“Of course not, take it wherever you’d like,” Sutton said.
I walked into the living room and answered the call. “Hey, Mom.”
Chapter Thirty-One
Leo
When Sophia’s family called,I got up from the table and headed for my room, needing to lie down for minute. Just because I was ready for her to meet my family didn’t mean she was ready for the same, and honestly, the light in her eyes when she talked about Christmas in Hawaii had been soul-crushing. I’d finally worked up the courage to tell her how I felt about her, and I was starting to think I wasn’t alone in those feelings, but no matter what, the weight of our future was heavy.
Aunt Sloane had asked to meet Soph’s dad, and I heard her family and mine all talking to each other in the living room.
Jace followed me. “You need anything, man?”
“Just a minute alone,” I said.
He stopped in the hallway and nodded. “I’m here if you change your mind.”
“Thanks,” I said as he turned around while I walked into my bedroom and lay on the bed. There was no way Jace didn’t know howdevastating it was for me to listen to Sophia talk about her home. She loved it too much for me to ever be able to compete, and I appreciated that he didn’t push me to say it aloud.
I was working myself up to go back out to the kitchen when my mom appeared in the doorway.
“Hey, are you okay?” she asked quietly.
“What?” I rolled toward her. “Yeah, I’m fine.”
She sat down on the edge of my bed, obviously seeing right through me. “Leo, what’s going on with you and Sophia?”
“Nothing. We’re just friends,” I said, knowing there was no way she would believe me now that I was hiding out in my room.
“You’ve been sleeping your way through college until this year, you ran to get her the second she called, and you’ve been looking at her for the last hour like the sun revolves around her.” She put a hand on my knee and my eyes immediately filled with tears from the emotions I’d been keeping bottled inside. This girl had my whole fucking heart, and I was too chickenshit to tell her.
“You two have a familiarity that looks deeper than friendship,” Mom said.
I took a deep breath through my nose, fighting the tears as I finally said the truth out loud for someone to hear. “Mom, I’m hopelessly in love with her. I haven’t told her yet and it’s complicated, but it’s the truth.”
“Oh, honey.” She reached over and rubbed my back. “Falling in love is always a little bit complicated. But if you have such strong feelings for her, it’s usually worth figuring it out.”
I sat up, forcing my eyes to steady as I looked at her. “There’s aren’t just feelings, Mom. This is it. The shit you and Dad have? The story youtold me about Ray and Greta?” I said, referring to my great-grandparents. “Sophia is that person for me. I’m positive she’s the one.”
Mom studied me for a few minutes before I finally continued, “I don’t think I can settle for anyone else, Mom. Because that’s what it’ll be with anyone else—settling—and I don’t want that, not when I know what it feels like to be with her.”
I’d gotten theNever Settletattoo on my arm because of the way my parents love story and the one about my great-grandparents had made me feel. Because of their stories, I’d grown up knowing the costs of losing the love of your life and I’d promised myself I’d never settle for anything less than the kind of love they’d described. Sophia was that for me. I could feel it like an ache in my body.
Mom hugged me, pulling me from my thoughts. “Then don’t settle,” she said.
I heard a quiet cough in my doorway that prompted me to let go of her and stand up. Dad stood there, looking between us. “Sophia is just about finished with her family. I was going to suggest a movie,” he said, apparently choosing to let this go until I wanted to talk to him. It was a trait my parents shared, and something that had always been normalized in our home. We were always honest, but it was okay to need space on your own before sharing things.
I wiped my eyes and stood up, needing to brush this off before I was caught by Sophia in a state that I couldn’t very well explain to her yet. “Sure, I’ll pull up some options,” I said as I walked past Dad, leaving him and Mom alone. At least no one in the living room knew I was in love with Sophia. Though the way Aunt Lavi searched my face when I returned and the look of sympathy Jace shot me made me think I was a terrible actor.
Sophia hung up the video chat with her family and looked around the room for me. “There you are,” she said. “I would have introduced you to the whole crazy gang, but I couldn’t find you.”
I smiled. “Maybe tomorrow when my own crazy gang is under control.”
Aunt Sloane glared at me. “We’re exceptional, little dude.”
“Did you know we met when we were four?” Sophia asked.
I snorted. “Um, no. Are you sure?”
