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Again, I offer up another laugh. Juju is a cool-ass guy. I can definitely see myself spending more time with him, can see him spending more time with Hunter, Lucas, me, and Oakley too.

Oakley. Fuck, the wait to find out what happened yesterday is killing me. “Yeah, yeah, I can do that.”

We meet at a sushi place, both of us eating entirely too much, the conversation doing its job and keeping me distracted.

I want Oakley to get to know him better, want Oak to be sitting beside me right now, while Juju has whomever it is he wants by him too.

“Have a good day off,” he tells me by the car when we say goodbye.

“See you on Wednesday.”

We head our separate ways. I’m not home for an hour before my phone rings and it’s my parents video-calling. Somehow, parents always know exactly when to call, exactly when you need to talk to them, but also don’t want to.

“Uh-oh. What’s wrong?” Mom asks after one look at me.

Suddenly, I can’t hold it back anymore. I’m tired of keeping it all inside, of just continuing to be strong, even when I’m scared or hurting. If there is anyone I can trust, it’s my parents. “I’m in love with Oakley Manning. I know he cares about me too, but it’s complicated. The world thinks he’s still with Serena, even though they’ve been separated for close to a year. Their daughter doesn’t know—the rest of his family either. His mother-in-law saw us kissing last night, and the only thing I’ve heard from him is, Everything is okay, and let’s hang on Tuesday.”

“Oh damn. That’s a lot,” Dad says. “Now start over, with a little more detail, and let’s break it down piece by piece, and why you feel the way you do about all of it.”

For the second time today, someone in my life gives me exactly what I need.

I spend two hours on the phone with my parents, talking about that summer at sixteen, Kane, and Oakley, and how my relationship with Kane has affected my fears with Oak. And while it’s not perfect, when we get off the phone, I do feel better.

*

Oakley doesn’t show up at my place until seven Tuesday night. The secret, insecure side of me, the one most people don’t know is there, tells me it’s because he’s going to end this. He wanted to come late so he could give the excuse that he needed to go home, and then Oakley and I would be done.

“Hey,” I say as he walks in, not greeting him with a kiss the way I usually would.

“Hey.” He rubs a hand over his face. “Damn, it’s been a hard couple of days.”

My fingers tingle with the need to touch him, to reach for him, to pull him close and tell him everything will be okay, but the truth is I don’t know if everything will be okay because I have no idea what’s going on. “I’m sorry, Oak.”

He frowns, watching me. “Are we good?”

I shrug. “You tell me. I have no clue what’s going on. I get that you have a family to consider, and I understand them coming first—I want them to—but I’ve been sitting here for three days, with nothing to go off other than everything is okay.”

He winces, closing his eyes. When they’re open again, it’s Oakley coming toward me, Oakley touching me, hands on my hips as he backs me against the wall. “I didn’t even think about that…what happened with Kane, being with his best friend and then me disappearing with Ree like that. Fuck, baby. I’m so sorry.”

The second the words are out of his mouth, I feel silly for having had that fear in the first place, and selfish for thinking about myself when his whole damn world just got turned upside down. “You don’t have to be sorry. These are my issues too, something I need to work through, just…don’t shut me out, okay? Even if it’s bad news. Don’t keep it from me.”

“I won’t.” Oakley presses his lips to mine, a kiss that holds promise, before taking my hand and pulling me to the living room.

We sit on the couch together, legs pressed together, my body tingling, feeling like I lighten up just by having him so close.

“Everything went okay with Sanaa and Evander. They were surprised and hurt, but they support us; they support me. I’m still family to them.”

“Thank God.” I squeeze his muscular thigh. “I had a feeling that would be the case, though.”

“I think I always knew it, but it was hard to believe at times,” he says. “And Ree, she knew about us. Well, at least, she had a feeling. She pretended to her folks that I’d talked to her about me and you. Fuck, she’s amazing. But I told her everything, and again, while she was hurt that I’d never talked to her about you and my bisexuality before, she’s got my back, like always.”

Damn, she really is an incredible woman. “I’m glad you have her.”

“We both do now. If you’re mine, you’re officially hers too, and there’s no one better to have in your corner.”

I grin, liking the idea. “I’ll take that.”

“I didn’t come sooner or contact you because Ree and I decided to tell Tiana on Monday. Not about you and me, but about me and her mama.”