Love is Always Write Anthology Volume 5

Verbal harassment was probably a form of foreplay for the son of a bitch. "Petroleum engineering?" he asked. "Seems strange, doesn't it? I mean, up here, surrounded by all this natural beauty, and you're becoming an expert in ways to exploit it?"
    "I don't think there are any petroleum reserves in this area," Cade said quietly.
    "So it'll be someone else's backyard that gets polluted?" Mrs. St. John said. "I don't really understand. Whatever would make a young person, growing up in this world, decide to devote his professional life to something like that?"
    "Money," Cade said sharply. He hadn't thought he was going to say anything, but the word had slipped out. And now that everyone was staring at him, he realized that it had actually felt pretty good to make his barbarous voice heard above their civilized sniping. "I'm in engineering because I'm good at math and science, and engineering has better job prospects than the pure sciences. And I'm in petroleum engineering because it's a growth field with high salaries and almost guaranteed employment."
    "How practical," Mrs. St. John said dryly. "But isn't there more to the college experience than just career training? Aren't there opportunities for personal growth you could be exploring?"
    Aiden was about to speak, but Cade beat him to it. It made no sense. Cade didn't give a good goddamn about petroleum engineering or about what Aiden's mother thought of his choice of studies. But he'd been too tense for too long, and apparently this was the place where the tension was going to be released first. "Personal growth? That'd be great, if I had the time. But I don't have parents who will keep sending me to school even if I have no idea what I want to do with myself, even if my grades are in the toilet. I need my scholarship, and that means I need to keep my grades high. I guess maybe I could drop into an easier program and keep my grades up that way, but my parents also aren't going to set me up with a bunch of sweet internships and volunteer experience, and they're not going to subsidize my income for the first ten years of my career so I can explore and find something that feeds my damn soul." Cade knew he should stop, and knew he wasn't going to. "So I'm studying petroleum engineering. I'm learning how to find new sources of oil so that people with lots of personal growth can still manage to drive their SUVs up to their second homes, so they can fly their kids up for a week of vacation in the wonderful, natural world, with its hyper-manicured golf-courses and fish-hook strewn natural lakes." Probably the fish-hook was a bit of a cheap shot, but Cade would worry about that later. Or maybe he'd worry about it right then, because he seemed to have run out of vitriole, and was left feeling vaguely foolish, and with a growing sense of alarm.
    "Cade," Aiden said, and Cade turned reluctantly to face the consequences of his outburst from the only person who mattered. But Aiden didn't look angry. Not at all. "I really love you," he said, and he nodded as his face broke into a wide grin. "Like, an insane amount." His expression was open and honest, as if he hadn't heard Cade tear into his mother, hadn't heard Cade practically tearing into Aiden himself.
    "Insane seems like the right word," Cade muttered. But Aiden loved him, so he took a deep breath and then turned back to Mrs. St. John and said, "I'm sorry. I got carried away."
    Her frown looked more thoughtful than its usual judgmental cast. "That's okay, Cade. I think I was a little carried away, too."
    The niceness was starting to creep Cade out, but then Warren said, "It's exciting to see a young man with such passion ," and he smiled his oily smile.
    Cade jerked to his feet. He couldn't do it. He was disgusted with himself for thinking that maybe he could. There was no way he could betray the trust Aiden had in him, not more than he already had. "I need to talk to you," he said shakily, and Aiden rose immediately, concern on his face.
    "It's okay, Cade. It's not a big deal."
    "Not about this ," Cade said. "About something else. I need to… please. Can I just talk to you?"
    Aiden only paused for a moment before saying, "Yeah. Of course." He turned to his parents. "Sorry, excuse us."
    "Certainly," Mr. St. John said, and the father's voice was just as concerned as the son's. "Cade, if there's anything you need help with, you can talk to us. Please."
    But Cade couldn't handle their kindness, not right then, and he barely