Page 67 of Hot for the Hockey Player
“Come on, man,” I said taking his empty mug, and mine, and placing them in the sink.“Let’s get you home.”
His sigh was heavy enough to probably rattle his bones as he slid back into his shoes and opened the door.
We climbed into my truck and I could tell he already felt lighter just getting all of that off his chest.Hopefully, he could say all of this to his mom too, and she would know what to do to help him.While I could certainly offer my perspective as a man, and what it was like growing up in a small town where you couldn’t pick your friends, she was his mother and her word was law.
In no time, the vineyard came into view, and I turned the corner down the road with grapevines on either side.
While it would probably make things much less awkward to just stay in my truck and have Damon jump out and go in on his own, I needed to put the impending awkwardness aside and support this kid who was struggling.So I followed him up the porch steps and into the house where just a few hours ago, I very nearly kissed his mother.
I already knew that seeing her again would be hard, but when she came around the corner, her cheeks flushed with worry, relief, and appreciation in her eyes, I didn’t realize justhowhard.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Gabrielle
“Whatwereyouthinking?”I demanded, cupping my son’s face as if he’d fallen off a cliff and might have broken bones, rather than just got off the bus at an earlier stop.I patted his arms, his hoodie damp under my fingers.“You know you have to tell me if you’re going to do that.After what happened to Marco …” I pressed my forehead to his.“Damon.Don’t do that, okay?Please?”
He nodded softly.“Sorry.”
My gaze drifted to Maverick’s, where he stood uncomfortably just inside the entryway.“Thank you for letting me know where he was and bringing him home.I was just about to go looking for him when you texted.”
“Happy to help,” he said, his lips pressing into a thin flat line.Then his eyes shifted to Damon.“Damon, maybe you could tell your mom how you’re feeling?”He gave my son’s shoulder a squeeze.
My kid lifted his eyes to mine, and his chin trembled.“I … I hate school, Mom.The kids are so … they’re awful.”
That was what his rebellion was about?The kids at school.I was about to open my mouth and say that he just had to graduate.Then it’d get better, but Maverick spoke up.
“I think you should hear him out.I was there on Friday, and while I only saw a glimpse, your son is not like the other kids.He’s kind.He’s respectful.He doesn’t put on airs.And if what he says is true, four years is going to seem like a lifetime of torture.And those years could drastically impact his mental health.”
Torture … Mental health.
Now he had my attention.I grasped Damon’s shoulders.“What happened?”
With a pained effort to keep his emotions in check, he told me how the boys in his grade and the grade above teased him relentlessly about our family being part of a cult.That they kept asking when we were going to drink our “night night Kool-Aid” since cults all had suicide pacts.Then there was stuff about their degradation of women, including the girls in their school, even female teachers, and how long it’s all been going on.
“I hate it there, Mom.I really do.And I’m not trying to be dramatic or whine.But … I’d rather die than go back there—ever.”
I glanced up at Maverick, who merely offered me a small, encouraging smile as he stood there silently listening to my son pour his heart out while simultaneously ripping out mine.I had absolutely no idea how bad it was.
“I want to try homeschooling,” Damon finally said, a tremble wracking his whole body.“I promise I’ll do the work.I’ll get up early, finish all my homework.I won’t spend all day playing video games.Just please, don’t make me go back there.”
Emotion hung thick and spiky at the back of my throat.I tried to swallow as the backs of my eyes burned.I couldn’t say anything, so I just hauled my son—who was much taller than me already—into my arms and hugged him as tight as I could.“We can try homeschooling,” I said against his chest.“You don’t have to go back.”
His gangly body shuddered in mine.Like just giving him that bit of hope released all the built-up tension in his body.He relaxed and really hugged me back, draping a significant amount of his weight on me.I couldn’t remember the last time my son hugged me like this, and despite the harrowing circumstances, I soaked it up like a sponge.After a moment and a couple of poorly veiled sniffles from my fourteen-year-old, he pried himself off of me and wiped his eyes, looking away from Maverick.
“You don’t have to go to school tomorrow,” I told him.“I’ll call Principal Wellington in the morning and let her know what’s going on.Then I’ll sign you up for homeschooling.It shouldn’t be that hard to do.I’ll start doing some research into different programs tonight.Or you could too.”
He nodded vigorously.“I can do that right now.”Then he hugged me again, catching me off guard, and tugging more emotions right to the surface.“Thanks, Mom.”He released me and turned to Maverick.“Thanks for your help with this, Mav.I really appreciate it.”
Maverick nodded.“Anytime, bud.I’m always here for you.And we’ll figure out when we can play video games again.I promise.”
With an enormous smile, and a light unlike anything I could ever remember seeing shimmering in my son’s eyes, he grabbed his binder and math textbook from his backpack, shot us each another ear-to-ear smile, and headed to his room with a noticeable lightness in his step.
I hung my head.“I had no idea it was that bad.”
Music started playing from Damon’s room, and I knew Laurel was already in her room doing her homework.
I sucked in a shuddered breath as a tear slid down the crease of my nose.I was still staring at the tile floor when Maverick stepped forward and gripped me by the shoulders.“You are an amazing mom.You didn’t know because he’s a boy and boys are notoriously closed off.He didn’twantyou to know.But it was to his own detriment.”
