Page 137 of Anything To Be With You

I knock on the door. "Bubba? You in there?" I hear muffled curses and I open the door a crack.

"Ma! I’m naked!" he yells.

"Are you jerking it? I heard grunting and moaning." I bite my lip to keep from laughing.

This is going to sound all sorts of fucked up, but embarrassing Mason is one of my favourite things to do.

"Ma!" Mason groans as the door flies open and he’s standing in a pair of shorts and no shirt. His chest covered in sweat and a…hickey. I push my way inside, finding him alone.

"It smells like cum in here," I say over my shoulder.

"That’s boy smell." Mason answers.

I snort. "Let me rephrase that. It smells like sex in here." I look at Mason. "Why does it smell like sex in here, Mason Christopher?"

Movement from under his bed catches my attention and I drop to my knees, moving the blanket that’s hanging over the side of the bed. I find a boy in his underwear with his clothes in his hands staring at me with wide brown eyes.

I stand and look over at Mason. "Tell your friend it’s time to go, then meet me in the kitchen." I leave the room without looking back.

I wait for Mason, pacing the floor. I outed my son before he had the chance to tell me, and I feel fucking awful about it. Why didn’t he tell me? I thought we had a close relationship, that Mason would feel comfortable talking to me about anything. Even his sexuality.

His head pokes past the doorframe as the front door closes behind his friend.

"Sit." I point to a chair, and he hauls his body over and drops into the chair.

"I’m not going to ask what you were doing because I have a pretty good idea," I state, and his body relaxes. "However, I am going to ask if you used a condom."

Mason face turns three shades of red. "Ma."

"No, Mason. There is STI’s to worry about."

He rubs the back of his neck. "Yeah, I did."

I exhale. "How long have you two been seeing each other?"

His face turns a deeper shade of red. "We’re not."

"Hold on," I lift a hand up. "Are you telling me that your first time is with a boy you’re not even dating."

Mason snorts. "That wasn’t my first time."

"What!" I shriek, trying to wrap my head around this. "And when, prey tell, was your first time?"

He shrugs. "After my casts came off."

I stand there gaping at my almost eighteen-year-old son. "With whom, and did you use a condom then too?" I ask, afraid of the answer.

"Chase, and yes I did."

I drop into a chair, rubbing my face.

He moves my hands from my face. "Ma, we were safe. And we have been safe every time since."

Oh God.

I don’t like this growing up thing one bit.

"Ma?" Mason calls.

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