Page 88 of Mr. Naughty List
“She’s good with everyone but her son,” Aaron said with a grimace. “Which just happens to be me. Apparently, it’s all right for anyone else in the world to be gay, but not her kid. It’s a specific kind of bias, and one I’m aware she isn’t alone in having, and yet that doesn’t make it less painful when the kid in question is yourself.”
Mom looked as if she wanted to pull Aaron into a hug. “I’m sorry. I admit that when RJ came out to me, I didn’t handle it as well as I’d have liked—”
“You handled it great.”
“Are you kidding me? I forbid you from seeing your boyfriend.”
RJ shrugged. “He was twice my age and using me for sex. It was a good idea to forbid it. I just wish I’d obeyed.”
Mom rubbed her forehead and sighed. “You were a stubborn boy. And you’re stubborn now too.” She smiled at Aaron. “I hope you understand that my son is a bit of a pill, but a good person. He’s worth the bitterness.”
“He’s sweet to me,” Aaron said, taking RJ’s hand again. “I’m just sorry if the two of us seeing each other has made things hard for Carter. He’s a great kid. I would never want to make him uncomfortable by lov—” He flushed. “By caring for his stepbrother.”
Mom’s eyebrow popped, and RJ’s heart tripped at Aaron’s verbal slip.
“I should go now,” Aaron said. “I have some things I need to finish.”
“I’ll walk you to your car,” RJ said.
Outside, as Aaron climbed into the driver’s seat, he pulled RJ close to ask in his ear, “Later will you show me again what happens to bad elves?”
RJ kissed his cheek and whispered, “How about I show you what happens to good ones?”
Chapter Twenty-Five
“Ican’t believeyou had me sneaking in and out of the school like a thief,” Lauren said, slipping into the passenger seat and buckling in. She wore a pair of jeans and green shirt beneath a black cardigan. More relaxed than her usual teacher-wear.
She passed his briefcase over and a small tote of other personal odds and ends. “I’ve never gone back in after it’s been shut down for winter break. It was spooky.”
“Was she in there?”
“Yeah. In her office.”
Aaron shook his head. “She never takes a break. Even when I was a kid, I had to hang out in her office with her during winter break unless Dad came to get me.” Aaron groaned. “I just can’t deal with her right now.”
Lauren smiled sadly at him. “Christmas is in nine days, hon. How are you going to get around that?”
“Ugh. Don’t remind me.” He put the car in reverse and backed out of the parking space. “Thanks for getting this stuff from my classroom. Where do you want to eat?”
“Full Service sounds good to me.” Lauren pulled a lip gloss from her purse and applied it, offering some to Aaron, but he declined. “Too cold to eat at the picnic tables, of course, but I’ve been dying for their banana pudding.”
Aaron didn’t argue and turned out of the school parking lot and headed west toward the local barbecue chain. It only had a handful of outdoor picnic tables and a drive-thru window, but it was his and Lauren’s favorite spot. In the spring, summer, and autumn, they ate at the picnic tables, but in winter they’d usually find a place to park with some scenery and eat in the car. They didn’t care so long as they were with each other.
After going through the drive-thru, Aaron drove them on backroads to Concord Park, where they could watch the winter sunset skip around on the lake. Aaron relaxed into the seat, eating his sauce-covered pork and jalapeños, listening to Lauren chat about her Christmas plans with her mother. As they ate, he fielded questions about what gifts he’d gotten for his father’s side of the family and offered advice on what she should get her dad’s new wife.
Just as the Christmas lights were blinking to life on the houses around the edges of the lake, they grew quiet together. Wadding up the trash and stuffing it into the paper bag, Aaron knew the time had come for the probing. He decided to suffer it with dignity if he could.
Sure enough, as soon as Lauren had squeezed hand sanitizer onto both of their palms, she asked, “So there’s been nothing since yesterday?”
“With my mom?”
“Yeah.”
Aaron shrugged. “Nope.”
“But you’ve talked with her?”
“Uh-uh.”