serious, but we’d never officially talked about anything. And that was probably weird. The only
official discussion we’d had was back at the very beginning when he said he wanted to be my Daddy.
Then again, I had a key to his house, and I hadn’t been back to my apartment in over a week. That
wasn’t exactly a casual fling. “I mean, it’s not like we’re going to be reciting vows any time soon, but
yeah, we’re…”
God, why was this so embarrassing. Mom obviously didn’t have a problem with him being older
than me or having his life figured out when I was still trying to work up the nerve to tell my parents
the only place that I wanted to use my degree was with Jack.
“You love this man.” There wasn’t the faintest hint of a question in Mom’s declaration. I looked
past her to Dad, hoping he’d tell her to back off, but he simply held his hands up in surrender. Mom
cupped my cheek and her smile went all soft and dopey. “I’m so happy for you, sweetheart. You know
we worried about you finding someone who would see past—”
“April, enough.” Mom pressed her lips tight when Dad scolded her. Knowing what I knew now, I
was seeing them through fresh eyes. It wasn’t the first time I’d heard him use that tone with her. The
way she blushed as she looked at him, I wondered—
Nope. I most definitely wasnotgoing to think about that. Because ewww, those were my parents.
Nope. Totally off-limits.
“I’m just saying, he knew—” Dad silenced her with nothing more than a glare. And fuck me, I
knewthat look, not because he’d ever given it to me, but it was the one Daddy gave me when I was
testing his patience.
Nope. Don’t go there. It’ll ruin you forever.
“We’re happy for you, Samuel.” Dad pulled me into a tight hug. I wasn’t sure if he heard me
whisper my appreciation, but he held me tighter. I didn’t give him nearly enough credit for the way
he’d stood up for me since the moment I came out. He was the one who led the charge and he didn’t
stand foranyonepointing out the bits of me that were different. “Theron makes you happy?”
“Happier than I ever thought possible,” I admitted.
“It has to be easier for you to work here than at your apartment,” Dad observed as I led them
through the main level of the house. My mom was distracted by the framed prints lining the walls,
giving Dad and I a few seconds to chat.
“Definitely. I didn’t realize just how loud it is there all the time until I wasn’t surrounded by the
