Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
DANIEL
Adrenaline is still racing through me as I drive us out of town and in the direction of the estate.
Nothing about what just happened was planned, but I can’t deny that it all felt right.
When I came out of the bakery and heard what that woman—Skye’s mom, though it took me a minute to realize—was saying to him, I just reacted.
Nobody gets to talk to Skye like that, put that miserable expression on his face.
There was no way I could just stand there and not do something.
And I’m glad I did. The way he leaned on me told me more than anything else that he needed to be rescued.
Not to mention, he didn’t tell his mom I was just kidding or something—not even when half the town turned out to watch.
But he’s mad now.
He hasn’t said a word to me since we got in the car, just keeps taking deep breaths and muttering things I can’t hear. I stay quiet too. When he’s ready to talk, he’ll—
“What were you thinking?” he bursts out.
I guess he’s ready to talk.
“I wasn’t,” I admit easily enough. “I heard what she said and the rest just… happened.”
He moans. “Don’t you know what you’ve done?”
“Is it really that bad?” I counter. “She’s here for another couple weeks, she said. You’re probably going to spend most of that time at the estate anyway. How can it hurt to let her think we’re together?”
“Daniel, the whole town is going to think that!”
I shrug, keeping my attention on the road. “So? You can tell your dad and Patrick the truth. They’ll understand. Who cares what everyone else thinks?”
He leans forward and thunks his head against the dash.
“Hey! Stop that. You’ll hurt yourself.” I sneak an anxious glance at him.
Straightening, he slowly turns to glare at me. “Who cares what everyone else thinks?” he repeats.
Still mad, then. “I don’t. We’ll be a five-minute wonder. Someone else will get the gossips’ attention in a few weeks.”
“Sure, maybe. But they’ll still think we’re dating.”
“So we’ll ‘break up.’” Though I can’t deny the little ripple of something I feel at the thought of dating Skye. I’m not sure if it’s stress like I thought last night or if it might be more, but whatever it is, it exists.
“And be the subject of gossip again!” he exclaims. “Not to mention you just pretended to be bi, Daniel. That’s not cool.”
I hesitate. This is where I should apologize and admit I was wrong. “I’ve been thinking lately that maybe I am” is what comes out of my mouth instead, and I suck in a big breath.
Wow. That was… unexpected. I wait for the regret, for the urge to take it back and apologize. Or even for anxiety or fear.
But I feel no different from always. Does that mean I’m bi? Or that I’m the kind of person who would lie about it and not care?
Beside me, Skye has been shocked into silence.
It’s another full minute, with tension tightening my chest more and more every second, before he audibly swallows and says, “Okay. Um. First, I’d like to apologize for my reaction just now.
Going quiet on you when you’ve just shared something so important and personal was wrong.
I wasn’t expecting that, but we’re friends no matter what, and I’ll always support you. ”
I would have sworn I wasn’t worried about that, but I can’t deny that hearing him say that makes me feel better. “I’m not sure,” I say honestly. “It’s just recently—really recently—I think I might be attracted to someone. A man. But I never have been before. So… I don’t know. Maybe.”
Skye seems to pick his words carefully. “However you’re feeling is completely valid.
I-I can’t understand completely, because I’ve only ever been attracted to men, but a lot of people who identify as bi or pan or prefer not use a label at all have said it wasn’t until they admitted they might not be straight that they looked back at their lives and could see all the times they were attracted to people of the same sex but didn’t perceive it that way.
They thought it was friendship, or that they were just aesthetically admiring someone else’s good looks.
Others have said they genuinely were only attracted to people of the opposite sex until they met someone in particular.
Some people are attracted equally across genders, others may be mostly opposite- or same-sex attracted except for one or a few people.
There’s no formula.” He’s regaining his confidence now, speaking more surely, and I feel a rush of affection for him.
“You’ll work out what fits for you, and it might change over time.
There’s no hurry, and no… no, uh, ‘standard’ you need to fit.
You could talk to Kieran about this,” he adds.
“He’ll be able to give you his perspective as a bi man. ”
I nod. “I might. When I’m ready.” His words replay in my head. “What you said, about admiring other—”
His phone rings, and he fumbles it out and silences it. “Sorry. What were you saying?”
“Who was it?” I ask, just as it starts to ring again.
“Uh, my dad.” He goes to reject the call again, but I grab his hand.
“Answer. You know he’s heard the talk.”
“No, it’s fine. This is important.”
I smile, warmth rushing through me. “Yeah, but it’s not urgent. Talk to your dad, and we can finish this later.” I want to give it some thought, anyway.
He hesitates, but when the phone rings for the third time, he answers. “Hey, Dad.”
“Is there something you want to tell me, Skye?”
I glance over in surprise at the sound of Kevin’s voice. I didn’t realize Skye had put it on speaker.
“Yeah, I was going to call, but I had to yell at Daniel first. Then I got distracted. He can hear you, by the way. Say hello.”
“Hi, Daniel,” Kevin says.
“Hey.” I’m suddenly nervous. I like Kevin and normally have no problem talking to him, but now I’m kind of dating his son.
“So… news?”
Skye sighs. “It’s not what you think.”
“It’s not that your mom said something that upset you, so you made up a story about having a boyfriend and Daniel played along?”
Skye and I look at each other in shock. Man, his dad is good. It must have been tough for Skye to get away with crap when he was a teenager.
“Okay, so it is what you think,” Skye says. “Mostly, anyway. Daniel made up the story and I played along. Did Patrick guess?”
Kevin scoffs. “No, Patrick called me all whiny because you’re grown up and don’t talk to us anymore.”
“I talk to you all the time!” Skye declares indignantly.
“Not the point, kid,” his dad chides. “What did your mom say, and do I need to have words with her?”
“No,” Skye says quickly. “No words. We’re pretending she doesn’t exist until she leaves. She doesn’t have cancer or anything, by the way.”
“Well, that’s good. Are you sure—”
“It’s fine, Dad. She, uh… she was saying stuff about how I don’t have a boyfriend, and it just hit wrong in the moment. Then Dan saw I was upset and did his completely unwanted and unnecessary white knight act.”
“You’re welcome,” I interject, and Kevin laughs.
“And you went with it because you’re petty and didn’t want to let your mother win in any way.”
“You bet. I learned that from you.” Skye’s tone is lighter now.
“Petty for the win,” Kevin agrees. “But you know the whole town thinks you’re dating now.”
“Yeah, that wasn’t planned. But most of them seemed to like me more than Mom,” Skye says hesitantly. “Do you think if I told them we’re fake dating, they’d go along with it and not tell her?”
Kevin makes a humming sound. “Probably. But that’s going to get you a whole heap of questions. Are you sure you don’t want to just wait a month and then tell them you broke up?”
“That’s what I said,” I interject.
“I don’t like the idea of lying, though. Especially when Jennie and the others were so… so indignant on my behalf.” Skye sounds both fond and exasperated.
“We can try,” Kevin says doubtfully. “I’ve already had three calls try to beep in while I’ve been talking to you, and half a dozen messages. I’ll start telling people you’re not really together but would appreciate them going along with it.”
“Thanks, Dad. I’ll call Jennie myself, since she was so invested.”
“Good luck!” They say their goodbyes and end the call.
Skye looks over at me. “Is it okay if I call Jennie real quick? And then we can talk.”
“It’s fine,” I assure him, touched that he cares so much. “We’re nearly home, so we’ll have plenty of time to talk later.”
He nods and taps at his phone. A second later, ringing fills the car, and then an excited, “Skye! Sweetie, are you okay? I just about wanted to smack that woman.”
“Aw, that’s… sweet of you, but I’m fine. Daniel’s here too, by the way.”
“Hey, Daniel. Aren’t you two sneaky, keeping such a big secret? We’re all so thrilled, though.”
Oh, no. This isn’t going to go well.
“Actually, Jennie,” Skye begins apologetically, “I wanted to talk about that. Daniel and I aren’t really dating. I just wanted my mom to think I had a boyfriend, so… if you could pretend to her that we’re together, that would be great. But we’re really not.”
Silence. Skye and I exchange a worried look.
Then Jennie howls with laughter. “Oh, you rotten boy! You nearly had me there. If I hadn’t remembered Daniel telling Patrick you were trying to keep things quiet for a while, I might have believed you.”
Skye slowly turns to stare at me, his eyes wide. I’m pretty sure mine are the same way. I expected a lot of reactions—anger and hurt, mostly. Maybe even a temporary ban from the bakery—but I didn’t expect disbelief.
“No, Jennie,” Skye tries. “It’s true. We’re not dating. Daniel just said that because he didn’t want Patrick to give it away to Mom.”
Jennie tsks, still chuckling. “Now, Skye, if you and Daniel want some private time while you’re getting used to being together, we can all understand that. There’s no need to be making up stories. I’ll make sure the word gets around that nobody’s to pester you with questions.”
“We’re really not—”
“Skye, you stop that now. A relationship is a beautiful thing, and we’re all happy for you.”
“But—”
“As if I couldn’t see the truth with my own eyes. I’ve known you since you were a baby. And Daniel’s been a regular customer for seven years. I can tell when two people I know that well have feelings for each other.”
Skye’s jaw snaps closed with a click. The horror on his face is tough to see. Am I really that bad a catch that he doesn’t want people thinking we’re dating?
“You take care, sweetie, and spend some time enjoying that new love. Bye-bye now.” She ends the call before either of us can say anything else.
“Well,” I manage. “That didn’t go the way I thought it would.”