I fell silent, remembering the plane tickets Jayce had surprised me with. Not only had he offered to go with me, but he’d encouraged me to take anyone else, as well. But I didn’t want to take anyone else. If I was going to do this, I wanted to take him.
“A friend of mine offered to go, too,” I said into the phone.
“What friend?”
“His name is Jayce.”
“Jayce,” my mom repeated. “A boy?”
“Yes, Mom, a boy.”
“Is he a boyfriend, Macey?”
“We just stared dating, Mom,” even as the words dribbled from my mouth, I felt guilty suddenly, like I had waited too long to tell her about him even though I had chosen to take it slow.
“I’m glad to know that you’re not comfortable sharing the important details of your life with your parents,” Mom said haughtily. I shook my head and closed my eyes, wishing that I hadn’t answered the phone to her after all.
“Our relationship is brand new, Mom, I’m sorry for not telling you sooner. But that’s beside the point. Jayce offered to go with me, and I think I’m going to take him up on that. If Jayce goes, then I’ll go, okay?”
“Sure. God forbid you have to actually see your family alone,” Mom said, and I knew that if I didn’t steer this conversation in a different direction, it might end in a blowout.
“I have to go, Mom, but let me talk to Jayce and see if he’s still willing. If he is, we’ll make a plan for the weekend, okay? He says he really wants to meet you.”
God knows why.
“Fine,” she said. “If you need to drag your boyfriend down here for your cousin’s wedding, don’t let me stop you.”
“I love you.”
“Talk soon, Macey.”
The line went dead, and I dropped my phone onto the table top, resting my head in my hands, rubbing my temples, trying to will the oncoming migraine to ease up before it got too bad.
“Hi, beautiful,” Jayce said, plopping down on the bench seat across from me. He was on high alert suddenly, noticing the way I kneaded the pain from my head. “What’s going on, Mace? You okay?”
“I’m good,” I said with a quick nod, slipping my phone back into my pocket. I looked at Jayce, who smiled fondly, reaching across the table to take my hands in his.
“Thank you for going in this morning,” he said gently. “When will you have your results?”
“The nurse said the lab is backed up, so probably not until next week.”
Jayce’s expression darkened at this, but he nodded still. “Have you thought anymore about the wedding this weekend?” he asked, and I knew now was as good of a time as any to bring it up again.
“I was just talking to my mom,” I told him. “She’s expecting me this weekend, but I told her that I was only interested in going if you still wanted to go.”
Jayce smiled at this, flattered, and my bad mood slowly started to seep away. “Of course I’d like to go,” he said. “Those tickets leave Friday night and get to Michigan late, but we would be there in time for the wedding on Saturday. Will we stay with your parents?”
“No,” I said quickly, and with more force than necessary. “If I was going alone I would, but I don’t think I want to subject you to my parents for any longer than necessary. I’ll find us a hotel or an Air BNB.”
“Whatever makes you happy and the most comfortable is what we’ll do,” Jayce said, getting to his feet to come around the table to sit next to me, curling his arm around my hip to draw me into him. “Thank you for bringing me along. I hope I didn’t pressure you into anything you didn’t want to do.”
“You didn’t,” I assured him. “That was my mother’s prerogative.” I smiled to show him I was teasing, but I wasn’t exactly lying, either. Had Jayce not bought us tickets or offered to go, I probably would have bailed on Bitchy Bernice and my mother in a heartbeat.
“Are you hungry?” Jayce asked, kissing my lips, then my neck. “I can order us some salads from the café.”
“That sounds great.” I closed my eyes and kissed him again, letting my lips linger on his, wishing I didn’t ever have to do anything or go anywhere ever again. I could sit right here with Jayce for the rest of my life and be perfectly content and happy.
Jayce took my hand and we went inside the Rendezvous building to order salads and drinks, then we made our way up the stairs to Jayce’s apartment to eat, settling down together on the couch in his living-room.
