Chapter 44

Jack Barley.

Yes, I loved his name.

After we hung up, I walked back into the kitchen and found my mother waiting for me with a troubled smile. “I’m worried for you,” she said. “That’s all I’ll say, okay?”

I was shy, feeling the blush in my cheeks. Never thought I’d have this conversation so soon.

“His name is Jack?”

“I thought you wouldn’t say anything.”

My dad finally came in, sliding the door open. “You guys ready to eat?”

“Roland, give us a minute?”

Dad looked at us both and then stepped back outside, sliding the door behind him. What would he think of me, if he knew I’d spent the night naked on another man’s couch?

“Look, Seb,” my mother said quietly, after my father had left us, “I had a feeling…about you. But I didn’t wanna say anything, because, my God, what if I were wrong and put that idea in your head or confused or—”

“Mom, being gay isn’t an idea someone can just put in your head.”