Page 80 of More Than a Spark

She gave a stiff nod. “You’ve been back here for a month already?”

“Yeah. I had stuff going on, so…you know, with the training I’m taking at the new fire department academy.” I glanced at Malcolm, eying Milo, then me. What the hell did he think about this? Was he going to be a prick about it?Don’t care.

“Is that how you hurt your arm?” Her finger flicked off the stem of her glass, toward me.

I shifted in my seat. “Yeah.” I’d been wondering if she’d even noticed the bandage. I guessed she wasn’t blind to me after all.

“He saved a recruit from trying to open a door he wasn’t supposed to in a training exercise. He’s getting a commendation for it.” Milo lifted his chin.

“I don’t like you doing that job, Ryder. It’s not safe.” Her gaze hardened. “I’m sure Milo feels the same way, right?”

“I uh, I think he’s good at what he does and, and he saves people. It’s what he loves. He needs to do what he loves.” Milo’s eyes rounded and he stared at me, slack jawed.

I guessed Milo answered his own question with how I felt about him taking the job in Seattle. “I should be done with training in two weeks, then I’ll be put on a team at Chandler fire station number six.” I drank more bourbon.

With a smirk, Mom drew a long inhale. “My uncle Stan was a fireman.” She pursed her lips. “He died when I was sixteen, trying to save a baby from a housefire. They both perished.” Her gaze hardened and she straightened her spine. “I’m sure you’ve already seen some awful things and I know you put your life in danger all the time. Why you’d want a life like that, I’ve no idea.”

“What? You never told me about any Uncle Stan.” I stared at her, my mouth gaping. I was never around her side of family though, so how would I have known? She’d split with Dad before I’d met Milo.

After a short head shake, she sipped her wine. “I don’t like talking about it. He was a great man and always took the time to play dolls with me when I was little.” A sad smile crept over her mouth, then vanished. “And now you want to add a gay relationship into the mix? Is there no end to the?—”

“Dear, you don’t have to—” Malcolm placed his hand on her forearm.

“No, I do. Ryder is just like him. It’s like Stan was reincarnated in my son. It’s time he heard it. It’s time he understood that his choices affect the people around him.” Her glare bore into me as her gaze found mine. “Stan wasn’tgaythough. He had a wife and a daughter. His daughter had to grow up without a father.”

I rubbed my forehead. Holy shit, here we go. Milo didn’t need to see this. I needed to get him out of here. “Mom, I think we better?—”

“Wait, I know I’ve been distant with you.” She cleared her throat. “It’s just that, when you decided to be a firefighter, I knew what you were getting yourself into.” She covered her lips with her hand. “You could have been so much more.”

“But it’s what he loves, what he’s always loved, and I love him for doing it.” Milo brought our entwined hands to the tabletop and kissed the back of mine. “Your son is the most loyal and selfless man I know and I’m proud to call him my boyfriend.”

“I see.” She narrowed her eyes. “So, this little charade is going to continue?” She pointed to our hands.

“Damn right it is.” I dipped my gaze, focusing on our entwined hands. Why should I even explain this to her? She would never hear me. What the hell. “I uh, figured out something about myself while I was in Flagstaff. When I came home and met up with Milo…” I locked my gaze on his. “Things were different between us.” With a deep inhale, I looked at my mother straight on. “Mom, I’m bisexual.”

She didn’t answer, but Malcolm cleared his throat, then sipped some bourbon. “I-I don’t know what to say. This seems sudden.” He shook his head, then turned his attention on me. “Wouldn’t you have known this a long time ago?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. I know it now though.” My gaze wound to Milo’s again. “I’m sure of it now. Milo’s my person, always has been.” I kissed the back of his hand. Fuck them both if they didn’t like it.

Milo’s cheeks flushed.

“I suppose your father and Hazel already know.” With a huff, Mom frowned. “Ryder, when I invited you over here tonight, I’d wanted to start afresh with you.” She flicked her gaze to Milo, then back to me. “But now this. What am I supposed to think?” She lowered her brows.

“Start fresh? You wanted to start fresh?” I stared at her. I never thought in a million years I’d be hearing that out of her mouth. Choking out a laugh, I said, “So, all of a sudden you want to pretend like all the bullshit between us never was? Are you ever going to be proud of me, Mom?” I fisted my free hand. Could I really believe this?

“Ryder, I don’t think you’re listening.” Squeezing my hand, Milo shook it between us. “She said she was already planning on reconnecting with you before all this.”

Mom lifted her chin. “Yes, thank you, Milo.” She sipped her wine, her gaze fixated on me.

“So, even if I’m queer, in a gay relationship? Does that matter to you?” I turned my hardened gaze on Malcolm. “Or you, Malcolm?”

“Of course it matters, but what can we do about it? You love who you love.” Malcolm clucked his tongue, then sipped more bourbon.

“There’s obviously nothing I can do to change it. You’ve always taken the hardest path your whole life. Why should this be any different.” With a flip of her hair and a scoff, she studied me, then Milo. “Milo, you’ve been out for a long while. How do you handle prejudice? I’m sure you’ve been the focus of it.”

Milo gaped for a beat. “I-I don’t come across it all that often right now. All my friends are queer, and we stick together.”

“But it is there, isn’t it?” She fingered the stem of her wine glass.

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