29. Twenty-Nine
Twenty-Nine
Seth
The heater is blasting us as I pull into the driveway. It made more sense at the time to take Tyler home rather than school, but now I’m wondering if I made the right choice. “Where are we?” he asks, looking out the window.
“My parents’ house.”
“Your what? You brought me to your parents’ house?” Ty’s eyebrows shoot up into his hairline.
“It’ll be fine. They’ll love you, or I can say you’re just a friend. No pressure, totally up to you.” I make the offer on a whim. I won’t push Ty out of his comfort zone, especially considering how that played out with his dad, but I want my parents to meet him as my boyfriend. Part of me also needs to show Ty that I’m serious about us. I can’t think of anything more serious than introducing him to my family.
The curtain in the front window moves and out peeks a familiar set of eyes. “We might as well go in,” I tell Ty. “We’ve been spotted, and the sooner we get out of these wet clothes, the better.”
“Fine,” Ty huffs. “But introduce me as your teammate, I don’t think the two of us showing up soaked and in need of a change of clothes is the greatest way for your parents to meet your new boyfriend.”
“Sure thing,” I say, slapping Ty on the back as we walk toward the door. He glances at me over his shoulder but doesn’t say anything as I knock.
“Hey Mom,” I say when she swings the door open. “Hope you don’t mind us dropping in unannounced like this. Tyler and I were just at the Holiday square and fell in the snow. Thought it’d be faster to drive here to change clothes than heading back to campus.” I explain the situation while also skipping over any introductions.
“You know you’re welcome here anytime, sweetheart. Why don’t you and your friend freshen up, and I’ll get some drinks started to warm you up. We’ve got tea, coffee, or cocoa. What do you prefer?” Mom is looking at Tyler, and I can see there’s more she wants to ask.
“Cocoa sounds great,” Ty answers.
“I’ll take cocoa too, thanks Mom.” I shuffle past the kitchen with Ty, leading him to my room.
“Your mom seems nice,” Ty says when we’re behind the closed doors of my childhood bedroom.
“Yeah, she’s great.” Unfortunately, she’s also extremely observant. I doubt we’re fooling her. Still, I open my dresser and grab a clean pair of sweats, tossing them to Ty. “Those should fit. You want a shirt too?”
“Nah, this is enough, thanks.” He undoes the button of his fly, pushing down his jeans. Ty kicks off his shoes and strips off his pants, leaving his underwear on and pulling on the fresh pair of gray sweats.
I have to tear my eyes away to grab another pair of pants for myself. “How’s your leg? Did you scrape up your knee too much?”
“It’s a little red with a bit of bruising, but I think it’ll be fine. No blood or excess pain. I’ve had worse. Besides, it’s off season now. At least I won’t have to sit any practices or games out.” Ty takes a seat on my bed, tilting his face up to glance around my room. “It’s not what I expected,” he says.
“What?”“Your room. I was figuring you’d have soccer posters or other sports stuff. Trophies from high school maybe. It’s nice in here, but it feels like a hotel room. It’s too impersonal.” Ty shrugs, then looks over at me.
My clean pair of matching sweats are now in place, and I’m running out of excuses to keep Ty in my room and to myself. “Didn’t have a lot of spare money growing up. We stuck to the essentials. I have a TV and an Xbox, that’s about as extra as it gets around here.”
“Wasn’t trying to insult you. Just making an observation.” Ty holds his hands up in a surrender.
“Let’s go have that cocoa before my mom comes looking for us.” I change the topic, and Ty stands up to follow me. Mom is in the kitchen, sitting at the table with three mugs, the electric kettle, hot cocoa packets, and mini marshmallows.
“Right on time, the water just finished,” Mom says as we join her at the table. “Seth, I think you forgot introductions. How do you two know each other?”
“We’re on the soccer team together,” I answer. “We were fooling around at the ice rink with a few of the other guys, then Ty fell …” I’m mumbling and I know it all comes off like an excuse.
“Seth is my boyfriend,” Ty says, placing his hand on my thigh under the table.
I want to kiss him, but now isn’t the time. “We were out on a date at the holiday square,” I tell Mom. “He fell while we were skating.”
“Oh, well, it’s nice to meet you. Do you prefer I call you Ty or Tyler?” my mom asks, not missing a beat.
“Tyler’s fine, Mrs. Miller. Seth is the only one that calls me Ty.”
“Please, call me Marcy. If you two want to leave to continue your date, I’d understand. Or feel free to stay for dinner, I’m making lasagna, and there’s plenty for everyone.” Mom takes a drink from her mug as she finishes talking.
“Thanks, Mom. I think we’ll, uh, head to the living room for a bit.” Tilting my head to invite Ty to follow me to the other room; I can still hear Mom moving around in the kitchen as we settle on the couch, setting our mugs on the coffee table. “What made you change your mind?” I ask.
“Your horrible lying skills,” he teases. “It was nice, actually. Better than what happened with my dad.” Ty scoots closer and leans into me, letting me wrap my arm around his shoulders.
“Did you wanna get out of here? We don’t have to stay; we could go to a restaurant or something,” I offer.
“Lasagna sounds good. I don’t mind. We can stay and have dinner before we head back to campus.” Ty lifts his cup to his lips, taking a sip of his cocoa.
I grab the remote, turning on the TV, and a Christmas movie shows on the screen. “Are you going home for break?” I ask. We’ve sort of avoided the topic, but I know Ty isn’t on the best terms with his father right now.
“I don’t know. I was supposed to, but now I don’t want to. I still plan to show up for Christmas brunch, though. My grandparents usually come, and I want to see them.”
“We usually do a big dinner on Christmas Eve. I’m supposed to come stay for the week soon. Even if I’m not on campus though, we can still make plans to meet up, and you’re welcome to come here.” I press a kiss to Ty’s head. It feels odd having him at my house, but at the same time it works. I don’t feel like I’m doing something wrong, sneaking a girl in to hook up with like in high school.
The door opens and Dad walks in wearing a puffy winter coat. “Hey Seth, thought you were gonna stay at school for a few more days,” he says before he notices Ty. “Who’s this?”
“I’m Tyler, Seth’s boyfriend.” Ty tenses up, but he still gets the words out.
“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Tyler, you can call me Kyle. If you boys excuse me, I have some freshening up to do before dinner.” He leaves the two of us alone as he walks to the back of the house.
“Damn,” Ty says, shaking his head.
“What?” I ask.
“It’s just … you have a very different family than mine. My father would never talk that casually to his children.”
“Yeah, I got that vibe when I met him,” I try to shrug off the awkward statement with a forced laugh. Ty snuggles further into my side and goes quiet watching the movie. It’s some holiday special about a family realizing the true meaning of Christmas isn’t money or gifts but spending time together. I can appreciate the irony of it, considering Ty’s family drama.
“I always thought the happy families in these movies were just some fantasy. That the dysfunctional madness at the beginning is how all families really are,” Ty mutters the words under his breath, just loud enough for me to hear.
“I don’t think any family is really perfect,” I whisper into his ear. “Sure, some families are more fucked up than others, but we can’t all be the Brady Bunch.”
Ty laughs at my joke and shakes his head, before shifting to lie on the couch and resting his head in my lap as he looks up at me. I sweep my fingers through his hair as I look into his eyes.
“Boys, dinner’s ready!” Mom calls out from the kitchen.
Ty shoots up, nearly slamming his head into mine. “Hey,” I say, placing my hand on his shoulder. “It’s fine. Trust me, no one cares if we cuddle on the couch.”
His cheeks color and I’m tempted to say fuck dinner and find another way to make him blush. I guess that’ll have to wait.