Page 61 of Zero Confusion

He’d never endanger Miles with an admission like that, but the rest of it suddenly seemed perfectly reasonable. He could easily slip in something like A good woman? No, thanks, but I’ll take a good-looking man or Well, I’m hella gay, so that’s a hard pass on those nice local girls.

Chasing away the tempting thoughts, he let out a hollow chuckle. “Ah, yes. Balance. Guess I haven’t met the right person yet.”

The lie was bitter on his tongue.

He needed to get out of there before the Greenes decided to offer more uncomfortable life advice.

“I should go fix that,” he said, pointing to the pennant banner wrapped around a tree branch. “Thank you for coming tonight.” They looked unhappy with his sudden departure, no doubt disappointed that they couldn’t keep lecturing him about his poor life choices, but he was out of patience.

The tree stood a good forty feet away—exactly why he’d chosen it. After giving the string of flags a token adjustment, Zach lingered behind to watch the lit-up yard from the safety of the shadows. Everywhere he looked were people he knew—neighbors, old classmates, family friends—none of whom knew him. Not really.

His father hovered over the grill, waving a spatula as he held court with a small audience. His mother drifted effortlessly from group to group, checking on everyone with practiced grace. Miles stood between Katie and her mom, nodding along to something. Max sat at the edge of the yard with his cast propped up on a spare chair. Considering the steady throng of visitors, no one minded making the detour.

And a few tables over sat Raymond, nursing a beer and watching Max like a hawk. Alone.

Zach whirled around and rushed toward the fields, fleeing until the chaos of laughter and animated conversations became a faint murmur behind him. He needed a few moments away from the fray.

A noise up ahead had him slowing his gait. Drawing nearer, he squinted to find two figures sitting on the gravel path, a beam of flashlight cutting through the darkness and pointing at the ground. One of them clambered up at his approach.

“Zach!” Abe waved him over to where Jerry was hunched over something, surrounded by empty packages. “We got fireworks!”

“I can see that.” Zach suppressed a smile. Fireworks were legal in their area, but it seemed wildly irresponsible to sell them to someone as excitable as Abe and Jerry. Who apparently planned to set them off near the wheat fields. During harvest season. “Isn’t this a huge fire hazard?”

“Nah,” Jerry said without looking up. “It’s an open space, and we’re more than three hundred feet away from anything flammable. The recommended distance is fifty feet, so we’re good. Besides, Abe brought a fire extinguisher.”

Zach wasn’t sure how effective the tiny thing would be against a potential inferno, but Jerry spoke with enough conviction to soothe his worries. Still, he settled down beside his brothers, mainly to make sure they didn’t blow themselves up.

Abe held the flashlight while Jerry arranged the tubes in a makeshift rig of cardboard boxes. Zach watched, impressed by his confidence. As far as Zach knew, Jerry had never played with explosives.

“How do you even know how to do this?”

Jerry shrugged, testing each firework with careful, deliberate taps before setting them aside and dragging over another cardboard setup. “YouTube.”

That was not reassuring. But Jerry’s movements were steady and determined, so Zach pressed his lips together and decided not to interfere.

“How’s the party? Are you having fun?” Abe asked, fidgeting with the light.

Jerry snorted. “Yeah, totally, that’s why he’s hiding out here. Because he’s having soooo much fun.” His voice dripped with sarcasm, hitting Zach with a brief, unexpected rush of brotherly connection. Sometimes he actually liked these guys.

“Ohhh, yeah,” Abe said in understanding. “Have you had the pleasure of having the exact same conversation with every single person yet?”

“Just about.” Zach tipped his head back and rolled it side to side until he heard it crack. “If you assholes weren’t hiding out here, maybe I wouldn’t be in charge of all the small talk.”

Abe made a sympathetic noise. “Nah, dude, they’d still swarm you even if we were there. You’re the fun one.”

“The fun one?” Zach wrinkled his nose. That was not the reason everyone talked to him. “Pretty sure you mean the disappointment who ran off to the big city instead of staying home and marrying a nice local girl.” He put air quotes around the last bit, and both of his brothers barked out a laugh in unison.

“Not all the local girls are nice,” Abe said. “The other reason we’re here is because of Faith. Jerry damn near sprinted away as soon as she showed up.”

Zach raised an eyebrow. “Seriously? It’s been like…six months? And you only dated for a few weeks.”

Jerry grimaced. “Yeah. She still thinks we’re getting back together.”

“Ooh!” Abe’s face lit up. “Zach should date her! It’s a win-win—he’ll get his local girl, and she’ll stop stalking you.”

Zach’s stomach dropped to his feet at the suggestion, and he was glad they couldn’t see his face. The steady stream of dating advice from the party guests had been bad enough. The last thing he needed was more of the same from his brothers.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Jerry scolded Abe with a smirk without breaking his concentration. “Zach’s got way better options in Portland.”