Page 37 of Code Word (The Atrous #3)

Him assuming we were a singular unit made me happier than it probably should have.

And his assumption that we were done and leaving too.

“We don’t know,” I answered, giving Luke a smile.

“A house here, probably. And maybe another place in Mexico. Or Hawaii. Or Tahiti.” I shrugged, smiling at the possibilities. “We haven’t decided.”

Jeremy was stunned and kinda quiet for the rest of the drive.

We arrived at the gates to home, to Luke’s house, and while we waited for the gates to open and the slow drive up to the house, it felt... like we were arriving at a place we no longer belonged.

It was hard to describe.

It was home, yes. But not for long.

Jeremy and Steve came inside with us. The house was cold and dark—the irony of that wasn’t lost on me—and I dumped Luke’s bag onto the couch while he opened the blinds and doors.

“It was so much warmer in Mexico,” I said to no one in particular.

Jeremy stood there, his hands shoved into his pockets. “So, hey,” he began, frowning. “You guys... Are we good?”

“Are we good? Luke and me?” I gestured between me and Luke. “We are.”

Jeremy looked right at me. “I meant us. Things weren’t good when you left, and I...” He shrugged.

“I know you tried to help,” I said. “Sorry if I made you worry. Sorry if I was an ass. Well, more of an ass than usual.”

“You were unconscious on the floor when I found you in Malibu,” he said quietly.

“Asleep,” I corrected. “Passed out on the floor, maybe. But not unconscious.”

“You were a mess.”

“Oh, I know,” I agreed. “I needed to figure shit out on my own and get to the conclusion that everyone but me knew, apparently.”

Luke came over and stood by me, his hand on my lower back. “Things weren’t good for either of us,” he said, taking the emphasis off me. “We’ve done some thinking, soul- searching, reevaluating. Figuring out what we want, what we want to do. Where we want to be.”

He nodded slowly. “And Maddox . . .”

“I know,” I replied. “I’ll talk to him. When I’m ready.”

Jeremy’s eyes flinched but he nodded again. “He feels bad.” He put his hand up before I could say anything. “Just don’t leave it too long.”

It looked like he wanted to say a lot more on the matter, and Steve was very quiet. I had to wonder what I’d missed.

I hated that things were tense and not like how they used to be.

My phone pinged again and I sighed, taking it out of my pocket, and handed it to Luke. “Can you please go throw it in the pool for me? Thanks.”

“What did you expect when you break the internet?” He read the screen. “It’s your mom.”

Goddammit.

I sighed. “Boy, do I have some phone calls to make.”

Jeremy gave me a soft smile. “Does she know about you two?”

“Not exactly,” I said. “Not from me. Becca told her I went to Mexico and that I was with Luke.”

“Becca?” He made a face. “So how’s that . . . ?”

“We talked,” Luke answered. “She’s fine. She said she knew all along. Like Vana, I guess.”

I pulled Luke in and kissed the side of his head. “We’ll go see everyone. Tell them. Explain things.”

Luke looked up at me, his hand on my stomach, and smiled.

“So . . .” Steve said. “You guys are . . . ?”

“Yes,” I replied. “We are. Together. If that’s what you’re asking.”

He grinned, and Jeremy smiled at Luke. “Finally, huh?”

I huffed. “Jesus. How blind was I? Look, I got there in the end, okay. ”

Luke laughed, his eyes sparkling when he smiled at me. “You did.”

“Okay,” Jeremy said. “I recognize that look. We’ll leave you two alone.” He gave us a bro-shake. “Glad you’re both back.”

“Thank you for coming to get us,” Luke said. “I really appreciate it.”

“Yeah, next time you want to cause a whole security issue,” Steve said, “how about you don’t.”

I laughed. “Are you kidding? Playing the piano in the airport was so much fun. One hundred percent will be doing again.”

Luke sighed as if he was trying to find some patience. “Thanks again, guys. Give us a day or two and we’ll have everyone around for a cookout or something.”

We said our goodbyes, then it was just Luke and me.

In his house, the house we’d lived in together for years. Together, but not. In separate rooms, at either ends of the house.

“So,” I said. “About rooms. What did?—”

He took my hand. “You’re sleeping in mine,” he said, leading me down the hall to his side of the house, his room. “I want your clothes in my wardrobe, your books on the nightstand.” He looked at my lips. “I want you in my bed.”

“Mm,” I said, pushing him down onto his bed and crawling up over him. Rough hands, hot mouth. I pulled his bottom lip between mine and spread his legs with mine. “Want anything else of mine?”

His breath caught and his nostrils flared. “All of it.”

“Fuck,” I breathed.

“Yes,” he said, eyes dark. He raked his hands down my back and pulled my hips into his, and my blood ran hot. I crashed my mouth to his, needing to give him my tongue.

But he froze.

I pulled back. “What? ”

“Did you hear that?”

“Nuh. Busy listening to my dick right now,” I said, kissing down his neck.

He laughed, but then I heard it . . .

The doorbell.

Fuck.

“Hello?” a familiar voice called out.

My mother.

“Luke?”

And his.

What the fuck.

“You didn’t lock the door?” I hissed, rolling off him and getting off the bed a little too quick for my knee. “Ugh. Fuck.”

“Are you okay?” he asked.

I held my knee. “Yep. At least it killed my boner. Kind of.”

Luke laughed, then hollered out the door. “Coming!”

“We were about to be,” I mumbled, and Luke laughed. He readjusted his junk and headed down the hall.

I followed, limping on my stupid knee and stupider blue balls.

“Told you we should have stayed in Mexico,” I said.

Luke shot me a grin over his shoulder as he disappeared around the wall. “Mom, Mrs. Acosta,” he said. “What are you doing here?”

Well, I guess we’re doing this . . .

At least I couldn’t put it off and overthink it.

“Becca,” Luke said, probably for my benefit.

“Hey, dickbag,” she said, immediately admonished by both mothers, but Luke laughed.

“You’ve spent too much time with Jeremy.”

I rounded the wall and everyone turned to face me. Luke’s eyes were wide like holy fuck, so this is happening , and I plastered on a smile and maybe limped on my knee a little more than was necessary.

They were less likely to hate me if I was injured, right ?

“Mom,” I said, kissing her cheek. Then I kissed Luke’s mom. “Mrs. Dougherty.” And that left Becca. “Hey,” I said gently.

She smiled. “Hey.”

I walked over to her and gave her a hug. “Thank you,” I said. “For everything.”

She gave me a smile—a little sad, a little proud. “I’m glad it worked out.”

“We saw all the photos and videos,” my mom said. “And Blake, I was so worried about you before you left. And your knee? Is it okay?”

I put my hand on her arm. “I know. I’m sorry.

I was a bit of a mess. My knee’s okay. I had scans done in Mexico, but I’ll make an appointment this week with my doctor.

” I took a deep breath and looked at Luke before turning back to our mothers.

“Mom, I guess there’s no easy way to say this so I’m just gonna say it.

I’m with Luke. As in, together. We’re together. I love him.”

Luke came over and slipped his hand into mine.

Mom stared at me like I’d just told her I discovered the sky was blue.

“I know, love,” she said softly. “Becca told us everything.”

Luke and I both looked at Bec. She shrugged. “I had to tell them something. You were MIA,” she said to Luke. Then she looked at me. “You were a basket case. We broke up, and then I drove you to the airport so you could go tell my brother you finally realized you were in love with him.”

Right, then.

It wasn’t like I could argue. “That kinda covers everything,” I mumbled with a wince. “Except the basket-case comment. Wow.”

She raised an eyebrow, and I conceded defeat.

“It’s okay, Blake,” Mom said. “You two have been close for so long. You’ve been through so much together. It’s not that surprising. Well, it kind of was. At first. But you were so upset on the phone, and then Becca told us why.” Mom made a sad face. “It’s okay to be gay, darling.”

“Okay, Mom,” I said, shaking my head, waving my hand. “It’s not... we’re not, I mean, we know it’s okay. I... just think it’s...” I stopped and tried again. “Thank you, Mom.”

She smiled at us fondly and then looked to Mrs. Dougherty as if it were now her turn.

I needed to say something first.

“Mrs. Dougherty,” I began. “Can I just say how sorry I am. I really am very sorry.”

Luke stood a little closer. “Blake,” he whispered, as if I had no reason to apologize. But I really did.

“It’s okay, Luke,” I said to him. Then I smiled at Bec, then at their mom. “I hurt both your kids. I didn’t mean to. That was never my intention, but the truth is, I did. I hurt Bec by not being what she needed, and I hurt Luke for not seeing what was right in front of me for so long.”

She gave me that warm, fond, motherly smile she’d been bestowing on me for over a decade. “It’s okay,” she said. “I know you didn’t do it intentionally.” Then she reached her hand over to mine and gave it a pat. “Lucky I don’t have three kids or you could have had yourself a hat trick.”

I gasped, horrified, but everyone else laughed, and Luke gave me a squeeze before he kissed his mom on the cheek. “Thanks, Mom.” Then he looked at Bec. “Can we talk?”

She gave him a nod and they walked out through the glass doors toward the pool.

And that left me alone with both mothers. “How about I make some coffee?” I said. “Well, I hope we have coffee. We only just got back. I don’t know what’s here.”

“Yes, we passed Jeremy and Steve at the gate,” Mom said. “Jeremy laughed and told us to let ourselves in.”

I bet he thought that was hilarious. Dickbag.

I found some coffee beans and there was creamer in the pantry, and it was good to keep myself busy while trying not to think about what Luke and Bec were talking about.