“Mrs. Kelly, it’s so nice to meet you.” Ash stroked my stomach over my hoodie and made to slide his right arm back out from behind me so that he could presumably shake her hand.
“Stay right where you boys are. No need to move on my account, Asher. I don’t think we need to stick with any sort of formality, do we, Caden?” she winked. “Asher, call me Lynn. After all, you’ve been a member of the family for years now,” she teased, her tone wry.
Oh fuck! In all my worries about telling Mom about Ash and still having to face my dad, I’d forgotten about. . .
Mom continued before I could interrupt. “After all, I’ve been looking at him all dressed up in his very first Titans uniform for about eight years. Every single time I went into your room to dust or borrow your old laptop, there was Asher,” she laughed.
An echoing rumble of amusement radiated from Ash’s chest directly into mine, causing me to turn my attention to my superstar boyfriend. The grin that took over Ash’s face was magazine-worthy. One snap of that face and he could launch a hundred brands and completely take over any market.
Unfortunately, Ash’s glee about this situation would remain a private way for him to tease me for years to come.
“Oh my god, Mom. Why would you do this to me?” I moaned, as I let my head drop back slightly to lean against Ash’s shoulder.
They both started chuckling. The traitors.
“It’s notthatfunny!” I protested, secretly thrilled that the tension of my announcement about my sexuality and dating my temporary assistant coach seemed to have dissipated from the hallway.
“Why wouldn’t I do this to you is a better question, Caden? You don’t pass up opportunities for fun, young man. Goodness knows there’s more than enough stress to go around.” Mom waved that small amount of melancholy away before smiling at both of us again.
She pushed her walker forward until she could reach the back of my hand, where it had migrated to rest on top of Ash’s.
“Thank you for telling me, Caden. I know that had to be hard for you. Let’s go sit at the table because I think this news does warrant a conversation. Even if I’m so pleased for you that you found someone who, from what I’ve seen so far, seems to care about you very much.”
“There’s nothing that matters to me more, Lynn. Truly.” Ash’s voice was steady.
With a satisfied nod, Mom pivoted her walker in the direction of the kitchen, making her way down the hall while Ash and I followed.
Mom locked the brakes on her walker before using the now-stationary frame to help her slide into one of the four wooden chairs around my parents’ small kitchen table, then wavied us into the two seats across from her.
“Crap, Mom. I’m sorry. How’s your hip? Does it hurt to walk still?”
From the moment we’d stepped into the house, it seemed like I’d been grasping at tendrils of everything I needed to say without getting any of it out properly.
“Caden, calm down. My hip is fine. Better than the old one. Titanium joints really are the way to go. I’m considering going back to the surgeon and asking him to replace a bunch of the others that are definitely past their warranty date.”
She winked at Ash, which had him chuckling.
I narrowed my eyes as I looked between them.
“You two are entirely too comfortable while I’m over here freaking out,” I said, forcing a teasing tone. They didn’t need to know that I was ninety percent nervous and ten percent thrilled that Mom at least seemed cool about everything I’d said so far.
“You could have the decency to show a smidgen of worry over there.” I nudged Ash’s elbow with mine where they rested next to each other on the table. “Meeting the parents and all that? ButI guess once you’ve faced a room full of sharp-eyed reporters, everything else is minor in comparison.”
“Hey! Lynn said I was already part of the family, right?” He nodded at Mom and I couldn’t resist sticking out my tongue at him which only served to make him laugh harder than before.“But seriously, Cade.” His hand slide across the worn surface of the table to cover mine, lacing our fingers together. “This is about you, okay? I’ll be at your side while you say the things you came here to say. Don’t get me wrong, Lynn. . .” He made eye contact with Mom across the table. “I am thrilled that you seem so chill about our relationship.”
“Of course. I’m sorry if there was any doubt before now.” She glanced briefly at Asher before turning her full attention to me. “I hate to think you were hiding your feelings for so many years, Caden. I love you for all that you are, and who you’ll become. Nothing—and I mean nothing—will ever change that, do you understand?”
She hasn’t heard you’re quitting hockey and leaving them without the monthly income that they count on yet, said the unhelpful voice inside me.
Her lower lashes glistened with so much emotion that every part of me wanted to believe her. I hated that there was still a part of me waiting for her to announce that I wasn’t good enough, the way Dad had hammered into my head all these years.
All I could do was nod.
“You both seem very happy and comfortable with each other. But my mom alarm is going off inside my mind. Before we talk about anything else, I need to ask you about how you plan to navigate the fact that Asher is technically your coach, Caden? Aren’t you concerned that it’ll look like an abuse of his position you to have formed a romantic relationship?”
“Mom, I swear, Ash did everything he could to avoid getting involved with me. I was the one who pursued him. I already told Coach Wilder the same thing. I’d never let anything hurt Ash’s reputation.”
Despite the vehemence of my words, my voice was thick with the fear that my mom would think Ash took advantage of me when he’d fought to ignore his feelings for so long.
