Page 15 of Just Forever

Can she guess? Is it obvious? Will this come completely out of the blue for her?

I fidget with the utensils. One of the forks isn’t aligned to the rest, but I’m determined to fix that. It’s a fiddly, complicated job that requires every ounce of my attention and I definitely,definitelyneed to stare intently at the fork lest I mess this all up even more.

“I’m bisexual,” Ryker says, calm and cool, like coming out to his mom is no big deal at all.

Genevive doesn’t say anything at all for a long while, her hand frozen to the wineglass she was just starting to pick up when Ryker detonated that tiny bomb.

Maybe she’s letting it sink in?

I don’t think I’ve ever heard silence this loud.

I have no idea what makes me do it. It would be infinitely more like me to just shut up and not get involved, but for some reason this is the moment my brain decides to throw in its own two cents.

“With me.”

It takes me a good few seconds to catch up to the fact that those words came out ofmymouth.

Both Ryker and Genevive are staring at me now.

Oh, good. It’s even more awkward and uncomfortable than I initially predicted.

“He’s being bisexual with me,” I add, because clearly somewhere in there I figured those words need to be said. Out loud. Of course, now that they’re out, I’m not so sure those words should’ve been said in that exact way. Or at all.

It takes forever for Genevive to say anything, and once she does, it’s simply “Oh.”

There’s an uncharacteristic moment of optimism on my side, because that’s pretty much exactly what my mom’s reaction was when I came out, and she was totally fine with it. Of course, that might’ve mostly been because she doesn’t really care about what’s going on with my life in general. That’s not the point. The point is, I only had the one parent left by then, so revealing something like this was scary as fuck, but she didn’t care that much.

“Do you…” Genevive’s eyes flick between me and Ryker, focusing on her son’s arm on the back of my chair. She purses her lips a tiny bit. “Do you think that’s smart?”

I almost snort out a laugh.

No.

That’s the answer, I think. All things considered. Not that I want to reduce everything Ryker and I are and have down to problems with him coming out. I don’t even think Ryker sees it as a problem. I thinkI’mapproaching it as a potential problem, but he doesn’t seem to think that. I suppose it’s one of those moments we have where I expect the worst from the world and Ryker trusts that people are inherently decent.

Still, right now, he tenses next to me.

“Smart?” he repeats.

Genevive sighs. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

“How did you mean it then?” Ryker’s voice is even more tense now.

“I’m simply saying that… you’re a professional athlete. It complicates things. The current political climate is fraught with tension. Not to mention you two share the kind of family history that some people might find… objectionable.”

“Objectionable.” Ryker’s brow furrows.

“You two are stepbrothers, darling.”

“And you’re one of those people who finds it objectionable?” Ryker asks.

Genevive seems lost for words for a moment.

“I’m just worried about whether it’s a good idea.”

“I’m in love. In a relationship. You should be happy for me.”

Genevive wrings her hands. “I am.”

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