Page 4 of By Rude Strength

And Gavin.

FuckingGavin.

They’d been together for almost two years. They’d talked about getting engaged and moving in together. This couldn’t be the fucking end. LA refused to give up what was an absolutely perfect relationship. Yes, they had their problems, but what couple didn’t? They were so good together and there was no one else LA could imagine being with.

He loved Gavin.

The good, the bad, all of it.

Just like he loved his job, too, for all of its ups and down.

His entire future was crumbling in only a matter of minutes and—for the love of fuck, why was his phone ringing again?

LA’s first thought was that it was someone from the funeral home, Michael perhaps, calling to beg him for those files. A glance at his car’s dashboard revealed it was much worse than that.

His mother.

Yes, great, fabulous.

Just who he wanted to talk to.

So wonderful his phone decided to wait untilnowto connect to the car so he didn’t have an excuse not to answer. With a sigh, he tapped the button on his steering wheel to accept the call. If he didn’t pick up, she would keep calling until he did.

“Hey, Mom,” he said, aiming for friendly and hoping his sour mood didn’t register in his voice.

“Hi, sweetie,” his mother, Deborah, greeted him. “What’s wrong?”

LA cringed.

So much for that.

“Today wasn’t a great day,” he replied. “I had to meet with the person from human resources for the funeral home.” He took a deep breath. “They fired me—”

“Oh! Well, that’s wonderful news! You know I hated you working there. They treated you so poorly—”

“Yeah, losing a decade of my life doing something I loved iswonderful.”

“Watch your tone,” Deborah scolded. “You can do so much better, sweetie. You could go back to school and actually get a real degree—”

“I have a degree. In mortuary science.”

“That’s a two-year certificate, shush. You need—”

“Associate’s. It’s an associate’s.”

“—to move forward and get into teaching like you wanted to.”

LA squeezed the steering wheel. “I never wanted to be a teacher. You never listen—”

“You’re the one who doesn’t listen! How many times did I tell you that awful job was destroying your body? Not to mention how many carcinogens you were exposed to! I knew this would happen. You should’ve quit after your apprenticeship, but no, you didn’t want to listen to me…”

LA tuned her out.

He did not want to hear another one of her speeches about how he was doing everything wrong because he didn’t do what she’d wanted him to. There was no arguing with her. She simply wouldn’t listen, and LA couldn’t bring himself to hang up the phone.

Just hang up.

Pretend you lost signal.