Dad glances off to the side, thinking. “Not exactly. She’s wondered why Nick would come all this way, and she doesn’t know about you and your high school…situation.”
Jesus.“Am I really so obvious?”
“Probably only to people who think two guys being together is a valid option. I’m not saying youshouldhave to hide, but things here are still changing even if Mom and I support you. If you bring Nick back after graduating, I think things will work out fine.”
“He wants to play professional baseball,” I remind him, “and I’m not sure if he’ll want to follow me to China less than a year after meeting me.”
Dad shrugs. “Well, he’s already done it once, hasn’t he?”
Why is Dad suddenly becoming some kind of hopeless romantic on my behalf?
“Is he even going to want to date me?” I counter. “The odds are kind of stacked against us.”
“I think he will. The guy takes good care of you. I've seen you try to cook before, and the pans in the sink are notably free of burnt remnants.”
That gets a scoffed laugh out of me. “Yeah, he’s pretty great. He should be okay on his own, right?”
Dad nods. “He’ll be fine. Probably just needs to think things through.”
It’s like Nick reads our minds—my phone buzzes with a text from him.
Nick
sorry for running out earlier
i’ve walked around and cleared my head
That’s fine. Are you ok?
yeah I’m good. made it to the broken bridge at west lake
meet me here?
Sure, I’ll be there asap
“He’s at the Broken Bridge, and he wants to talk,” I tell Dad.
Dad raises his eyebrows. “Wow, he chose a good spot for lovers to make confessions. Don’t wait any longer. Go get him.”
I grab my jacket and rush out the door, deciding not to comment on Dad calling the two of us lovers.
What’s the fastest way to get there?
Bike. I’ll rent a bike.
With my fingers shaking, I pull my phone out, dart over to a stray blue bicycle, and scan the unlock code. The thing beeps at me, and I don’t waste any time in yanking it back and mounting it, pushing the pedals and speeding along the road leading to the lake, and to Nick.
Hopefully, his random-yet-symbolic choice of a meetup location bodes well for the conversation that’s a little long overdue.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
NICK
Seeing Dean running toward me, his face desperate but smiling, solidifies the thorny guilt in my stomach. It’s only been twenty minutes since I sent him that text, so he really booked it to get here.
And he’s fuckingsmiling. What the hell?
“How’d you get here this quickly?” I ask as he reaches me.
