I wanted to say yes, because she was my mum, but guilt made me a bit of a coward. “I don’t know. I like to think so, but...” I shrugged. At least I wouldn’t have to find out now.
Moral support aside, I was just glad we seemed to be back to normal-ish.
We weren’t pretending Wednesday night never happened, but there wasn’t any awkwardness either.
Not that I’d noticed anyway, but then I’d been at work for most of the last few days, and when I was home, I was half-asleep. I thought I caught Finn stealing the odd glance at me when we were on the sofa, but that could well be wishful thinking on my part.
I wanted him to look at me. Wanted him to ask for a repeat of Wednesday night, but I doubted that was going to happen.
A guy could hope though.
But right now, I had a meal with my mum and her boyfriend to focus on.
“You okay?” Finn asked as we turned off the main road onto my mum’s street. “You’ve been silent for the last five minutes. Which isn’t like you.”
I managed a smile. “Bit nervous.” Which was true, but not the reason I’d been quiet.
He reached over and squeezed my thigh, his touch warm and firm. “It’ll be fine.”
Pretty sure giving me a semi wasn’t the reaction he’d been going for there, but he might as well have grabbed my cock for the effect it had on me.
I squirmed in my seat, breathing a sigh of relief when he put both hands back on the steering wheel. “Park on the drive, behind the Focus.”
“You sure?” He slowed down as we approached the house.
“Yeah.” I pointed at the CRV parked on the road in front. “That’s Clive’s car, he always parks there so they don’t have to swap cars all the time.”
Finn came to a stop behind my mum’s Ford Focus and turned off the engine. “Ready?”
“No. But let’s just go get this over with.”
Finn laughed as he got out of the car. “It’s Sunday lunch, not a walk to the gallows.”
I glared at him. “Easy for you to say.” I shouldn’t be taking it out on Finn—he was doing me a huge favour—but I felt all off-kilter. “Sorry.” I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. But then Finn’s arm was around my shoulders, warm breath near my ear.
“Trust me,” he whispered. “It won’t be half as bad as you’re expecting.”
It was Finn’s warmth wrapped around me more than his words, but I relaxed into his side. He dropped his arm as we reached the front door, and I sighed quietly, missing it already.
The door opened before I had chance to knock, the huge wreath on it swinging slightly.
“Jasper!” My mum pulled me into a hug, and I went willingly, thankful nothing fundamental had changed between us. We might be going through a rough patch at the minute, but she was still my mum and I loved her fiercely. Thank fuck she seemed to feel the same.
“And Finn.” She let me go and turned her big smile on him. “So lovely to see you again.”
“Thank you for inviting me.” He returned her smile and followed me inside.
My mum’s house was older than Finn’s, the proportions a lot more generous than his relatively new build. Her kitchen, where we usually ate, had room for an eight-seater wooden table that had a lovely view of the garden through her French doors.
As we walked through the hallway, I admired the fairy lights artfully twined around the bannister. Hopefully it’d be dark by the time we left so Finn could see her decorations in their full glory.
I was about to peek at the tree in the living room, but she shooed me along the hallway.
“You can see it later when the lights are on.”
“Fair enough.” I’d already seen it, but she probably wanted Finn to get the full experience.
As we followed her into the kitchen, I noticed Finn’s eyes widen. It really was a beautiful room. South-facing, it got a good portion of the sun, even in winter. As I glanced around, I noticed she’d swapped her usual ornaments for her purple Christmas ones. I’d not noticed much of anything the last time I was here.
