For someone who had very recently been fiercely on thelet’s tell them right awayside, Trevor knew he was freaking out way more about this than he should be.
What if Lane had been right this whole time? What if—
“Are yousure?” Tom asked. “You seem . . . off.” That was a very diplomatic way for his dad to suggest that he was suddenly behaving like a lunatic.
“Um, just a hard week of practice, you know how it is.” Trevor wasn’t sure his dad would buy it. It wasn’t particularly convincing and not only was Tom Thompson kind of brilliant, he was an expert in Trevor. Always had been.
“You know you can tell me anything,” Tom said.
There was a part of Trevor that just wanted to blurt it out, to say it and be done with it, once and for all. Notdonedone, of course, but to have his dad know the truth. But he’d promised Lane that they’d wait until he felt ready.
“I know,” Trevor said, and realized suddenly that while he couldn’t tell his dadeverything, he could at least tell him the part that belonged to Trevor and Trevor alone. He hesitated, andhe hadn’t thought that would be enough for his dad to prompt him with another knowing look, but apparently it was.
“Trevor, youcantell me anything,” Tom said, like he already knew there was definitely something Trevor needed to tell him. Oh boy, if heonlyknew how many confessions Trevor needed to make.
“There was actually something.” Trevor swallowed against the sudden dryness in his throat. “You know how I dated Sophie back in college.”
“I know you cared about her a lot, but if I’m being honest, Delia and I didn’t like her very much.” His dad said this like it hadn’t been abundantly clear that they’d never been a particular fan of her.
“Me either, actually.” Trevor laughed nervously. “And part of that was who she was, definitely, and how it felt she pressured me into—”
“Pressured you into what?” Tom asked sharply.
“Um, just being serious, making things serious, committing to each other. That kind of thing.”
“She saw you as a golden ticket,” Tom guessed.
It stung, sure, even thinking about it now, and also hearing how obvious it had been to everyone around him.
“I think so,” Trevor agreed. “But that isn’t the only reason I don’t think I like her as much as I wanted to. I just . . . I think I thought Ishouldlike her. Not that I actually did, and that made the relationship hard.” He wasn’t going to go into how it had made sex routine and perfunctory. How he’d been going through the motions. His dad didn’t need to know all those details.
“Was that the only reason?” his dad asked softly. Like he’d already guessed the second half of it.
“I mean, Idolike girls. But I like guys too. What matters most is that I actuallylikethem. Like I care about them,feelthings about them.”
“There’s a word for that—demisexuality,” Tom said, gaze steady and supportive. As a doctor in a family practice, his dad had obviously dealt with so many different kinds of situations, even physical ailments that had treaded closer into mental and emotional. Of course he’d know about it.
“Yeah, and I’m pretty sure that’s what I am,” Trevor admitted, and it feltsogood to finally say it out loud. He’d essentially said everything but the word to Lane but it was different, admitting it to his dad.
“Hey, you know I love you no matter what,” Tom said, coming over and pulling him into a tight hug.
Trevor hadn’t expected anything different, but it still felt good to hear. To have that final bit of reassurance. “Yeah, I know,” he said into his dad’s shoulder. He pulled back and grinned. “But aren’t you like,obligated, to say that?”
“I should be,” his dad said wryly, “but in this case, Idoactually mean it.”
“I know,” Trevor said.
“Does—”
But his dad didn’t get anything but the first word out before Delia and Lane came back into the kitchen, her bright laughter preceding her.
And Tom shut right up, no other parts of his obvious question forthcoming.
It was on the tip of Trevor’s tongue to ask—no, todemand—what he was going to say. Had it been something about Lane? Did Tom suspect or even assume that Trevor’s confession had had something to do with Lane?
It had, and Trevor was both grateful that he hadn’t had to lie to his dad, because Lane wasn’t ready to tell them the truth yet, and disappointed because, suddenly, instead of being terrified by it, he waseagerto do it, again.
He and Lane didn’t stay much longer. It was late, and they had practice early tomorrow. They discussed their big dinner plans tomorrow—they were taking Tom and Delia to one of their favorite restaurants in Toronto as a big special welcome to the city.
