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“We ended up running into each other in Vegas, which is a huge coincidence if you think about it. Parker was lonely and messaged to ask me to hang out. I jumped at the chance because…because I liked him and knew he was special. Christ, even back then, I just didn’t recognize it for what it was.” Attraction had been part of it for sure, but that spark had always been there, and all it did was grow.
“And you got drunk and married him?” Dad asked.
Shame thickened my blood, slowly filling my veins with sludge. “Yes. We woke up the next morning and realized what we’d done, but the consequences were already in effect. Word got out. The idea of letting you down, of again being the reason your name was in the press for negative reasons… You’re the best parents, and I love you both so much. I didn’t want to hurt you, and Parker was worried about hurting his dad, so we decided to keep up the facade for six months, and then we’d say it didn’t work but that we’re still friends, yada, yada. It was my fault. I screwed up, and there’s no getting around it. I just didn’t think of the fallout.” I leaned forward, elbows on my knees, hands in my hair. “Fuck, we were so stupid. I was so stupid.”
Dad sighed. “I’m angry with you, Elliott, but I’m also hurt that you didn’t think you could come to us with this. Haven’t we always been there for you? We wanted you to know you could always depend on us.”
“What? That’s not it. You have. I’ve let you both down so much in my life that the thought of doing it again…” I shook my head. “I just want to make you proud. I want to be the kind of person you both are.”
“Oh, Elliott,” Mom said. “You are, and we’re always so damn proud of you. You’re a good man who cares about others. No one is perfect, but don’t think for a moment that I’m not the proudest mom in the world. I look at you, at your compassion and your confidence in who you are, and it makes me want to be like you.”
My vision swam, my parents becoming blurry. Before I could stop myself, I was between them on the couch, the three of us hugging.
“We love you. So much,” Dad told me.
“I love you both too.” Mom wrapped her arm around me, my head on her shoulder. They didn’t speak for a moment, and I didn’t either. What else could we say? But then the words were there, rolling from my lips in unrestrained waves. “Sometimes I forgot it wasn’t real. The more time I spent with him… He’s so fun and doesn’t even know it. Making him happy, making him laugh means more to me than my own happiness. It makes me feel like a king. Have you ever experienced that? Like there isn’t anything you wouldn’t do to make someone smile? He makes me feel like…me. Which is weird and makes no sense, but…”
“You’re in love with him,” Mom said.
“Yes,” I admitted. “I didn’t realize it until recently. I knew I wanted to be with him, that I wanted to date him and be able to call him mine. I just didn’t know how deep that went. I was going to tell him today, but…well, you heard him.”
“Elliott Delgado Weaver, I don’t know what the hell it is you’re saying right now, but that’s not the man I know. Since when do you give up that easily?”
My gaze snapped to Mom’s. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me. Mi niño is in love, and I don’t take that lightly. You’re a fighter. Are you just going to walk away without at least telling Parker how you feel?”
“I’d have to agree with your mother on this one,” Dad said.
My gaze went back and forth between them. I was speechless. My parents were…fuck, they were incredible, and I was so damn lucky to have them. “He said this isn’t about love.”
“We heard one sentence out of what he said. I’ve seen the way that man looks at you. You should have heard how excited he was when he told me he wanted to do something nice for you. Love is hard. If neither of you is willing to put the work in, then you don’t deserve it in the first place, but I don’t believe that’s the case. I know my son, and I know how determined you are. Tell him how you feel. You’ll beat yourself up for the rest of your life if you don’t.”
I would. She was right, but… “And if he doesn’t feel the same?”
“Then it wasn’t meant to be,” Dad said. “You walk away knowing you told your truth, and that’s all you can do.”
