“He is,” I answered unabashedly. I wouldn’t be made to feel bad for who I wanted to be in a relationship with.
“You know he’s just dating you because you’ve got money, right?” she sneered.
“Excuse me?” Declan gritted out.
“C’mon, you’ve got ‘gold digger’ written all over you. You’re just a poor kid from the middle-of-nowhere Pennsylvania who meets his rich, widower boss and takes advantage of the situation.”
Declan turned to me, and I saw the hurt in his eyes. “You don’t honestly believe that, do you?”
“Of course not, but?—”
“You know what, I’m just gonna go.”
“Wait!”
“Obviously you need to work things out with your kids. Besides, my mom is probably waiting for me.”
As much as I didn’t want him to go, I could understand why he wanted to.
“Let me walk you out.”
He shook his head. “No. You should stay here and handle things with them.” He rushed to my room and returned with his duffle bag slung across his shoulder a moment later.
“Oh gross,” Morgan groaned, likely realizing he had spent the night with me.
I glared at her, but quickly turned back to Declan. “We’ll talk later.”
“Sure.” He nodded once and hurried out the door.
“Morgan, what the hell was that? I can’t believe you actually said those things to him. How did you even know where he’s from?” I bellowed as I pulled at my hair.
“Faye mentioned it a few times. She was worried he was taking advantage of her brother, but clearly, Fallon was too smart to get wrapped up in all that.”
“Just because his childhood wasn’t like yours doesn’t make him a gold digger. You’re being unfair.”
“Am I? Ryan, you’ve been awfully quiet. What do you think?”
“Well, I already knew they were together,” he answered.
“You did?” she squawked. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
Ryan shrugged. “I honestly didn’t think it was that big of a deal. But now I can understand your concern.”
“Seriously?” I gaped at my son.
“Morgan has a point, Dad. I’m guessing Declan was the one who made the first move. You need to ask yourself why a young gay guy would pursue something with an older man who never gave off gay or bisexual vibes before.”
“I think you guys are wrong about him. He’s never given me a reason to question his motives.”
“Give it some time. I’m sure he will, eventually.” Morgan glanced at her brother. “I’m gonna go. Do you want to go with me or order a rideshare later?”
“You’re leaving?” I asked.
She rolled her eyes. “I’m not feeling very festive anymore.”
“I wish you’d stay,” I muttered.
Ignoring me, she addressed Ryan again. “Well?”