some popularity contest?” Mr. Hamilton asked.
“Obviously,” Francine said, although the question couldn’t have been directed at her. “Today, our son brought home two handsome young men. This one,” she pointed at Rusty, “even shows some promise. You’ll listen to him sing later.”
“Oh,” Mr. Hamilton replied and frowned. “What kind of promise do you show, Maddox?”
Maddox was about to start selling himself hard, when Jonathan intervened. “He’s a good man, and that’s not a promise, it’s a reality,” he said sharply.
The tone of his voice must have been unusual because both his parents strained their necks to glare at him. However, Jonathan, although still a bit disheveled from his earlier ride and Maddox’s kiss, stood his ground. “That is the most important thing I care about. If you don’t approve of Maddox, say it now. I’ve discovered recently that I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself, so–”
Mr. Hamilton interrupted. “No need for dramatics, Jonathan. Your friends are welcome for as long as they wish to stay. As for your future, which seems so cloudy to you at the moment, we will speak of at length once you can spare a moment for us to talk alone.”
Was that it? If the way Francine offered her husband a cup of tea and steered the conversation toward some generic topics was any indication, so it seemed. Maddox had to admit that he was a bit disappointed, seeing how he had been so valiantly prepared to go to war with the final boss.
***
“Rusty, I’m so going to kill you,” Maddox groaned as soon as they were out of the room.
“Sorry, man, I got nervous and shit,” Rusty replied. “Hamilton, dude, your folks are downright scary.”
“You’ve seen nothing, Rusty, trust me,” Jonathan decided to pour some more gasoline over the fire.
“For real? Ah, man, this is like the weirdest winter break ever,” Rusty complained.
Rusty was right, of course. His parents were difficult to talk to and kept to themselves and whoever they considered their own. Jonathan stole a glance at Maddox, waiting to see the first signs of disappointment. But Maddox just looked back and hooked one arm over his shoulders. “What do you think, babe? Did I knock them off their feet or what?”
Jonathan let out a sigh of relief. “Totally. But you know it doesn’t matter, right?”
“Did I get you in trouble by saying that you two did it?” Rusty intervened.
“I’m sure they have no doubts about the ‘doing it’ part,” Jonathan said. “After that whole thing with Drew–” He swallowed his words.
“Who’s Drew?” Rusty asked. “Did you do it with him, too?”
Maddox took both of them by surprise by swatting Rusty upside the head. “That’s none of your business, dude.”
“All right, all right. But I was just trying to help.”
“Really?” Maddox asked, still keeping one hand wrapped tightly around the back of Rusty’s neck.
“Yeah. I mean, these dudes are really old-fashioned, right? Sorry, Jonathan.”
“No worries,” Jonathan said and bit his bottom lip trying hard not to laugh. He had a feeling Rusty held the key to rattling his parents’ conservative ways.
“So, if they find out that you two did it, they’ll pull a shotgun wedding on you. Problem solved,” Rusty offered in what seemed to be quite a serious tone.
“We’re not at some redneck ranch, Rusty,” Maddox insisted and shook his friend by the neck hard enough to earn a heartfelt ‘ouch’ from him. “These guys might sue me for millions for taking Jonathan’s V-card.”
“V-card?” Rusty perked up right away.
“Shut up, you ass,” Maddox said quickly and threw a guilty look at Jonathan.
Jonathan kissed him quickly on the cheek. “Well, for all that’s worth, it went better than expected. Mr. Simmons is readying your rooms. And truly, you two can stay for as long as you want.”
“Can we stay for Christmas? Will we get some really cool expensive gifts? Like a Ferrari or something?” Rusty asked, bouncing up and down on his feet, regardless of how Maddox tried to keep him still.
“My parents don’t know you that well yet,” Jonathan played along with the joke. “Maybe next year, who knows? But Rusty, how come you sang in front of my mom? I thought it was a very well-guarded secret.”
“I had no idea what to do. And I touched the piano, and your mom thought I was not all here,” Rusty pointed at his temple, “so she might have wanted to calm me down by playing that huge thing, so I thought that I had no choice but to sing, shock her with my uncanny abilities, and then… well, it wasn’t like I had a plan or anything. The moment I started singing, she jumped up from behind the piano and started shouting all kinds of things at me.”
Maddox patted his friend on the back in sympathy. “My dude, I don’t think you shocked her or anything.”
Rusty pouted. “No, she says I suck.”
Jonathan reached behind Maddox to squeeze Rusty’s shoulder in sympathy. “When I hear words like that coming out of my mom’s mouth, I’ll know the world is ending. I know her well, and she was damned impressed, Rusty. But my family believes in excellence above all else, which is why she was torturing you when we came in. If she went to the trouble to tell you anything, that’s because she thinks you’re capable of being the best.”
“That’s true,” Maddox confirmed. “I mean, it looked like she really took a liking to you.”
Rusty’s pleased grin let them know that everything was all right in the world.
“Hey, guys, I didn’t even ask you if you were hungry.”
“I ate all the cookies on that nice tray,” Rusty said promptly. “Ugh, your mom must think something else weird about me now.”
“I wouldn’t worry about that if I were you. And I bet Mrs. Day, our cook, is really happy now, after seeing that, finally, someone appreciates her efforts.”
“I would like to appreciate her efforts every day,” Rusty said promptly.