James nodded, but that ball in his stomach wasn’t sure how it was feeling. Anxious, and uncertain, and right on the knife’s edge of hurt, but also maybe a little hopeful?
Which felt way scarier than every other feeling combined.
“Okay,” James said, but he pulled his face out of Leon’s hand and turned back towards the door. “I’m still sorry, though. I didn’t mean to have some kind of ‘talk’ on the sidewalk in front of my mom’s house.”
He should have just kept his mouth shut.
Leon stepped in front of him, so he was forced, yet again, to look up at him. “You didn’t do anything wrong,” Leon said. James bit the other side of his lip, and Leon hurried to add, “I’m just really fucking anxious because apparently youareone of the five most important people in my life, and I’m about to meet one of the four most important people in yours.”
James freed one of his hands so he could grip the back of Leon’s neck and draw him down until they could tap foreheads. “I promise, she’s going to love you, because—” James almost said because he loved him, but it waswaytoo early for that…right? “—you’re one of my top four.”
A ghost of a smirk danced over Leon’s lips. “Is that like your MySpace top eight but more exclusive?”
James pulled away with an exaggerated sigh. “God, Hailey’s right. We are old.”
That finally seemed to shake Leon out of the worst of his anxiety. He chuckled softly and allowed James to lead himup the front steps. When they reached the door, he noticed the curtains beside it flutter. He had no doubt his mom had witnessed some, if not all, of their little moment on the sidewalk. As far as he was concerned, that was fine—and maybe even a good thing. It wouldn’t hurt for his mom to know how anxious Leon was. She’d had years of practice with James’ anxiety, and she had always handled it with tenderness and care.
He opened the door and grinned to himself as his mom shuffled forward as if she was on her way to the door and hadn’t been standing there waiting.
“There you are! I was just beginning to worry James forgot how to get back to the house,” his mom said, reaching for James and giving him a particularly tight hug.
He’d gone out to meet Leon at his car over fifteen minutes before, so he wasn’t surprised his mom had been concerned.
Concerned enough to spy on them, if her hug was any indication.
“You must be Leon,” she said, turning to look Leon up and down.
He was wearing his leather jacket over one of the few non-black V-necks he owned. It was a soft heather gray color that went really well with the red scarf Hailey had gotten him for Christmas. His black jeans were devoid of holes, and James was almost positive he’d cleaned his combat boots, because they were suspiciously free of all the salt and dirt that usually covered James’ boots and shoes throughout the winter.
“I am. It’s lovely to meet you, ma’am,” Leon said, extending a hand.
James’ mom ignored this and shuffled straight into his chest for a hug. Leon wrapped his arms cautiously around her back, his shoulders relaxing even farther as he settled into the hug. James’ mom was a good head shorter than Leon, but James was very familiar with how all-encompassing her hugs could feel.
“Please, call me Ms. Bigley,” his mom said from inside the hug.
“Yes, ma—Ms. Bigley, ma’am,” Leon stuttered, his cheeks flushing as he glanced frantically at James.
“You’re fine,” James said, placing his hand on Leon’s shoulder as he walked past them to hang his coat up in the closet. “Can I take your jacket? When mom releases you?”
His mom huffed. “I’ll be done when it seems like Leon is done. I can tell when someone needs a nice long mom hug.”
She looked up at Leon and, seeming to confirm something on his face, returned to hugging him. Leon’s arms had slowly tightened around her, and as if given some sort of permission, his shoulders curled in, and his head ducked down until he was resting his head against hers.
James had told his mom only the bare minimum about Leon’s background. She knew his dad had died when he was a kid and that his mom had died when he was an adult. James had alluded to the fact that Leon’s relationship with his mom hadn’t been great and left it at that.
“Thank you, Ms. Bigley,” Leon murmured, and his mom finally released him. “It’s really good to meet you.”
“You as well, dear. Now come in. James picked up a whole platter of sandwiches from our favorite shop, which feels a bit ridiculous for only the three of us, but my partners, Howard and Linda, are coming over for dinner, so at least it saves me having to cook.”
Leon handed James his jacket before following after James’ mom as she made her slow way down the hall to the kitchen. James took his time hanging it up, running his hand down the lining, which was still warm with Leon’s body heat. He could hear his mom striking up a conversation with Leon about work, and he didn’t want to interrupt.
He placed his and Leon’s shoes at the bottom of the closet, then rearranged them, shifting his and his mom’s boots to the shoe rack until they were all lined up like neat little toy soldiers. After straightening out their jackets one last time, he ran out of ways to stall and finally made his way into the kitchen.
Leon was retrieving silverware from the drawer, and he looked over at James with a sweet smile as his mom explained where the plates were.
“I’ll get them, Mom. And I’ve told you a thousand times, we don’t need silverware for sandwiches.”
“It’s always polite to fully set the table, hon,” his mom said, just like she always did.
