That’s the thing though. I don’t feel like I owe the truth about my sexuality to anyone. But something about Brenden makes me want to open up to him. Want to try, at least. It’s just difficult for me, since I’m so used to not opening up to anyone.

When you spend so long shoving things down inside you, it can take a lot of strength to yank them back up.

He waits a moment as I try to gather that strength, and when all I can give him is a probably hopeless look, he smiles sympathetically. Then he downs the rest of his coffee, pushes his mug to the side, and stands. “I forgot to offer you a drink.”

Going to the fridge, he bends over to reach into it, and I might deserve a medal for not staring at his ass. When he straightens and spins back around, he’s clutching two beer bottles by the necks between his slender fingers. He sets them on the counter while he rummages through a drawer, and I see the labels. Sam Adams Cold Snap.

He’s not much of a beer drinker, so it’s a surprise he even has any in his house, but the fact that he has this means he must have gone to a liquor store outside of town. Because the only place to buy beer in Mayweather is the grocery store, and they don’t often stock seasonal varieties of anything, unless it’s pumpkin spice crap in the fall.

I can’t help but wonder if he went out and bought this specifically for me, though I shouldn’t read too much into the idea. He’s always friendly and accommodating. That’s the entire basis of his career, isn’t it?

He finally finds a bottle opener, then struggles to pop the cap off the first bottle. I almost get up to help, but I remain in my seat, because I know he’s capable. He looks proud of himself when he gets it, and then he does the second one more easily.

Returning to the table with a beer in each hand, he passes one to me, and I thank him as he sits back down.

“So you never came out to your dad,” he states, succinctly summing up my story.

I take a long pull from my beer before responding. “Nope. Maybe that makes me a coward, but it didn’t seem worth it, taking the risk of losing him if he reacted badly. I held it in until I went off to college in Boston, and once I was there, I got the chance to explore my preferences. Then I graduated, got a good job in the city, and didn’t plan to move back home. I dated a few guys, but none of my relationships ever got serious enough that I needed to bring them here and introduce them. So it just... never came up.”