Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 78007 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78007 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
Maybe he’s going to ignore me because we almost kissed last night.
Ugh. Why the fuck am I letting myself think things like that? I’ve known the guy for a week. It’s not like we had a lasting friendship, and that’s fine by me.
I grab my laptop from the nightstand and pull up the code I’ve been working on for months but can’t seem to get right. It’s for a parental app, which I know sounds ridiculous for someone like me—a twenty-two-year-old guy with no kids, who’s never even been in a serious relationship—but I know being a single parent was something my mom struggled with. Ty’s dad sent money to help take care of me, so while I didn’t grow up as wealthy as Ty, I didn’t truly lack for anything. But my mom worked, and she had a hard time finding babysitters and things like that. I’ve done enough research to know how much of a struggle finding resources as a parent can be.
I’m not sure why I think I’m the one to do anything about it, or if this is even a good idea, but it’s something I’ve been playing around with for ages. Tech stuff has always come naturally to me. In a lot of ways, I hate it. I don’t want to have something in common with Ty’s dad. I don’t want to feel like I inherited something I enjoy from the bastard who went around getting women pregnant, not being in their lives and cheating on his wife. The problem is, I actually like tech. I love it, but I don’t know if I have it in me to ever let myself really have it.
Because of him. I hate giving him that control over me, but I can’t seem to help it. My mom is the only person in the world who knows I’m good with code and computers. I’ve thought about telling Ty, but I know he’ll push me to do something about it and to let his dad help me, and I don’t have that in me.
How can I, when I know he never really wanted me? Never cared enough to even have a secret relationship with me. The only reason he’s doing so now is because his secret is out in the open.
I sit at the desk in my room and work for a couple of hours, absolutely not checking my phone every little while to see if Theo texted.
When my phone rings, the screen lighting up with Mom, I answer the call. “How’s my favorite person in the world?”
“Such a charmer you are. Are you just as sweet to all the hes, shes, and theys you meet in California?” While I call myself bisexual, I could also use the label pan. I’m into anyone. I just like people and…well, sex. My attraction to others doesn’t really have boundaries, and Mom knows that.
“Of course I am.”
“Anyone serious?”
“Is there ever anyone serious?” I toss back.
“Perry…”
“And who are you dating again?” Mom hasn’t been serious about anyone my whole life. When I was young, I didn’t really get it, but as I got older, she just said she didn’t need anyone in her life other than me. I try to tell her she should date. She swears she’s not in love with Ty’s dad, but I hate the idea of her being alone, especially since I moved to California.
But as the silence grows, goose bumps spread across my skin. “Mom…do you have a boyfriend?” I fake-gasp.
She giggles, fucking giggles, which absolutely isn’t something I’ve ever heard my mom do when it comes to something like this. “Holy shit. Tell me everything about him. I need to meet him—and he better know that my mom deserves the best, and if he isn’t that, me and him are having words.”
“She,” Mom finally says, softly, like she’s unsure how I’ll take it.
“Go Mom! Are you coming out to me right now? This is incredible. I wish I were there to hug you. Why didn’t you ever tell me?” It’s not like she hasn’t known about me forever. There’s not a bigoted bone in her body, and she knows there’s not one in mine either.
“I didn’t know. I always thought I was straight, but I met her and…I don’t know. Everything clicked. It’s still new, so who knows if it will last. I just didn’t feel right about not sharing it with my favorite person in the world.”
My heart swells. She’s the best. I don’t understand how Ty’s dad could have ever hurt her the way he did. “I miss you.”
“I miss you too.”
“Now, tell me all about your girlfriend. What’s her name?”
“Samantha. She goes by Sam.”
I listen as Mom tells me about her. She sounds giddy, and that makes me giddy for her. I don’t know if I’m supposed to be surprised about Mom figuring out her sexuality later in life, but I’m not. No two people are the same, no two experiences either, and I do think sexuality can be a spectrum for some people. Some of us know—I always have—but some of us don’t, and that’s okay too.