#Rev (GearShark #2)(82)

Trent’s large hands wrapped around the edges of the podium, and he glanced out over the room. I could see the trepidation in his eyes but also his resolve.

I don’t know why, but I knew he expected the worst today.

Just like he expected the worst when he admitted to me how he felt about me, when he told the family, and even when we told Lorhaven.

For whatever reason, Trent was almost conditioned for the worst. I was beginning to see a disturbing pattern in his thinking. It wasn’t that he was a negative person. He wasn’t. And he always tried to reassure me, and everyone else around him, that everything would always be okay.

But I saw it now.

Deep down, Trent was always surprised when things worked out for him.

I didn’t like it.

In fact, it sort of pissed me off.

After he scanned the room, his face changed. He straightened. “Where’s Con and his merry band of dickheads?”

Some laughed.

A few others coughed.

Jack stepped forward. “They’re in the basement. Where we take the pledges.”

I leaned over toward Romeo. “Isn’t that like some storm cellar with stone stairs?”

Romeo nodded. “Yep. I was down there a couple times when I was rushing.”

“What the f*ck are they down there for?” Trent asked.

Jack cleared his throat.

One of the other guys at the table leaned forward. “We tied them up. We weren’t about to let a bunch of bigots who don’t fight fair wander around this house.”

Romeo and Braeden both burst out laughing.

Trent blinked. “You tied them up in the basement because they beat me up?”

Another brother spoke up. “Them and a few other *s who don’t like gays.”

This time I was the one who laughed.

“It was quite a night last night,” Jack told Trent.

“They’ve been down there all night?” He sounded flabbergasted.

See? He had a serious issue. He probably needed therapy.

Or maybe just some French fries.

“Well, yeah.”

Trent glanced out across the room. “So all of you are okay with the fact that your president is gay?”

“You aren’t gay. You’re Trent,” someone said.

Josh spoke up again. “You’ve always done right by this frat, and now we’re gonna do right by you. Being gay doesn’t make you any less than who you’ve been the past few years.”

“Now this,” Romeo said, “this is a frat I would have loved to join.”

People began nodding.

Trent stood there a moment and cleared his throat. He gripped the podium again, and I noticed how hard his fingers squeezed. “This is a proud moment for me. To look around this room and see not only acceptance, but pride in this fraternity. It was a long road to get here. Some days I wondered if we ever would, and some days I worried there might be more of you like Conner than like Jack.”

“Booo!” someone hollered from the back.

Trent grinned. It was welcome sight. He deserved to grin like that every day of his life.

“I guess I should have had more faith in my brothers. I can hand this house over to Jack now and look back on all the time I spent here with fondness, not contempt. Thank you guys for having my back and for not casting me out.”

Everyone started clapping.

“Well, this went a lot better than I thought,” Braeden told Romeo and me.

Romeo rolled his eyes.

When the clapping died down, one of the house members I didn’t really know stood up. “Can I say something?”

“I think you spoke to soon,” Romeo muttered to B.

“Sure,” Trent replied.

“I just want to thank you, Trent. Thank you for coming out and making me realize I don’t have to lie about who I am.”

“You’re gay?” Trent asked.

He nodded.

“That man love must be some good shit,” Braeden cracked.

Everyone looked at him.

“He’s an idiot. Ignore him,” Trent said. “Anyone in this room got a problem with Sam being gay?”

Sam glanced around nervously.

Everyone shook their heads.

“Good to hear,” Trent announced.

Sam looked relieved and sat back down.

Look at my guy making a difference.

“So should we put to vote the charter status of Conner and the others?”

“I think we already know the outcome,” Jack said.

“All those in favor of stripping their roles and removing them from the Alpha Omega brotherhood, say aye.”

Everyone said aye.

I did, too, even though I didn't really get a vote.

“I think that pretty much takes care of the meeting,” Trent said.

Jack spoke up. “There is one thing…”

“What?” he asked.

“What are we gonna do with all the guys tied up in the basement?”

In the end, the *s were brought up to the meeting and stood in front of the fraternity.

I derived an immense amount of satisfaction from the fact that they all had their hands tied behind their backs and were wearing nothing but their underwear. The three guys who beat up Trent that played in the football game all had a nice spattering of bruises, and it appeared they had a few fresh black eyes to go with them.