Tate and I had a pleasant lunch until I looked over and noticed the woman he had been talking to the other night. She kept glancing in our direction.
“Looks like your friend can’t stop staring at us.”
He didn’t even bat an eyelash. “Let her look.”
“I have to say… I love this version of you who doesn’t overthink everything.” I tilted my head. “Who did you say she was again?”
“She’s a family friend.”
Glancing over again, I nodded. “I see.”
“She took it upon herself to have her mother call my mom after she saw us, actually.” He chuckled.
“What?” I stopped mid-chew. “She told you they were going to call your mother?”
“No.” He shook his head. “My mother called me.” Tate took a bite of his sandwich and grinned. “She was interested in knowing what I was doing canoodling with a teenager.”
My jaw dropped open. “No.”
“Yep.” He sipped some water. “Well, she didn’t say teenager, but Langley’s parents told her I was spending time with amuchyounger woman.”
I covered my mouth. “I don’t know whether to laugh or cry for you.”
“At the time of my conversation with my mother this morning, I thought you’d just left and weren’t coming back. So I told her that there was nothing to worry about since you were gone.”
“Well, pretty sure she’d be shitting a brick now, huh?”
He shook his head. “I told her about you. Your age and everything. She wasn’t judging.” He shrugged. “My mother is nosy, but ultimately, she accepts the choices I make. She wants me to be happy.” He looked into my eyes. “And that’s exactly what I am right now.”
Feeling my cheeks heat, I asked, “You think she’ll call your mother again?”
“I don’t give a flying fuck what she does.” He took a sip of his water.
“Should I tellmymother what I’m up to, so we’re even?”
He nearly choked on his drink. “Please don’t.”
“My father, then?” I arched a brow.
“Yeah,definitelydon’t do that.”
“I’m teasing.” I chuckled. “Well…I’m pretty open with my mother. Iwilltell her about this someday. Not anytime soon, though. Probably not this decade.”
“What will her reaction be?”
“I think she’ll warn me to be more careful about who I trust because she doesn’t know you. Then she’ll double check that I used protection. But in the end, she’ll appreciate it as one of life’s adventures. My mother is open-minded and wants me to experience life, because she had me too young to do much of that.”
“Your father, on the other hand?” Tate coughed. “How would he react?”
“Not good…” I laughed nervously.
Tate’s smile dimmed. “That’s what I thought.”
“He’s not a violent man or anything. Truthfully, I don’t know exactly how he’d react.”
Tate pushed one of the plates aside. “I’d prefer to never find out.”
“I think you’re sensitive about it because you know howyou’dfeel if the roles were reversed. If you had a daughter...”
