Page 56 of Snowballing

“I’d say I’ve known for a while now and I’d love to stop pretending I don’t know.”

“How did you know?” Gareth asked, snapping out of it.

“I knew it was true!”

“So you didn’t know?” I asked, confused.

“Oh, I knew! I’m just teasing poor Gareth over there.”

“Apologize to Gareth and explain yourself, young man.”

“Sorry for teasing, but let’s go into the kitchen. Seems like Gareth could use some hot cocoa,” Trey suggested. “Maybe you can add a splash of Bailey’s or something?”

When did he suddenly become an adult?

He turned and walked away, and despite the confusion I assumed we both felt, Gareth’s fingers intertwined with mine and because of it, the walk to the kitchen didn’t seem so terrifying. I was half afraid Trey had seen us having sex or something mortifying like that.

The truth turned out to be kind of funny.

Once we all had cocoa - Gareth and I did make ours a little stronger - we sat around the island and listened to Trey explain how it was obvious from the start.

“The first clue was Gareth’s sweatpants - the ones I found on the kitchen floor. I looked up the brand because I liked the fabric. They’re Australian and not easily available around here.”

“And you’re a connoisseur of international clothing brands now?”

Trey ignored me and continued, “And you were wearing them in a different color the day we met at the mall. I noticed because it’s the color I liked the most when I saw them online.”

Gareth and I exchanged glances.

“I thought it was a coincidence, of course, but then when you happened to be the one Dad and I were meeting to find me a new babysitter-”

“Manny,” Gareth corrected him.

“Sorry, yes, a new manny, and then you both seemed like you knew each other. I put it together pretty quickly. Though I have to admit, for a while, it seemed like you weren’t together.”

“Well, aren’t you a little Sherlock Holmes,” I said, taking a longer sip of my cocoa. Thankfully, he hadn’t figured everything out.

“Although the last few weeks, you’ve been the happiest I’ve ever seen you, Dad, and I think it’s because of Gareth.”

He was right.

“Well, I’ll save how we actually met for another day, detective, but you’re right about that last part. Gareth has made me very happy.”

“So he’s your boyfriend?”

“If he’ll have me.” I looked over to where Gareth was sitting, and his smile was so big, so beautiful.

“I thought you’d never ask. I would love to be your boyfriend.”

I stood up and, without hesitation, walked over to give my boyfriend a kiss.

“Man, I know Ben is going to be disappointed, but Henry owes me twenty bucks.”

I broke off the kiss. “Excuse me?”

“What? I didn’t bet against you, and can you blame Ben, Dad? Gareth’s hot,” Trey said, matter-of-factly.

“Is this your way of telling me something?” I asked.