“Okay,” I said, taking a big breath. “Let’s do it.”
We got dressed and took off in Ozzie’s Chevelle. He was right—San Marcos was just down the road, the clinic was superfast,andwe didn’t run into anyone we knew. After deciding that we were too horny for a sit-down breakfast, we got coffee from a local drive-through before heading straight back to my place.
We made our way into the apartment, ripping off our clothes as we stumbled through the living room. We got hung up in the hallway for several long minutes, Ozzie removing the rest of my clothes with careful fingers while finding every fucking erogenous zone with his mouth and tongue.
“Top or bottom?” he whispered, pushing me into the bedroom, then onto the bed.
“I don’t care,” I breathed, too buzzy and focused on Ozzie’s hotness to worry about such mundane details.
The corner of his mouth quirked up, and I knew I’d made a tactical error. “You’re going to make me beg, aren’t you?”
“Was thinking about it,” he said, crawling between my legs. “And, since you love my mouth so much, why don’t I use it to?—”
“Junior? What’re all these clothes doing on the floor?”
I froze at the sound of my mother’s voice. “Oh, shit”slipped from my lips.
Ozzie had the good sense to yank the sheet over us just as my mother appeared in the doorway. We righted ourselves and scooted back against the headboard.
“Junior?”
My mother’s trembling voice shook me to my core. My eyes widened, searching Ozzie’s for answers I knew he wouldn’t have. Despite my unmistakable panic, his gaze held decisiveness. Warmth.
He was as steady as I was terrified, and I couldn’t muster guilt in the face of his certainty. Given the understanding and care he’d shown me, it would dishonor him to act like I’d done something wrong. Still, as much as I’d known this day might come, I hadn’t expected it to be today.
“Momma—” I started, but she cut me off.
“Augustus Walker Junior, I am so disappointed in you.”
Even though her voice was shaking, she stood her ground in the doorway of my bedroom, like she had the right to be there. As though Oz and I hadn’t just been wrapped up in each other, clearly in the middle of an intimate moment.
No, she was certain her opinion was more important than that.
Before I could say anything, she barreled on. “I knew you’d struggled with this. I’ve known since you were in high school. But I thought my years of instruction, showing you the way of the Lord, had taught you to fight it. I thought you were stronger than this, Augustus. I had no idea you were so weak.”
Ozzie opened his mouth, and I touched his hand. He pressed his lips together but sent me a look unlike any other I’d received before. Full-throated support, even in his silence. He tightened his hold on me. He was here, and he wasn’t going anywhere.
I pulled the duvet over us to ensure our business was fully covered, then looked my mom square in the eye. “Momma, I’m not weak. I’m just not straight.” I was still struggling with exactly where I was on the Kinsey scale, butnot straightsounded the most accurate in the moment.
She inhaled sharply, her hand going to her chest as though I’d stabbed her. Come to think of it, she might have preferred that. “Augustus—” she started. It was, however, my turn to talk.
“Mother, this is who I am, and I will not be explaining myself to you. Further, we have had multiple discussions about you not walking into my home unannounced.”
She drew herself to her full height, judgment dripping from her pores. “Clearly, the things you do in private are so awful, you needed my intervention.”
“Do you hear how you sound right now? I’m almost thirty, and I have taken control of my life. I have chosen a career path, and I have chosen a lover—maybe a boyfriend, if he’ll have me.” I shot a quick glance to Ozzie, whose lips, while still pressed together, now tilted up, like maybe he was holding back his full, glorious smile. Like maybe he was proud of me.
Heady stuff.
My mother, though, still stood in my doorway.
“We’ll talk later, Momma, but right now I need you to go. And leave my key on the kitchen table on your way out,” I said as firmly as I could.
“Howdareyou,” she said, stepping into the room. “I rebuke this.”
Ozzie shifted behind me, and I grabbed his hand. “I’ve got this,” I whispered. “Mother, I am naked, so I don’t think you want me to get up right now. But you will leave my house. You will leave my key behind, and we will talk about this when you have calmed down.”
“WhenIhave calmed down? No. We’ll talk about this whenyou’vecome to your senses.”
