Chapter 43 #2
She gives me the mom look. “Don’t play dumb, Leo. You always were a horrible liar.” She waves her hand to where Alessa left the room. “You said things were complicated the last time I asked about her; now you’re staying with her?”
Fuck it. “Mom, what I’m about to tell you is a lot of information, but I need you to keep an open mind.
Can you do that?” She nods, and I pinch the bridge of my nose, trying to figure out where to start.
Mom is open-minded; she doesn’t judge anyone and never met a stranger.
But this is her own son. How will she react?
“I love her,” I start, and she smiles.
“I know you do. I can see it all over your face.” She takes my hands in hers. “Just tell me.”
“I’m not the only one she’s dating,” I say, testing her reaction, and she frowns. “She’s dating four other guys too.”
“Is she not ready to settle down?”
“No, Mom, she is. I’m aware of the relationships. We are all in it…together.” I’m explaining this like shit.
“I’m sorry, but I’m confused.”
“All five of us are knowingly dating her. At the same time.”
Her eyes widen, and I know she finally got it. “Oh.” Oh? That’s all she has to say?
“I’m also dating Gage.” I might as well just drop the bombs right after the other.
“What?” she croaks. “You aren’t gay.”
“I’m bisexual, Mom,” I tell her, and it’s like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. It’s something I’ve needed to admit to myself since I was twelve when I realized that guys were attractive to me, but I lied to myself instead until Gage.
“Okay,” she says, nodding her head. “Okay. I can handle this.”
“Are you trying to convince yourself or me?” I say dryly.
She gives me the mom look again. “Don’t be a smartass.” She drops my hands and folds hers in her lap. “Are you happy?”
“Yes,” I say without hesitation.
“So, this is like an open relationship?”
“No. We’re loyal to each other.”
Her eyes widen again. “She’s not dating your brothers too, is she?”
I bark a surprised laugh. “No. It’s me, Gage, Ryder, Dex, and Holden.”
She lets out a shuddering sigh. “I don’t know if I could have handled that.”
“I know this is a lot to take in, and I didn’t want to tell you this way,” I retake her hands, “But just know I am happy with her and Gage. And with the other guys. They are like my family.” Even Ryder, if I have to admit it.
He’s grown on me since he’s been taking care of me; it’s shown he isn’t the gigantic dickhead I thought he was. Most of the time.
“Will I get to meet them?”
I shrug. “Honestly, I don’t know. We all live here together, but that would be up to them.”
She nods in understanding and leans back on the couch. I put my arm around her shoulders, hugging her close. I did miss the hell out of her. We sit there, lost in our thoughts, and I give her time to process.
“It was the dimples, wasn’t it?” she asks about fifteen minutes later.
I laugh, knowing she’s talking about Gage. “That was part of it.”
“He’s…bisexual then?” she asks hesitantly.
“He is openly bisexual. He has been for a long time.”
“And Alessa is okay with you guys being together?” she asks softly.
“Alessa just wants us all happy. Two of the other guys are also maybe kind of dating.” I have no idea how to explain what I saw with Holden and Ryder this morning. I know they had Alessa screaming down the house, and then they were making out in the kitchen.
“I just want you to be happy and…safe,” she says, and I frown. Does she mean using protection? Because that ship sailed a long time ago. Alessa assured me they’re all clean, and I assume she has the implant for birth control even though we haven’t talked about it.
“What do you mean safe?”
Mom suddenly looks uncomfortable. “I know who Frankie was.” She searches my face and still sees the confusion. “I know who he was.”
Did Mom know Frankie was Mafia? Does that mean she figured out Evander and Mateo also are? And Alessa?
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I say because I’m not confirming or denying that. The more she knows, the more danger she’s in.
“I know there are some things you can’t tell me, Leo.” She sits up. “I just need you to promise me you will be safe.”
“Hey, man. Have you seen…” Micah strolls into the room with his nose stuck in his phone. He looks up and stops mid-sentence when he sees Mom. “Who’s this?”
“My mom, Katherine. Mom, this is Alessa’s uncle, Micah.”
“Oh,” Micah opens the full force of his grin, “Nice to meet you.”
“You too,” Mom says. Is she fucking blushing?
“Are you looking for Alessa?” I ask between clenched teeth. Somehow, I know this is payback for this morning’s conversation in the kitchen in front of him.
Micah looks at my face realizing he walked into a serious conversation. “Yeah. I’ll find her.”
“It was really nice to meet you,” Mom speaks up.
“The pleasure was all mine,” he smiles, and I grind my teeth. Shoving his hands into his pockets, he goes on his search for Alessa.
“Is it a rule to be gorgeous around here?”
“Mom!” I say, shocked.
She scoffs. “I’m old, not dead.”
Is it rude to ask your mom when she’s leaving?
“She knows,” I tell Alessa and Gage the next morning. Mom hasn’t made her way downstairs yet, so I take the time to let them know, especially since no one else is down here either.
“Everything?” Alessa asks from her perch on the counter in front of Gage and me at the island.
I nod. “Yeah. Well, most of it.” I look between Alessa and Gage. “She said she knew who Frankie was.”
Gage raises an eyebrow. “Like she knew he was Mafia?”
“That’s what I got out of it. Which means she knows who Evander and Mateo are, and possibly you guys too.”
Alessa frowns. “That’s not safe information for her to know, Leo.”
“I know. I didn’t tell her one way or the other.”
She tilts her head to the side. “She was cool with everything else?”
“She said she just needed to process everything before she went to bed.” I shrug. “I think she’s fine with it.” I look at Gage. “I told her about us.”
Both of his eyebrows shoot up. “What about us?”
“That we are,” I wave my hand around, “dating.”
“Is that what we’re doing?”
Alessa throws a kitchen towel at him. “Stop being difficult.”
Gage finally smiles. “Are we dating?”
“Do you want to be?” I say, frustrated.
“Are you asking me to be your boyfriend, Leo?”
“Gage,” Alessa snaps, pointing her finger at him. “You’re being a testa di cazzo.”
“I don’t know what that means, so I’m going to assume you called me sexy,” Gage replies, and from the look on Alessa’s face, that’s not what she called him.
“You know what,” I snarl, “forget I said anything.” I slide off the stool, ready to walk away, when Gage grabs my arm.
“Leo,” he says, tugging me back to look at him, “I was just messing with you.”
“I just told my mom that I’m in a polyamorous relationship and that I’m bisexual.” I jerk my arm away, ignoring the tug on my stitches. “I’m not in the fucking mood to be messed with.”
Gage stands up, and it’s the only time I’ve ever hated he is taller than me. “What do you want me to say, Leo?”
“I’m sorry would be a good start,” Alessa says, looking between us.
“No,” Gage says, all teasing gone from his face. “You want to date? We date. Do you want to fuck around? We fuck around. What do you want?”
I laugh without humor. “I was fucking stupid to think you would take this seriously. You think everything is a fucking joke.”
I know it’s the wrong thing to say when that cold look covers his eyes, the one he uses when he and Alessa are trying to scare people, and it fucking works.
“Fuck. You.” Gage grits out before turning on his heel, barreling from the room, nearly running Ryder over on the way out.
“What the hell?” Ryder asks, jerking his thumb over his shoulder.
“What did I say?” I ask Alessa. Sure, I’m pissed, but I don’t want to hurt him; I saw the hurt flash across his eyes before they turned cold.
She hops off the counter. “His piece of shit dad used to say shit like that to him because of his ADHD.”
“I didn’t know,” I say miserably. I know something is different about Gage, but I never looked too much into it because I don’t care. This little altercation showed me I don’t know shit about any of them. Again.
“It’s fine,” she says, and it sounds anything but fine. “I’m going to go find him,” she says, pecking Ryder on the lips on the way by.
I slide back onto the stool with a sigh.
“What did I miss?” Ryder asks, jerking the refrigerator door open.
“I told my mom that four other guys are dating Alessa at the same time as me. Oh. And I told her I’m bisexual.” I laugh again. “And I told her I’m dating Gage when apparently I’m not.”
Ryder stands up and slowly turns around. “Dude. That’s a lot of info to drop on your mom in one night.”
“I know,” I agree. “But she deserved to know.”
He shuts the door and leans back against it. “I can respect that.” He shrugs. “Gage will be fine in like ten minutes.”
“The more these conversations come around, the more I fucking realize I don’t know shit. About any of you.”
“Have you tried asking?”
“Where the hell do I even start?”
“You can start by not being a little bitch. Start by having a conversation with either of them. Alessa let you in; all you have to do is open the fucking door.”
“Good morning,” Mom says with impeccable timing while Ryder and I glare at each other.
“Morning,” I say, turning to her and trying to plaster a smile on my face. “How did you sleep?”
“Wonderful! Those beds are like clouds,” she crows, and her eyes widen when Ryder stands to his full height.
“Ryder, Mom. Mom, Ryder,” I introduce and watch it dawn on Mom’s face that this is one of the others.
“Oh,” she says, sliding onto the stool beside me. “One of Alessa’s guys?”
I jerk my head to her, and she seems…fine. Did she come to terms with it that fast, or is this for my benefit?
“Yes, ma’am,” Ryder answers with a slight frown.
“Such manners,” Mom sighs, and I roll my eyes so hard I can see behind me.
Ryder fights a smug grin. “My dad raised me right.”
“What about your mom?”
Ryder’s eyes turn sad. “She died when I was six.”
I didn’t know that either. Maybe he’s right. Instead of waiting for them to spill everything, I need to ask questions.
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Mom says sadly.
“Me too,” I say genuinely.
Ryder acknowledges that with a nod and looks over my shoulder. Alessa walks around the corner with Gage in tow. He gives me a slight smile which I’ll take at the moment with Mom sitting here. He slides onto the stool beside me. “Yes,” he says, looking me in the eye. “We are.”
It takes me a minute to get what he’s saying. He’s answering the unspoken question of whether we’re dating or not. “That’s what I want too.” I squeeze his leg under the counter and know we still have a lot to work through, but deep down, I know we can.
I look over at Mom, and her eyes are glued in front of her. I follow her line of sight and almost laugh; she just caught sight of Dex.
“Mom,” I chuckle, and she turns wide eyes at me. “That’s Dex. Dex, this is my mom.”
He nods. “Nice to meet you.”
“You too,” she replies, turning back to him.
“Don’t worry. He has that effect on a lot of people,” Alessa whispers between mine and Mom’s shoulders.
Mom lets out a surprised laugh. “He’s just so big,” she whispers back.
Alessa shrugs. “He’s harmless…mostly.”
Mom laughs again, and I can tell she’s starting to relax, which makes me happy.
When I went to bed last night, I was afraid she would wake up this morning and not be okay with this.
I know this isn’t the life Mom dreamed for me, it isn’t even one I dreamed for myself, but there is no other place I’d rather be than with these guys.