Bennett
I think I knew I was officially fucked the minute I decided to leave the alumni dinner to drive her home. That was the moment when this became too real for me.
And now I’ve had too much time to think over the last few days as I sat in bed with her. For the first half of the semester, I had somehow convinced myself that I agreed to marry her out of guilt and sometimes even out of spite. But the truth of it all has slowly risen to the surface.
When she asked to marry me, I was angry because it was everything I wanted except that it wasn’t real. And now that I have her in my bed every morning and every night, I’m just desperate to soak this all in for as long as she will let me. So yeah, I’m fucked.
As I’m about to walk into the Osei Health and Fitness Center, my phone rings. I almost swipe out of the screen when I see it’s my mom FaceTiming me.
I duck under the awning and out of the rain to answer.
“So, he answers his phone,” she says. My mother is in a salonchair, her deep brown bob separated into foils. She’s calling from her laptop; based on the way her eyes travel across the screen, she’s currently reading something in a different window.
“Hey, sorry,” I tell her. “I was under the weather and—”
“Yes, it must have come on quickly. Lacey said you seemed to be fine and then you just disappeared.”
“Is that why you’re calling?” I ask.
She sighs and her eyes focus on me. “No, actually, I was calling because Whitney said you declined her calendar invite to join me in New York this weekend.”
“Yeah, I’ve got some studying to do.” And I don’t want to leave Clover for that long.
She eyes me wearily and sees straight through my bullshit.
“You know,” she says, “taking over responsibilities little by little will be much easier than suddenly and all at once.”
I give her a silent stare and she shakes her head, rolling her eyes. “I’m sure whatever debauchery you’re planning on getting up to will be much more fun than a mother/son bonding trip.”
“A bonding trip?” I laugh dryly. “Is that what you call business trips now?”
“Oh, Benny, you know there’s always time for business and pleasure. We could see a show and go for steak and fries at that little French place you like and—” She stops herself when she sees that I’m unconvinced. “Okay, okay, I tried.”
“I’ll see you when you get back, though.”
“I hear that Clover is at Wexley this year.”
My spine stiffens at her mention. “Is she?”
She frowns slightly as her stylist tells her it’s time to rinse. “I know you’re off campus, but I just… I didn’t want you to be caught off guard if you saw her—”
“I’m fine, Mom,” I tell her, my throat bobbing with the truth. “But thanks.”
After a quick goodbye, I walk inside and drop my gym bag off.
“There he is!” calls Julian as I head toward my friends. “I was starting to think you were going to no-show on us.”
Tex hooks up the barbell on the rack above him and sits up, straddling a bench press. “He lives.”
I leave my phone on the padded mat next to the rowing machine before setting the tension to my preference. “It was a busy week.”
“Don’t play coy with me, young man,” Julian says as he drops down backward into the machine next to me and uses the front half as a backrest and the seat as a footrest.
“You rowing reverse cowgirl today?” I ask.
Julian’s eyelids flutter as he relaxes. “You know I don’t sweat unless under duress.”
Tex takes up with the hand weights in front of us. “He’s just here pretending to spot me so he can wear the new workout clothes he bought.”
