Page 85 of Skating to Him

Grabbing another bottle of Gatorade, Aaron made his way to us and handed me one.

I twisted off the cap, sipped it, and set it on the table. “Talk to me, Dad.” I flicked my gaze between him and Aaron.

“She fell a few days ago and didn’t want to tell us the flare-up had started. So, we didn’t catch it early.” Dad sighed. “She thought she was going to ruin our Christmas.”

Aaron twisted his bottle on the table, staring at it. “She has some wicked bruises on her legs. I found her on the floor when I got home from school.” He shook his head. “Hell, I thought maybe she’d broken them.”

Dad pursed his lips. “She’s been, I don’t know, depressed this time around.” He knitted his brows and pushed his glasses up his nose. “Let’s make sure she gets the rest she needs and…” He locked his gaze on mine. “I know you have your friend coming out in a few days. Maybe spend more time with her before he gets here, okay?”

“Do you think maybe I should tell him not to visit?” Fuck, no way could I come out to the family now. I drank my Gatorade, forcing my disappointment deep inside me. If the time wasn’t right, it wasn’t right.

“I don’t know.” Dad dipped his head, pushing his finger across the edge of the table.

But I wanted to be with Tyler for New Year’s Eve. He was supposed to meet Teddy. “Uh, my friend’s mom has MS too. She was just diagnosed a few months ago.” I studied Dad. I wasn’t sure why I blurted that out, and fuck, I didn’t know what I wanted to do here.

“Really?” Dad glanced at Aaron and then focused on me. “Well, I suppose he’ll be more understanding of the situation then.” He twisted his lips. “I’ll leave it up to you.”

“Yeah, okay.” I’d call Tyler as soon as I took my shit to my room. I rubbed over the tightness in my chest with the heel of my hand.

Aaron stopped twisting his bottle. “I was kind of looking forward to meeting Tyler. I mean, his brother’s an NHL player, and he might end up with the Blackhawks, right? That’s wicked cool.” He arched a brow at me and then Dad.

With a smirk, Dad chucked. “Yeah, your mother was a little starstruck too.”

“I’ll talk to him and let you know what we decide.” I stood from the table. I already knew what I wanted, and that was to have Tyler by my side through this. Maybe we’d have to hide our relationship for now, but I needed him here with me.

“Okay.” Dad rose and held out his arms. “I’m glad you’re home, son.”

Falling into his arms, I gave him a brief hug. “I’m happy to be here.”

A half-hour later,I’d unpacked my things into one of our upstairs guest rooms and looked over the queen-sized bed with a thick gray duvet and lots of pillows. I’d have to find a way to sneak Tyler in here after everyone was asleep. With my lipscurling into a soft grin, I grabbed my phone off the dark wooden dresser and called Tyler, glancing at the closed door to the room.

The phone rang a few times and picked up. “Hey, babe.”

“Hey, hope I didn’t catch you at a bad time.” It was so good to hear his voice. My heart ached as my gaze swept to the window, the darkness descending on the gray evening light. The snow had stopped for now.

“There’s never a bad time to talk to you.” He chuckled. “How’s the family?”

I sank onto the edge of the bed and freed a long exhale. “Mom’s in the middle of a bad flare-up.” I rubbed my eyes with my thumb and index finger. I’d just blurted that shit out, but I couldn’t help myself. Ineededhim.

“Shit, really? Like how bad? Is she in the hospital?” he asked.

“No, she’s at home. Dad put her in the office in a hospital bed though.” I swallowed thickly. Was he even going to want to come visit now? “She seemed in good spirits when I got here, but Dad says she’s been depressed.”

“So…” He exhaled. “Does this change things?”

“I, yeah, I think it does. I don’t think I want to come out to my family about us. Not this time around.” I pinched my lips. This sucked, and it wasn’t quite fair to him, especially since his family knew all about us. “B-but I still want you to come here for New Year’s.”

Only silence filtered through the phone.

Shit, was he mad at me? “Tyler?” I propped my elbow on my thigh and my forehead in my hand.

“Sorry, I was thinking,” he said. “If you still want me there, I want to come. It can’t be easy for you right now.” He huffed a breath. “Fuck, I’d be losing my shit if it were my mom.”

“Yeah, it’s not easy, but I am sort of used to it. But this time seems worse. I don’t remember her ever getting depressed before.” I worried my lower lip. “And she lost her balance and fell. My brother says her legs are so bruised that he was sureshe’d broken them.” My eyes stung. This sucked. “Tyler? I need you.” A ragged ache snuck through me.

“Then I’ll be there. Hell, maybe I can leave earlier, like the day after Christmas,” he said.

“No, you don’t have to change your plans.” I dropped my arm and threw myself backward on the bed. He was being really cool about this. “I’m sorry about not coming out to them right now.”

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