Page 126 of Sweat

She gives me thatboy pleaselook that makes me feel like she’s my real mom. Real moms are always pressed about their kids not wearing sweaters when it’s cold, I guess.

“I’ll put it on before dinner. Promise. You remember what we talked about, right? Be cool.”

Folding her arms across her chest, she says, “Rowan. I don’t need tobe cool.I am the definition of cool.”

“Yeah, sure.” No time to challenge her, so I skate past and sidle through everyone packed into a too-small house, keeping my chin lifted until I spot the top of Tommy’s head poking up over everyone’s.

The first glimpse I catch of him, my stomach flips and I can’t help the grin that stretches my cheeks. Doesn’t matter that we worked out together just yesterday. As good as he looks in joggers and a sweat-stained tee, there’s something princely about him in a cardigan and chinos, his hair blow-dried and fluffy like he’s some sort of boy band pop star. When he smiles back at me, he glows like there’s a spotlight permanently fixed above his head, putting sparkles in his sapphire eyes.

“Hey,” we both say at the same time. His arms open first, and mine follow, and he hugs me for real. Like he missed me. Like eighteen hours apart is just too damn long now. I can’t imagine what he could have missed about me, but I know I missed him. Missed him enough that I forget we’re supposed to be playing shit cool.

“You’re freezing,” he says beside my ear.

“You’re so warm,” I say back.

I let him go, clear my throat and shove one hand in my pocket like that’ll make all the difference, and I turn to the woman beside Tommy who I recognize as his sister.

“Nice to see you again. Thank you for coming.” I shake her hand and pretend like Tommy hasn’t told me a laundry list of personal details about her. She’s beaming, even brighter than Tommy, like she wants to pinch my cheeks and tell me how precious I am.

I lean down to the kid hanging onto her arm and hold my fist out toward him. “Hey, lil’ dude. Hope you’re hungry.”

“He’s feeling shy,” Erica says, laying her palm on Maverick’s head.

“That’s cool,” I say to him. “I’m shy sometimes too. I was just hanging out in the backyard where it’s a little less crowded. You wanna kick a ball around? I bet you’re already a soccer star like your uncle, huh?”

Mav’s head shakes against Erica’s hip, but he’s smiling. Not bright, but enough.

It’s not like I’m dying to be scrutinized by Tommy’s mom, but I do notice she’s not around. Besides Erica, the only women around us look related to Xia or Matt. No one that looks like Tommy.

“Where’s your mom?” I ask Tommy, and I watch while his light dims to a somber half smile and a shrug.

The look he gives me speaks a million words, but without time to hear them all, I just slip my hand into his and hold it between us. Fuck being cool. I’d rather be with Tommy. He laces our fingers together while I play host, not giving a shit if Matt’s hick half-brothers have a problem with it. Only times they talk to me are to tease me about how gay soccer is anyway, so it shouldn’t shock them I’m actually gay.

I take them around, introducing Tommy’s family to mine. Matt is as outwardly emotional as a potted plant, so I don’t worry about him embarrassing me. When I introduce him as my dad, he doesn’t correct me, and that feels better than I ever thought it would. He pats my shoulder, squeezes the back of my neck, and tells Erica how proud he is of me, like I really am his kid.

Xia is still in the kitchen with her mom and aunties working on the sides while her brother grills up meat in the backyard. Her family is the definition ofa lot,but they’re more open-minded and open-armed than Matt’s side. When I introduce Xia as my mom, her aunties coo over me like I’m Bruno, rattling my shoulders and calling memijo.

Face red, I shut my eyes to spare myself from their giddiness while Xia wraps her arm around me and tells Erica all sorts of embarrassing shit.

“Your brother has been so good for Rowan,” she gushes. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen him as happy as he’s been since these two started seeing each other. Rowan would tell me they were just training, but this kid turned into a lighthouse any time he mentioned Tommy. He was so obvious.”

“Okay, okay,” I tell her, finally opening my eyes to give her a warning look.You’re not being cool.

“Tommy too!” Erica exclaims, swatting Tommy’s bicep. “I swear, every time he looked at his phone, he was blushing. Tommy told me Rowan was a girl, though.”

“That’s not exactly what I said,” Tommy interjects.

“I had no clue Tommy was gay,” Erica says. “I mean, he got teased a little in elementary school, but kids can be like that. He’d only ever dated girls.”

Xia answers, “I don’t think Rowan’s dated anyone before Tommy, but we’ve known he was gay for a while. Since he was fifteen or sixteen. There was just something about him—”

Needing to escape this hellish conversation, I zero in on Maverick and ask him if he’d like to meet some of the other kids. I know Lena is in the backyard playing with her little cousins, and she’s right around Mav’s age.

“That sounds fun,” Tommy quickly exclaims, letting go of my hand to scoop Maverick up into his muscular arms. “Let’s leave the grown-ups alone to talk about how gay your uncle is.”

“Tommy, I’m sorry,” Erica laughs.

“We’ll be out back.” He plants a smooch on Erica’s cheek like the tender boy he is, and he carries Mav through the front door, checking over his shoulder to make sure I’m following.

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