Page 20

Moms will be moms.

Theo

T he next morning, I wake to the sound of my phone vibrating on my nightstand.

It must’ve been vibrating for a while. Either that or the person calling gave up because the vibration stops.

It’s immediately followed by a beep indicating I have a missed call.

Memories of Theo and me from the previous night rush into my head.

My morning wood throbs as I replay everything we did.

I’m so turned on, I have to refrain from grinding against Adrian, who is snuggled at my side.

He feels so perfect, pressed up against me like this. Glancing at the clock, I see we overslept, yet his peaceful, happy expression in my bed keeps me still for a moment longer. Savoring the feel of Adrian in my arms is something I could easily get used to.

Right as I’m starting to doze off, my phone starts ringing again. Carefully pulling myself away from my boy, I climb out of bed and answer the phone.

“One second, Mom,” I whisper, quietly clicking the bedroom door closed and making my way to the kitchen.

“Hello?” Mom says on the other end, sounding confused.

“Hey, Mom. Sorry about that. I had to be quiet. I just got out of bed.” As soon as the words leave my lips, I silently smack my face, dragging my hand down.

“Honey, why would you have to be quiet in your own place? It’s almost noon. Why would you still be in be—” she trails off, and I’m pretty sure she’s piecing the puzzle pieces together at a rapid pace.

Then she squeals.

Oh, dear lord. This is not how I wanted to tell her.

“Ah, sweetheart! Please tell me you got back together with Grant.”

I inhale deeply before counting backwards from ten. I need to tell her. If I have any hope of turning my so-called fake relationship with Adrian into something real, my mother needs to know how I really feel about my ex. She needs to stop meddling. Plus, I want to introduce her to Adrian someday.

“Mom, please stop chatting with Grant,” I say in a serious tone.

“He hurt me deeply. Grant left me when I needed him the most. Then he made me feel like everything in our relationship was my fault. It took me a really long time to heal. I really didn’t want to tell you this part because I didn’t want to hurt you, but he replaced me within a week of breaking up.

He told me he found someone better and continued to flaunt him in front of me just to be cruel. ”

She gasps.

“I don’t love him anymore,” I continue. “I know our families will always be friends, but Grant will no longer be a part of my life.”

“Oh, sweetie. I’m so sorry. A week? You didn’t tell me. Was he—was he cheating on you?”

“I don’t know. Maybe. Probably.” It’s the first time I ever voiced those thoughts out loud. The fact he had found another Daddy so quickly had me questioning things. But I continued to blame myself. I convinced myself that I was in the wrong and deserved to be hurting.

“That asshole,” Mom hisses.

I bark out a laugh. I don’t remember the last time I heard Mom cuss. Pulling out a few things from the fridge, I place them on the counter. I want to impress my boy and show him how our lives can be together.

Mom starts to say something else about how horrible Grant is when I interrupt her. “I met someone, Mom. He’s wonderful. A little younger than me, but so sweet,” I admit. “He’s smart, too. I think you’d love him if you gave him a chance.”

I lean against the kitchen counter, smiling.

“You sound happy.” She hums in approval. “And he sounds wonderful. Can I get a photo?”

I chuckle. “You already know what he looks like. His name is Adrian DeLuca.”

She squeals again. Only this time, when her excitement comes through the phone, I feel arms circle me from behind.

Adrian.

I hug him to me, clutching his hands in mine and pulling him in tight, so his front presses solidly against me.

“Morning, sweet boy,” I whisper. “Did I wake you up?”

“Oh, is that him? Tell Adrian I want a photo of the two of you together. Something cute for me to print out and post on my fridge.”

I groan. “Mom, you don’t need a photo. You already know what he looks like. You’ve been to his games.”

Adrian chuckles. “We can take a photo together and send it to her.”

Mom cheers. “Oh! I like him already.”

I roll my eyes, but can’t help the warmth filling my chest. This is how it’s supposed to be when I tell my mother about my boyfriend. No hiding or begging her to keep secrets. No guilt or fear. Just happiness… and maybe a little embarrassment, too.

“All right then, Mom. I’m going to get off the phone so we can take this photo for you. Then, I have to get some food into my boy. He’s an athlete and needs the calories.”

Between the fun and silly poses in our selfies, I must say, we make a stunning couple. Or hell, it’s probably just Adrian. He’s the stunning one. Unable to decide on a favorite, I send all the photos to Mom.

“I was going to make you waffles with fresh strawberries and whipped cream. I also have some sausage I can cook up for protein. How does that sound?”

Adrian’s mouth hangs open. “Wow. That sounds really good.”

After breakfast, I pour each of us a cup of coffee.

“Daddy?”

My eyes jerk up to his, that word filling me with happiness I can’t even begin to explain. It’s not just a word, it’s a title. And, by the way my boy is looking at me, all guilty and shy, he knows it’s a title too.

“Yes, sweet boy? What’s wrong?”

“I didn’t mean to spy, but I overheard you talking about your ex.”

I nod. With the timing of when he wrapped his arms around me, I assumed he must have heard some of it, if not most. “His name is Grant. You asked me what happened over the last five years… he was the main reason I got off social media.”

Adrian flexes his jaw, and his eyes narrow.

Is my boy angry? For me? I chuckle to myself.

God, why do I find it hot? No one has ever expressed these feelings for me before.

At least not when I can plainly see them in front of me.

I lift his knuckles to my lips. “You can ask me anything, sweet boy. I want to tell you.”

“Okay,” he says slowly. “How did you meet Grant?”

“My mother.” I laugh. “The sneaky woman was always trying to set me up on blind dates, but when I came out to her, Grant was the first man she introduced me to.”

I start from the beginning. I tell Adrian everything, from our introduction to how I became his Daddy to the secrecy, and eventually, to my heartbreak.

I explain how I kept my sexuality a secret.

I stayed in the closet out of fear, and now I never want to live like that again—I want the world to know how much I care about my boy.

A part of me holds my breath as soon as the words slip past my lips.

Even though Adrian is out and proud, he might not want an actual relationship when he gets into the NHL.

When he stands up, walks around the table, and sits in my lap, I know I have nothing to worry about. And when he pulls out his phone and takes another selfie with the two of us beaming into the camera, I know, without a doubt, this photo will be my favorite.

“There,” he says after typing into his phone. “Now the world will know I put a claim on you. No more hiding.” Adrian places a sweet kiss on my cheek. He flips his phone around, and right there in front of me is a social media post of the two of us.

We look so happy that deep down, I know nothing between us is fake. No matter what we keep telling ourselves.