I just gave her a fake smile and waved. A nice long nap and a lot of water was in my future. Also probably some laundry, since our cum was all over my comforter. Maybe I’d just sleep on the couch. I sighed and headed home.
Chapter 9
Mason
“Please don’t lie to me, Mason. Did you drink last night?” I knew my mom was worried, but she really didn’t need to know every personal detail about my life like I was a teenager again. I was an adult. I wasn’t an alcoholic, and she didn’t even know how far my issues had gone. I had it under control and I wanted her to let up a little.
“No, Mom. I swear. I went to the bar with some friends. They didn’t know I’m not drinking now or why. I thought about getting one, but changed my mind. It all worked out. Two assholes from high school were harassing Elijah, so I stepped in.” I saw my mom’s eyes widen slightly. “I got him home because he was drunk as hell, and I was really tired and didn’t want to drive, so he let me crash there. I tried to help him through his hangover with breakfast and then took him back to his car this morning.”
She opened her mouth to speak but closed it again. I saw the glimmer in her eye, though. She’d been on my case a lot about Elijah when I was younger. My parents had known him nearly as well as I had. He was at our house all the time growingup. His mom tried hard, but she had to work a lot, and his dad had died when he was a baby, so he grew up with a lot more responsibility than he ever should have had, much more than I could have imagined. My house was a respite for him. A place where the responsibility of a man wasn’t placed on his small shoulders.
When we abruptly stopped hanging out, my parents wanted to know why. They pressed me to be nice and remember my old friends, reminded me that the popular kids, myself included, weren’t better than anyone else. When the school called and let them know I was in the principal’s office for attacking Elijah in the gym, I’d been grounded, but it was the look of utter hurt and disappointment on my mother’s face that had been the worst part of my punishment. “Did you guys talk?” she asked me, that gleam still in her eye even though she’d schooled her face into neutrality.
I was pretty sure she’d suspected I was gay, even back then. I knew she must have become aware as I got older, especially since the only people who ever slept over my place were guys, and some had been there when my parents were visiting. I’d never said the words to her, but it was obvious. She, and the whole town, knew Elijah was gay after my stunt in the gym, but I was pretty sure she knew I liked him when it happened.
“We did talk some, yeah. I apologized. Repeatedly. I don’t know if he’ll ever fully forgive me, but I think he’s at least open to listening to my apologies and understanding that I know I was an idiot in high school.”
“Well, that’s something, at least.” She turned to the refrigerator, satisfied. “Do you want some lunch?”
I told her I could eat, mostly to humor her, and headed upstairs to put the folder in its safe space. I didn’t want anything to happen to that drawing. I headed into the bathroom to take a shower, hoping my mom didn’t suspect I’d had the best sex of my life a few hours earlier.
???
While I was eating my lunch, my mom said, “Oh, I think your old friend is coming over to do some work. He’s helping out his friend or cousin or something.”
That was absolutely no information. I narrowed my eyes, wondering if I needed to hide somewhere. “Who are you talking about, Mom?” I hoped it wasn’t someone I’d hurt or tormented in high school. Or someone who’d helpedmetorment other people. If it was Jaron or Tanner, I’d beat them down right there in my mom’s living room.
“Derrick Cavanagh. Your old teammate. I remember him coming over a lot. He’s helping someone he knows, I think maybe his cousin? Danny Knowles. He has a company in town that does security and wireless hookups. We’re going to make our bedroom a smart room. It’s going to be so cool. You can turn on the lights and TV and look at the ring camera with your voice. He’s going to put up some more cameras too, and if we like it in our room, we might do the whole house.” She clapped her hands in excitement.
I laughed a little at my mom’s enthusiasm for new technology that wasn’t technically new. But I just said, “Oh, Derrick, yeah. I’ve caught up with him a little bit already.”
My mom shook her head. “That boy’s had it rough lately. I think he’s doing everything he can just to make ends meet.”
I looked up curiously. “What do you mean?” I had no clue what she was talking about, and I was wondering if I should feel bad that I hadn’t talked to Derrick more, both before and after I came home.
Her face crumpled in sympathy. “Oh, his mom ended up in the state hospital, didn’t you hear about it? Everyone said she just lost her mind when her husband left her. I feel bad for her. I think it was just too much pressure. She couldn’t take care of herself, and she was pretty far gone when Derrick realized how bad she was. He was out on his own but suddenly he had to deal with all her affairs, and it was rough. He had to let go of the apartment he was renting and move back into her big old housebecause he couldn’t handle her mortgage as well as his rent. It was a mess too, at least that’s what Patty said. Sounded like she became a hoarder when she became a hermit, and she wasn’t cleaning anything. You’ll see piles of trash he’s sorted out there every week, and I know it’s hard, especially when he’s working extra anytime he can at the grocery store, and he’s picking up odd jobs like this now too.”
“Wow,” I said, “I had no idea about any of it. I’ll have to see what I can do to help him out, though.” More guilt to gnaw at my fragile soul.
My mom nodded sadly, but then switched back to the subject of her lightbulbs changing color and that she could choose any show on TV without lifting the remote. I half listened to her as I ate, thinking about Derrick and how he hadn’t even hinted that he might need help. I remembered Danny too. He’d grown up in the next town over and was on the basketball team there, which had made him our rival. He was good, but he’d always gone easy on Derrick, and it was obvious, at least to me. We were a year younger than Danny, and Derrick was an only child, so his cousin had always seemed to be protective of him. I was glad he was letting Derrick get some extra work in.
???
I answered the door when they showed up, and Derrick gave me a hug. He asked me how I was doing. “You disappeared on us last night!” he exclaimed. I was assuming Chris didn’t go into any details.
“Yeah, sorry, man, some shit needed to be taken care of. I promise we’ll catch up for real soon. I didn’t mean to cut out on you like that.”
“Hey, no worries. Good to see you again, though. I’m just helping my cousin out since he’s short-handed today. You remember Danny?”
Danny came in behind him, carrying a big bag. He smiled at me, and there was something in his eyes that told me hewasn’t actually short of employees. He gave Derrick a pat on the back and nodded to me. “Oh, I remember Mason. I still remember the time he took the ball after elbowing me and the ref didn’t see it. That was totally a foul.” He was grinning at me.
I held up my hands in defeat. “Okay, okay, I did play dirty sometimes. That was my whole MO back then. Still trying to make up for it.”
He smacked me on the back with a laugh. “No hard feelings, man. But maybe we should play a fair game sometime, one on one, no dirty plays. We’ll see who’sactuallythe best.”
I laughed. “Yeah, maybe we should.”
Derrick was grinning. “We have to get to work, but that’s definitely happening soon. I can ref for you.” He followed my mom to her room, and with another nod, Danny followed him.
