Chapter Ten
Rusty woke to the sound of his phone falling off the nightstand and hitting the floor, still flashing and vibrating as he scrambled to pick it up, not wanting to wake Blake.
He still felt guilty about last night. He hadn’t meant to hurt Blake’s feelings, but they couldn’t afford to get tangled up together again.
He hadn’t realized how hard it’d be not to, though.
Squinting at the too-bright screen revealed that it was his mother this time. Rusty swiped to answer it and then closed his eyes again, holding the phone up to his ear.
“What is it with you guys and calling at six in the morning?” he asked.
“I hear you’re married,” his mother said, ignoring the comment.
She’d never let him get away from a conversation. Not an important one, anyway, and Rusty had suspected this was coming. As soon as his dad had been forced to confess where he was, she would have wanted to talk to him about it.
It was a good thing. She was looking out for him.
Rusty would have preferred to keep the whole thing a secret, though.
“Yeah, mum. I’m sorting it out now.”
“How come you never told me?” she asked.
Rusty sighed.
“I genuinely thought it was a stupid Valentine’s Day gimmick and there was a cute boy I wanted to like me. Seemed like a good idea at the time. It was just stupid kid stuff.”
“Oh,” his mother said. “And the boy…?”
“Sleeping next to me right now,” Rusty said. “Not… not like that. I’m sorting it. Dad doesn’t need to worry and I’m sorry I hung up on him.”
“Your life doesn’t need to revolve around what your father wants,” his mother said.
Rusty swallowed. He didn’t hear that often.
It also wasn’t true. His father cast a long shadow, and he couldn’t really escape it.
Well, aside from coming out here, anyway.
“If you liked this boy enough to marry him, there must’ve been something to it,” his mother said.
“There was,” Rusty agreed. “I was young, and an idiot, and I desperately wanted him to like me. I did a lot of stupid things, mum.”
“You still do,” his mother said.
Rusty was sure he was supposed to understand that, but it was a little too cryptic for him at six in the morning after a long night.
He hadn’t even drunk that much. He’d been practically stone cold sober when Blake had kissed him.
Which was just as well, or he might’ve let it continue. He knew he’d started it, which meant it was on him to finish it. If he’d had one more drink, he would have woken up naked and curled up against Blake.
And probably happier.
But it was still a sensible decision, and while he couldn’t exactly tell his mother about it, he was fairly sure it meant he was getting better at those.
“I know, mum,” he said eventually, figuring it was better to just agree. “Anyway, it’s fine, it’s not gonna be a problem, and I’ll be home in a few days. I’ll even stop in Sydney to see you.”
His mother sighed, which was a better response than Rusty had been hoping for. Maybe the universe was smiling on him today.
