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“Cal,” I intoned at the same time my mom shrieked, “You’re getting what?”

My eyes popped open to find her staring at me, her mouth agape, her face a red, splotchy mess. “Michael Jeremy Porter—you agreed to marry this man, someone you’ve known for only three months?”

I winced, tugging at my collar. “Actually, I asked him,” I clarified, meeting his warm gaze.

“We asked each other, M,” Cally corrected, giving me a shy, private smile.

I smiled back, the memory of our conversation making me feel warm all over. There’d been a ton of miscommunication, and I’d felt like an idiot for most of it, but when Cally had looked at me with those soft, sleepy eyes and said he was tired of hiding, I’d been filled with so much love that I thought my heart would burst. I’d heard people say that before, but hadn’t really understood it until that moment.

“When?” she demanded, her voice shaking.

“Last night.”

“Jesus Christ.”

The car behind us laid on their horn, and my mom slammed her foot on the gas.

I whipped back around and braced my hands against the dash, my teeth snapping together as my head hit the headrest. “Holy shit, Mom!”

“What?” she yelled, our speed increasing.

I glanced at the speedometer. “For fuck’s sake, slow down.” I had no idea this piece of shit car could even go this fast.

“You need to be at the hotel by nine,” she grumbled. “I’m getting you there by nine.”

“Not if we’re all dead.”

“The only way you’re dying today, Michael, is if I pull this car over and strangle you myself,” she said with a sniff. “Which I’m seriously considering.”

“What’s the problem?” I asked as she swerved around a Jeep Wrangler with a Punisher tire cover. Douche. “You aren’t seriously mad at me for falling in love with him, are you?”

“I’m not mad at you,” she said as we pulled up to another red light. She turned to me with tear-filled eyes. “I’m hurt.”

Her words hit harder than any body check I’d ever taken on the ice. My defensive anger evaporated, replaced by a heavy knot of shame.

My mom didn’t cry. She handled everything life threw at her and never broke down. But I’d broken her.

“Can I ask why?”

Cally’s hand settled back on my shoulder, a silent reminder that he was here if I needed him.

Mom tilted her head back, blinking a few times, and sniffed, wiping her nose on her sleeve. She pulled in a shaky breath and lowered her gaze back to meet mine. “You could have told me, Michael. I wouldn’t have cared.”

“We haven’t told anyone, Mom.”

“I meant about you, Michael. It kills me to think you’ve been keeping this a secret, pretending all these years to⁠—”

I let loose a surprised snort of laughter, and Cally snickered behind me.

“Um, I’m not gay, Mom. I’m bi.” I glanced down, noticing that I’d cocked up the buttons on my shirt. “All I know is that from the moment I met Cal, I wanted to be around him every chance I got. And when we were together, I was just so goddamn happy. He’s the best person I’ve ever known. I had no choice but to love him.”

Mom glanced in the rearview mirror, her lip quivering. “And you feel the same way about my son?”

He nodded, color rising in his cheeks. “From the first second I saw him.” His mouth hitched to the side in a grin I’d have to ask him about later. “I tried to stay away, he’s this magnetic force.” He sighed, shaking his head. “Your son is everything to me. Everything.”

My sinuses started to burn. “You’re everything to me, too.”

“Okay, then,” my mom said as the car started to move again. “Tell me the plan.”