Chapter 69

No, I couldn’t stand up to his father. Didn’t have that courage. I only wanted Roland to give me a chance. I loved his son more than anything in the world, couldn’t he see that? Iwas the one who was going to support Sebastien while he was in school. Wasn’t that enough to deserve a shred of Roland’s respect?

“Talk to me.” Seb frowned, his features tensing. “Don’t pull away from me.”

“What do you want me to say?” I snapped. “I don’t know why he doesn’t like me. I don’t know if it’s my voice, the way I talk, or my walk. Or is it something in my face? Hands? What? What is it about me that disgusts straight men so much?”

“No, that’s not it. You’re wrong, Jack. You don’t disgust them. No.” Seb grabbed my shoulders. “You scarethem. That’s what you do. You scare them right down to their bone marrow. You challenge everything they think they know about themselves. You put up a mirror to their face and demand they look at a part of themselves they can’t and won’t acknowledge.”