Page 13 of Just Forever

“You look lovely when you’re trying not to visibly gag,” Ryker says, and my shoulders slump.

“Caught on to that, did you?”

His fingers slide over the nape of my neck.

“I know you better than anybody else in the world,” he says, and something jolts inside my chest at how complex and yet how simple that statement is. “It’s going to be fine. Stop overthinking.”

“I’m not overthinking.”

“She’s not going to freak out that I’m not straight.”

“Out of the two revelations, you being bi is not my main concern. Maybe we shouldn’t do it all at once. Don’t you think it’d be better to come out today and leave the marriage discussion for another day?”

“We’ll play it by ear.”

I rub my fingertips over my forehead. “How are you so calm about this?”

He looks at me with an expression that’s filled with loving exasperation. We’ve had this conversation one time too many already.

“She’s my mom. I want her to know.”

I blow out a breath and drag my palm over my face. I wonder what that feels like? Because, to be honest, I don’t think I want my mother to know anything about this relationship at all. It helps that she’s been living in Australia for the past two years, so I barely see her, but the thing is—and I realize it’s not a very nice thing to think about one’s mother—I don’t trust her not to spill the beans about me and Ryker. Not even because I think she’d want to somehow make a profit and sell the story. It’s more that she’s careless. Exceedingly so. With relationships. With people.

That’s not the road I’m in the mood to go down on, so I shake my head and concentrate on Ryker instead.

“Yeah, okay,” I say. “I get it.”

He grins at me. “Okay.”

LAKE

We’re late.

To be fair, we were already cutting it close by the time we made it back from our run, so showering together had seemed like a no-brainer, since we were trying to be quick. That failed spectacularly because it turns out neither of us has any self-control and blow jobs take a lot of time.

My hair still hasn’t fully dried by the time we get to the restaurant Genevive picked out for us. She watches us approach with a smile on her face and, once we get to the table, she gets up and hugs Ryker before we go through the awkward dance of trying to figure out ifwe’regoing to hug, too.

Yes. We are.

“I’m sorry we’re late,” I say once we’ve all sat down. “Traffic.”

She waves me off. “It wasn’t that long. I took care of some calls while I was waiting.”

As soon as we’ve settled in, the waiter comes over to take our drink orders, and once he’s gone, Genevive picks up the gift bag sitting next to her on the table and holds it out for Ryker. “Happy birthday, sweetheart.”

Ryker perks up. He takes the bag and opens it before he looks up with a wide grin and holds up a tie.

“Thanks. Just what I needed. How did you know?”

“You wore the same tie in every post-game photo and video clip last season.” Genevive nods at the bag. “There are five more. Be a good son and add some variety to your wardrobe.”

Ryker leans over the table and kisses her on the cheek. “Thanks, Mom.”

She looks pleased and tracks Ryker with an adoring look.

“How are you, son of mine?”

“Starving. I haven’t eaten since breakfast.”

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