Nothing Less Than Everything

by Maggie C. Gates

“Dude—” Theo bellowed when he rounded the corner. Seth had a shit-eating grin on his stupid face and was tapping his phone on his open palm. Gideon frowned as he shoved a bottle of sriracha in the cabinet above the microwave. “The fuck is wrong with you two?” he muttered as he balled up the grocery bag and shoved it under the sink. Unable to hold it in any longer, Seth threw his head back and howled. “Look, man. I know you’ve got a thing for blondes, but, uh—I don’t swing that way.” He pulled his Reds ball cap off and sifted his fingers through his shaggy hair. Heidi wrinkled her nose but kept her mouth shut. I cut my eyes to Theo, who looked like he was about to laugh, too. What the hell was wrong with those two? “Well?” I clipped, resting my ass against the edge of the kitchen island and crossing my arms over my chest. “You gonna spit it out or you gonna say what you’re gonna say?” “I know you’ve been seeing someone, and you’ve been real tight-lipped about it because of what happened with that cheerleader—” I tensed when he referred to Wren as that cheerleader. It’s what everyone called her and it fucking pissed me off. Yeah, she was a cheerleader for the Reds, but she deserved more respect than the derogatory way I heard guys talk about the Ladies in Red in the locker room. I jerked my thumb at Seth. “What’s that got to do with Tinkerbell looking like he’s just won the fucking lottery?” Theo blushed. The fucker actually blushed. “Uh, look man. I think you may have texte...