Page 97 of Tough Guy and the Show Off

“I knew it,” his sister shouts from somewhere in the background.

“What?” his mom squawks and my heart sinks. “Lizzie Anne, are you telling me that you knew Beau was seeing someone and you didn’t tell me? Did you see it on the TikTak?”

“I didn’t know.” Lizzie sounds much closer now too, and I can just picture the three of them all crowded around his mom’s phone. “But come on, did you not see the way they kept making mooney eyes at each other at the Fourth of July barbeque last summer?”

“We weren’t even dating then,” Beau says.

“Well, then you’re stupid.” Lizzie scoffs lovingly.

I chuckle. I guess she’s got us there.

“Mom? Dad?” Beau says nervously.

“I’m just still mad that your sister didn’t say anything, I hate being out of the loop, and I hate that I made an ass of myself going on about a special girl last time we talked. This is wonderful news! We love Travis.”

I let out a relieved breath and Beau visibly relaxes too.

“It must be something to date someone you can talk hockey with,” his dad says wistfully.

“I know about hockey,” his mom argues.

“You know what I mean,” his dad says.

Beau and I trade a look, both holding back laughter.

“Alright, well, that’s all I wanted to tell you guys, so I’ll let you go for now. We have to finish loading the truck, then we have plans with the old team tonight before we head out in the morning.”

“Why don’t we make plans to have you all to our new place in Chicago for the Fourth this year? We have a patio for a grill and everything,” I suggest.

“That sounds perfect. Drive safe, and we’ll talk later. Love you both,” his mom says. His dad echoes the sentiment, and I think Lizzie has already lost interest and left the call.

We finish saying our goodbyes and Beau ends the call with an audible sigh of relief.

“That went great,” I say encouragingly.

“Yeah, it did. I knew they’d be cool.” He sounds a lot more confident now that it’s over, and I can’t say I blame him.

“This shit is nerve-racking. How many times are we going to have to do it?”

“A lot, I think.” He laughs.

“That’s alright, it’s worth it.”

Beau nods and I pull him into another kiss.

“How much time do we have before we have to meet the guys?” he asks.

“Long enough.” I smirk against his lips, forgetting about the last few boxes that need to be loaded as I drag him into the bathroom for some soapy fun.

THIRTY-NINE

BEAU

“Looking good, Bozy,” Harlson says as he claps me on the back. “But I’m still mad that you stole Show from us.”

Chuckling, I shrug. Little does he know how true that is.

“I can’t believe Show’s gonna be in black and white next season,” Basilio says. “Weird.”