Page 177 of Hockey Halloween
"WHAT THE HELL?"
Jessica quickly pulled away and she could feel Xander's hands recoil from her body. She looked up, her eyes searching Xander's face, but he was standing stoically in front of her.
She didn't want to turn around but knew she had to. And she saw exactly what she didn't want to see: Chase standing in his kitchen staring at them.
"What are you doing with my mom?"
Oh fuck. This was definitely not how Jessica wanted her son to find out about her new relationship with his captain.
"Hey, bud," she tried to say casually.
"Bud?" Chase responded incredulously. "Bud? Really? You think it's a good idea to go with that horrible garden pun right now?"
It was definitely not a good idea, and she had just said it on instinct. It just made everything worse and she knew it.
"Listen, Chase. It's not what you think," Xander said.
Chase's eyes went wide as he stared at his captain. Yeah, this was not going well for either Jessica or Xander, but neither of them had expected her son to walk in on their make-out session.
"It's not what I think?" Chase asked. "Because what I think is that I forgot my ID because I don't have pockets in this stupid costume and I came back in the house to get it and my mom is making out with the captain of my hockey team!"
"OK, it kind of is what you think, but it's not like that."
Chase put his hand up so vigorously to stop Xander from talking that a sunflower petal came off his costume. "I don't want to hear it! I just…" He put his hand down, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. "I'm going to grab my ID and walk out of here, and I will deal with this later."
And with that, Chase grabbed his wallet from the counter, pulled out his ID, and stomped out of the house with the front door slamming shut behind him.
Xander and Jessica could only stand there in Chase's kitchen in shock, an uneasy quiet descending over them. It was finally Xander who spoke with a soft gravely voice.
"Well, that could've gone better."
Jessica couldn't help her nervous laugh. "It couldn't have gone much worse."
She took a deep breath and put her head in her hands, trying to calm herself down. It was Xander who was there to wrap his muscular hockey arms around her and pull her close to his chest.
"Don't worry, babe," he murmured in her ear. "We'll talk to him and work this out, OK?"
"This is a mess."
His hands rubbed up and down her back, soothing her as her mind raced with all the things she would have to deal with now that Chase knew what was going on. He would have so many questions,but would she really have the answers? And really, are there any good answers when your son finds his mom making out with the captain of his hockey team? Yeah, probably not.
"Hey," Xander whispered. "Hey, look at me."
His hands came up to her cheeks and he lifted her face towards him. He still looked ridiculous in his stupid garden gnome costume and Jessica wasn't sure she could take anything he said seriously looking like that.
"We'll figure this out, OK?"
He leaned down, brushing his lips against hers in a tender kiss that was missing the passion he had before her son walked in the door and caught them. It was enough to make her believe that Xander was telling the truth. She trusted him when he said this would work out because she knew he wouldn't lie to her about this.
"We'll figure it out," he repeated to her.
"Promise?" she tried to ask with a reassuring smile.
He gave her a teasing look. "Maybe not a promise, but I'll try my best."
She stood up on her tiptoes and kissed him again. It was the only thing she could do to reassure him that she was unsure of all of this but sure of him.
"Alright, it's time for you to get to that party."
