“I’ll do anything you want. Do you want to meet my parents?” Why I had the urge to take Lucian to my parents’ house, I’ll never know, but it was a strong urge.
“Jane and Steve? Yeah, I know them well.”
“But they don’t know you.”
“True. Let’s go to Oakland to see your parents. After the shower sex though, okay?”
I kissed him on the nose. “Deal.”
I called my mom and asked if we could come out for dinner. I told her I was bringing someone for them to meet. Thinking back to the conversation I had had with my parents earlier, she must have thought I was hesitant to introduce them.
“Is this the guy you told your father about?” she asked.
“What guy?” I said, forgetting momentarily that I had mentioned my date from the other night. “Oh yeah, sort of.”
“Sort of?” There was no humor in my mother’s voice.
“He’s been a good friend for a while. You guys will like him. We just started dating.”
“Okay, I’ll make spaghetti. Will he like that?”
“I’m sure, Mom.”
Lucian was already in the shower. “Get in here,” he yelled.
I covered the mouthpiece of the phone and yelled back, “One second.” I returned to my mother. “Mom, we’ll be there in about an hour.”
“Okay, honey. Love you.”
When I left my room to head toward the bathroom, Brooklyn was leaning against the wall in the hall, staring me down. I scowled at her. “Mind your own business,” I said before she could even get a word out.
“I’m just shocked is all. And I’m leaving, getting a bite with Cherry.”
Cherry was the friend Brooklyn always tried to use to make me jealous. Brooklyn and I clearly had an unhealthy relationship, but I didn’t care anymore, and I wasn’t jealous of her friendship with Cherry. Cherry was a head case.
Inside the bathroom, I undressed. Unabashed, I stepped into the shower behind Lucian. He turned immediately and took me in his arms.
“Hello, beautiful,” he said, and then his mouth was on my neck, and there was no more talking.
Shower sex isn’t always easy or satisfying. It rarely is, actually, but with Lucian, it was pure bliss. I was weightless. Even after we were through, I felt like everything was perfect and right in the world. But how could it be, when what we were doing must have been breaking some cosmic law of the universe?
I wanted to crawl back into bed with him, but Lucian convinced me to get dressed. We walked to the BART. He was glancing all around, looking for something or looking at something. He grabbed my hand at one point and jerked me forcefully in a different direction.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“Nothing. I’m getting some strange looks. And I didn’t see Zack or Abigail on my way out.”
“Who’s Abigail?”
“Brooklyn’s poor excuse for an angel. It doesn’t matter. Let’s just get to your parents.”
“Should we fly there?” I wiggled my eyebrows, excited over the idea.
“Probably not a good idea. We should try to blend in, lay low for a while until I can figure out what’s going on.”
On the BART he held me close as he braced the metal pole. The train car was full, and Lucian looked to be on high alert for some reason.
“I just want to get to your parents’,” he kept saying.
