Page 43 of Out of My Mind

“They sell it at drugstores,” Mac said. “If you’re going to stick your dick inside me, the least you can do is pick up the lube. It’s the gentlemanly thing to do.”

“The gentlemanly thing.” Gideon snorted. “Until tomorrow then.”

“Do you want to fool around tonight?” Mac asked, still sprawled out on the bed. Gideon could collapse on top of him and smell his warmth if he wanted to. But he decided to make Mac suffer. Who said geology class had to be so serious?

“We can wait until tomorrow. The gentlemanly thing and all.”

Φ

Gideon received the dreaded call from his mom at 10:45 the next morning. That was a good sign. She gave herself the night to think it over. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad.

Who was he kidding?

Gideon braced for impact. “Hi, Mom.”

“Good morning. Did I wake you?”

“It’s almost eleven.”

“Well, I know how much you like to sleep late, Gideon. And you sounded groggy,” she said defensively.

“Sorry. I’m up. So, I take it you heard the news.”

“I did.” She sounded calmer than he expected. Maybe instead of a bomb, this was a minefield, and he had to tread even lighter. “At this point, I’m not surprised by anything your brother does anymore. Noah has made it clear that he’s going to do what he wants, and it’s his life.”

To the untrained ear, this would sound like his mom had grown and mellowed out, a real step of progress. But Gideon knew better. He hadn’t spent the past twenty years being the son to Judy Saperstein without picking up on her quirks. He could hear the distinct passive-aggressive frustration and disappointment coating her resigned tone. Yes, Noah did what he wanted, and no, it would never be okay with her.

“Look on the bright side. You’ll get to be a grandma.”

She laughed. It was only a second, but it flashed Gideon back to when it was four of them, laughing around the dinner table, regaled by one of their dad’s stories. Maybe the baby would be the ultimate bright side.

“I am looking forward to being a grandmother. And Christina and Noah will produce a very cute baby. Hopefully, the baby has her nose.”

That was a joke! His mom making a joke about a potentially earth-shattering event! Gideon felt like he was in a trap, but he couldn’t figure it out yet. There was the tick…tick…but no boom.

“I like your attitude,” Gideon said.

“With Noah…I don’t know. I tried. That’s all I can say. I tried. I think your brother has a lot of anger about what happened with your dad.”

Gideon wanted to remind that they were all hurt by his passing. Only Noah acted out.

“But at least I have you, Gideon. You would never do something so…”

“Irresponsible?”

“Exactly. I love our chats. There’s never any drama.”

But she didn’t know how much work it took to keep the drama out.

“For the most part,” she continued. That put Gideon on high alert.

“What do you mean?”

“When I was picking up the egg salad for break the fast, I ran into Beth’s mother at the deli.”

Gideon gulped back a lump of panic. He forgot that his mother preferred a deli in Beth’s town. It was a rare curveball, but he could handle it. He was already on top of it.

“She said that you and Beth broke up before school started.”