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“Sorry.”
“Please, Princess?”
I gasped. “You said the P word. That endearment was only meant to be used inside your head.”
“The secret’s out.” His face remained paler than usual and his gaze dulled with pain. Like there was anything I wouldn’t do for the behemoth. “Can I stay here with you? Please?”
“What lovely manners you have. Of course you can.”
He smiled in victory and shuffled back toward the door. Without even stopping to give me another kiss. How rude. Then he was back out in the living room announcing, “Thanks, Mom. But I’m going to stay here.”
“But, sweetie...”
Nice and slowly, he lowered himself back into the armchair. His mom immediately placed all of the cushions around him with care. “Susie asked me if I wouldn’t mind staying.”
Every pair of eyes in the room turned my way. He’d thrown me in the deep end. The dick.
“Why is that?” asked Deborah.
My mouth opened, but all I had was, “Um.”
“She just feels better when I’m here,” said Lars.
That was me. Codependent, apparently. For fuck’s sake.
Aaron looked from Lars to me and back again. Then he looked to heaven and jangled his car key fob harder.
“She sleeps better when I’m here,” said Lars. “Don’t you, Susie?”
“I see,” said Deborah. “How long have you two been together?”
Lars gave me a wary glance. So he should. Then he licked his lips and said, “It’s early days. Look, I would just feel better staying here with her. That’s the truth.”
Deborah shook her head in wonder. “You two met when Susie used to date... Well. Isn’t it funny how things work out?”
Aaron didn’t find it funny, however. His expression was about as far from laughter as possible. He glared at me like I’d stolen his bestie. Then he turned to Lars and said, “I was thinking of taking tomorrow off to keep you company.”
“Maybe another time,” said Lars.
“Right.” Aaron clutched the key fob in a white-knuckled grip. “I’ll go wait in the car.”
“Did he not know about you and Susie?” asked Deborah, thanks to Aaron’s dramatic exit.
“He knew.” Lars carefully stretched his neck. “It’s complicated, Mom.”
Deborah turned her questioning gaze to me.
I’d never been good at dealing with other people’s parents. Mine tended to have as little to do with me as possible so the relationship dynamics remained an unknown quantity for me. Given how precarious this situation was, I should have kept my mouth shut. But wanting people to like you is a bitch. “Our breakup was...it was messy. A lot of hurt feelings. I would just be more comfortable if...”
“You don’t have to explain yourself,” said Lars.
“Are you saying he isn’t welcome here?” Deborah sighed as if she bore the world’s burdens. “But Lars is staying here, apparently. Aaron and Lars have been friends for so long. Why, they’re just like brothers.”
“We just want you to be happy, son,” said Henning.
Lars’s mother blinked wide eyes. “Well, of course we do, but—”
“Time for us to go,” Henning announced.
But Deborah wasn’t finished. “I really think we need to call him back in here and talk this out. Just sit down together and—”
“It was nice to meet you, Susie.” Henning ushered his wife out the door with a hand to the small of her back. She was not happy. That much was certain.
I tried to smile. But the whole situation was beyond awkward. “Nice to meet you both.”
Then they were gone.
“So,” I said, taking a seat. “That happened.”
“Sorry I told them about us.”
“No, you’re not.”
“No, I’m not,” he agreed. “They were bound to find out sooner or later.”
“You just didn’t want to go home and have your mother fuss over you so you used me as a shield.”
He gazed at me for a moment. “You’re right. But, Susie, we are in a relationship. Have you noticed how we both keep choosing each other?”
“It’s inevitable.”
“That’s right. And I’m going to ignore your sarcastic tone for now because I feel like shit.”
“You still owe me and your mother now hates me. She thinks I’m breaking up you and your bestie.” I slumped back in the chair. “How do you handle having your parents all up in your business? Mine barely remember my birthday. But yours...”
“I’ll deal with my mother.”
“Does she expect to be told and to share her opinion about everything in your life?”
He lifted one shoulder in a small shrug and grimaced. “In all honesty, when she gets like that, I just tune her out. I love my mom. But I make my own choices.”
“Even Aunt Susan gave me space. Maybe that’s why we get divorced,” I said. “Because your mother and I never get along.”
“Not really something I can see myself getting a divorce over. But I’ve been thinking. Maybe we should just forget about the certificate.”
“Forget about it?”
“Yeah.”
“You’ve given up on being able to explain it.”
He winced. “Yeah.”
“We wouldn’t have gotten to know one another if it wasn’t for that thing. It’s like an Ouroboros.” I made a circle with my fingers. “A snake biting its own tail. Fate in an infinite loop. I don’t think it’s something we can just ignore.”
