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My eyes started stinging as I blinked back tears. “Thanks, Mom. It’s terrifying to think your family might turn their backs on you just because of who you’re attracted to.”
“I’m so proud of who you’ve become.” She embraced me. “Does this mean we’ll have babies soon?”
“Glad you were the one to ask and not me,” Nolan’s mom said, and Annabeth barked out a laugh.
“Okay, stop,” Nolan said. “Just let us enjoy being boyfriends first.”
“Boyfriends, huh?” I grinned, unable to stop the joy I felt permeating my chest. “I like that.”
Nolan entwined our fingers. “Me too.”
Since everyone else was chattering away and giving us a quiet moment, I leaned closer. “Would you ever want kids?”
“I have no idea. How about you?”
I shrugged. “I always saw myself married with kids, remember?”
“And I always saw myself single with no attachments.”
I grinned. “Sorry, not sorry.”
“You’ve surprised me in the best way.”
“I’m glad. So now what?”
“Maybe you should kiss me to get our families used to the idea,” Nolan murmured. “It’s hard enough not touching you all the time.”
“Haven’t you become the romantic one,” I said, then glanced toward the ceiling. “Well, we just so happen to be standing underneath the obligate hemiparasite.”
“The what?” Nolan asked with a smirk.
“The mistletoe. Duh.”
Nolan rolled his eyes. “Only you would know the botanical name.”
I leaned forward to brush my lips against his but didn’t look at our families because I was afraid of their reaction. Telling them we were dating was one thing; showing affection in front of them was another.
When I finally lifted my gaze, there were tears in my mom’s eyes, so I supposed that meant everything would be okay. Even my stepdad seemed to be getting used to the idea, smiling brightly now, and fucking hell, that mattered to me.
“Move over so me and Collin can kiss under it too,” Annabeth said, tugging her boyfriend to stand beside us. “Why does that thing represent romance anyway?”
“It started in ancient Rome during Saturnalia, which was a farmers’ festival that took place in December and was eventually absorbed into the Christmas tradition. It also was incorporated in pagan marriage ceremonies because it represents fertility.”
“See?” Mom said. “Babies.”
“You first,” I said to Annabeth.
“Hell no,” she replied, and Collin chuckled and planted a sweet kiss on her lips.
“One more announcement,” I said, and Nolan’s eyebrows knitted together.
“I don’t think we can take any more,” Nolan’s mom said, and everyone laughed.
I smirked. “Who’s ready for dessert?”
27
Nolan
The past couple of weeks since we’d told our families we were dating had felt amazing. Freeing too. We knew better than to show too much affection in public because of homophobes and our safety—something we’d never quite appreciated before—but still, I was enjoying myself.
We went out to dinner, to see movies, and accompanied each other to our parents’ homes as if we’d been doing it for ages. Even though having a relationship wasn’t something I’d ever aspired to, I was soaking it all in.
We cooled it in front of Perry, but I wasn’t exactly sure why. Maybe to prove it wouldn’t affect us as a group? I did understand his misgivings—to a degree.
Sitting in the back of Perry’s van, our fingers entwined, we were heading to our show, the last until after the holidays. Speaking of which, I was so excited about giving Ellis his gift, which I’d brought along in an older case so they’d think it was a backup. My strings needed changing anyway, so I hoped I hadn’t jinxed myself and would end up breaking one during a set. But I was still trying to think of the perfect opportunity to present the guitar to him. Who was the impulsive one now? I would probably wait until Christmas Day, but it was hard to keep the secret from him.
The crowd was lively tonight, and the bar packed, likely because people were home for the holidays and in a festive mood.
As we were setting up the stage and discussing the lineup, Ellis’s hand touched my neck and squeezed. It’d become such a natural thing between us that we would have hardly noticed if not for Perry clearing his throat as he watched us.
“What?”
“Nothing, just…” He looked over his shoulder. “We’re already drawing a solid crowd.”
“And?”
“Come on, Nolan, we talked about this. Plus, do you really want to out yourselves before we even get started with our first set? You know what I mean.”
“I do, and I don’t. Maybe you have a point about outing ourselves. But we supported you with Heather while it was going on, so why can’t you cut us some slack?”
“Because then it becomes about us being a gay band and people coming out for that, like you’re some spectacle, instead of our music.”
“Seriously? That’s bullshit. It’s not like we’re performing a live sex show onstage. Christ, you’re really showing your true colors.”
