Page 33 of Longing for the Minotaur
I don’t like the sound of that.
Only a few minutes later, I get a call from Fred himself. When I answer the phone, I say, “Hi, Fred.”
“Come over, Banon. For dinner. Right now.”
“All right.” I don’t even try to argue with him. It’s time to face the music.
I dress in something nicer, brush my wild hair, and then hop in the car. I’m shaking all the way over to the parents’ house, wondering what Fred’s going to say to me. I’ve only seen him really, truly angry once, when someone hit Marissa’s car and drove off. She got whiplash in the accident, and they never found the driver.
I swallow hard when I pull up outside, but I have to remember what this is for: a life with Valentina. A life having the person I love closest to me and getting to love her out in the open.
It wasn’t in the plan, but it had to happen eventually.
When I come inside, Val is sitting at the table, her dad across from her, my mother on the opposite side from him. Val has tears in her eyes.
She waves a sad greeting as I head to the table and take the fourth seat without being asked. Fred watches me, brows lowered over his eyes, and he is definitely pissed.
“I hear that the two of you have been in a relationship behind our backs,” he says, diving right in. He’s just like his daughter. “I also hear that it’s rather serious.”
I nod. “I love her.”
His brows lift. “So she said. It’s true, then.” He glances between us, his eyes searching. “Is it… is itget marriedtype of serious?”
I’m startled by this question. Valentina is young, just turned twenty-one. But I know my answer.
“I would marry her in a heartbeat,” I say without hesitating. “But I would want to give her the chance to see more of the world first.”
He seems surprised, but pleasantly so, by my answer. He turns to Val.
“Is that how you feel?”
“Oh, yes. But I think I’d rather get married first and then explore the world together.” She grins. “I don’t want to rush you, though.”
My heart soars just hearing these words. That she loves me so much she would be mine, truly, forever.
“No need for all that,” Fred says gruffly, retaking my attention. “I just want to get a measure on where we’re at. But I understand now.”
Then he lets out a world-weary sigh.
“Dinner’s almost ready,” he says, getting out of his chair. “Then we’re going to talk some ground rules.”
He’s not going to disown me? Banish me from the house forever? Even Val has a slight, hopeful smile on her face as he heads to the oven to pull out the pizza he’s been cooking.
“Don’t get excited,” he says as he cuts it up. “It’s from that take-and-bake place.”
Once we all have our food, Fred lays out his expectations: no sex in his house at all until we’re married. He asks us to wait a couple of years before going that far, but if we decide to do it, he’ll help us pay for it. He warns us that the world, and probably our extended family, will be less accepting, but we knew that.
Then he asks us if the pizza is any good because we’ve both been totally silent, and we erupt into a chorus of “It’s delicious!”
That night, though, when I head home, I hug Val long and hard, burying my muzzle in her hair. It feels good to not have to hide it, how I feel about her.
“I’ll see you when you get back to school,” I say, and she nods vigorously.
“I love you,” she whispers.
“I love you, too.”
EPILOGUE
