“Everything okay?” Chase reached back, placing a hand on my hip as he pulled me tighter against his back.
“Yeah, it’s all good,” I told him. There was no harm in giving him a few more minutes of peace, right? I kissed the back of his head as he curled into a tight ball against my chest, his favorite blankie clutched in his fists.
He looked so damned peaceful.Thiswas why we came home on the weekends. During the week, there was always something bothering him, even when he was supposedly relaxing. It wasn’t until he walked into the bedroom and sat down on the edge of the bed that he began to shed his stress like businessman might strip his shirt and tie at the end of the workday. And now, I had to cut his time short.
“What’s wrong? You’re tense,” Chase pointed out, his words still slurred from sleep. He rolled over, smoothing his thumb over my forehead. “Somethingiswrong, isn’t it?”
“Not really,” I responded, lacing our fingers together and bringing our joined hands up to my mouth. “Mom wanted to give us a heads up that William’s new boyfriend and his daughter are here for dinner.”
“William has a daughter?”
“No, the boyfriend does,” I clarified.
Chase surprised me. I’d expected him to be upset about losing his time, but he popped up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. “This is a good thing, Jay. I know you’re probably worried about me, but I’m going to be fine. And this will give both of us a chance to practice being boyfriends, instead of Daddy and Ash. That’s one of my big worries about taking you home with me. I don’t want to slip up. At least here, I’ll be around people who get me if I do.”
“You amaze me sometimes, baby.” I captured him when he tried to stand, pulling him back onto the bed. He might be ready to conquer the world, but I wanted a few more minutes with my boy. After all, he’d made it pretty clear we may not be able to have private time once we were at his family’s home. I needed my fill of snuggles before then, just in case.
Eventually, Mom knocked on the bedroom door to let us know dinner was ready. Both of us got out of the bed. Chase stood in front of the dresser, staring at his reflection. I placed a hand at the middle of his back. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah, I’m good. Just thinking about how much happier I am now than when I went home in December. My parents are probably going to think I’m on drugs or something.” Chase laughed and shook his head. When the smile on his face fell, I stepped closer, wrapping my arm around his waist. “I wish they were more like your mom. She’s genuinely happy that we’ve found one another. I’m not expecting that tomorrow.”
“You don’t know that for sure,” I told him. I’d overheard a few of the calls he’d had with his parents over the past few months and often wondered how much of the tension between them was miscommunication. I was going to be hopeful for both of us. Until there was a reason to think otherwise, one of us had to keep the faith that they would welcome me into their home with open arms. “For now, let’s go down and enjoy dinner. Mom made you a pan of mac and cheese.”
“She doesn’t have to make special meals for me,” Chase protested.
“But she will because she loves you,” I told him. “The more you protest, the more she’s going to dig in her heels. Eventually, she’ll start making your favorite foods and we’ll all be living off dinosaur shaped nuggets and tater tots.”
“The dinosaur ones taste best,” Chase stated as I picked up the comb and ran it through his hair. It was a ridiculous statement, but I’d put up with him and Matt arguing about which shapes tasted best enough times to know it was best to humor him. “I bet if I asked her, she’d put cheese on the tots like Brandon does. He’s a genius.”
“Yes, dear.” I laughed and gave him a playful swat on the backside. We needed to get downstairs before Mom sent William up to get us. If he came upstairs, he’d probably embarrass Chase without meaning to. William went a bit overboard trying to make sure I had a thorough education in how to be a good Daddy to my boy.
Chase’s confidence lasted until he turned the corner into the kitchen. He froze, gripping my hand tight enough I had to bite back a curse. I followed him and my eyes went wide. It was no wonder he’d panicked. He spun around, pushing me back into the hall. “Did you know that was his boyfriend?”
“Nope.” I was just as surprised as he was to see the bartender from our first visit to The Lodge sitting at my mom’s kitchen table with the curly-haired toddler on his lap. It was an odd coincidence when he also worked at the pop culture store Chase had wanted to visit earlier today, but I felt like we’d dodged a bullet there. Chase didn’t seem to recognize him then, and the guy didn’t say anything, so I didn’t give him a second thought. Now, my boy was trying to escape. But, unless I was mistaken, he didn’t realize the connection thatshouldmake him nervous. “Babe, look at me.”
He swallowed hard as he tipped his head back. I cupped his face, tracing my thumbs over his cheekbones. “It’s going to be fine. Why are you so nervous about this?”
“He saw me earlier. He probably thinks I’m a freak because of how upset I was when I didn’t find the Pop I wanted. And now he’s here. It’s…” His breathing started to slow, and I wondered if he realized now that he was overreacting. Yes, it was unexpected, but coincidences happened. “I’m being dumb, aren’t I?”
I glared at him. He’d gotten better about not cutting himself down, but maybe he needed a reminder of what happened when he was mean to himself.
“Sorry, I know I’m not dumb, but it’s silly to react like this. Today was hard, and he saw Zach being a jerk. He seemed like a really nice guy, though,” he rambled. I held Chase’s shoulders as he took three deep breaths before squaring his shoulders and nodding at me. “Okay. I can do this. It’s just dinner, and if your mom likes him, he can’t be a bad guy.”
“Everything okay out there?” William called out.
“Yep, just needed a second to talk,” I hollered back. Mom muttered something about uncivilized men yelling back and forth. To Chase, I said, “If it gets to be too much, let me know. These aren’t random strangers. You know William, and I think you’re nervous because you and his boyfriend are a lot alike. Remember, he’s probably even more nervous than you are because this is the first time he’s meeting William’s family. After dinner, we’ll go upstairs and we’ll have bath time and a movie, okay?”
“Yeah, that sounds like a good plan.” Chase relaxed a bit further. The corner of his mouth quirked up as he rested a hand on my hip. “But I’m not spending the whole night little, right?” His hand slid to the front of my jeans, and my mouth fell open. I knew I should scold him for teasing me, but I loved this side of him. “I have some verybigideas about what I want to do tonight.”
“Whatever you want, baby,” I promised. My throat felt dry and scratchy. When had it gotten so hot in here? I was tempted to tell Mom we’d eat later because I didn’t want to waste this need, but no way would we get away with that. Best case scenario, Mom would mention it tomorrow morning over breakfast. Worst case, my uncle would wait until I was balls deep in my boyfriend to pound on the door and tell us to hurry up and get back to the table. Neither sounded appealing. “But first, dinner.”
“Okay.”
“Chase, Jayden, this is Corey and his daughter, Willow.” All of us seemed to be carefully schooling our features as Mom made the introductions.
“Um, hi,” Chase and Corey said to one another at the same time, both lifting a hand in an awkward wave. It was adorable to see the similarities between them.
Chase followed me to the counter, frowning when his rocket ship plate wasn’t waiting for him. He was a creature of habit. Then again, so was I. It was strange dishing his dinner onto a big plate without dividers. I pulled a small bowl out of the cupboard and dished up some grapes to go with his pasta. He hated his foods touching, and that was a quirk plenty of adults had. It didn’t need to mean anything.
