Page 59 of The Laughing Game

She looked at me. I looked at her.

“Whatdoyou have, then?” she asked.

I looked away—at the window, at the door.

“What’s going on?”

“It’s…it’s a man,” I said, my voice low. “It’s two men.”

Thank God her hearing was compromised.

“A man!” she exclaimed, so loudly I was worried that people in the hallway would hear.

“Shhh!” I said. “Jesus!”

“Angel Barnett, did you go get yourself a boyfriend?” she asked, as excited as if I’d won the lottery.

“Not exactly. Shhhh. Mom.”

“Not exactly?”she said in a stage whisper, her face the picture of astonishment. “Are you getting plowed, Angel? My sweet little boy?By a man?”

I gave her a look. She was anything but sentimental.

“Oh my God,” I muttered.

She chortled. “Oh, bless my sorry old bones. Well, I’ll be. Although I can’t say I’m all that surprised.”

“I’m not getting plowed!” I said in a stage-whisper. “Jesus.”

“You’rethe top?Well, thatissurprising…”

“Mom! What the hell?” I asked, in a quieter voice. At this rate, the whole floor was going to know about my private life.

My mother waved her hand in between us. “Never mind. So, who is this man? Tell me! This is the most entertaining news I’ve had in months. Maybe years. I always suspected the women were a distraction from what you really wanted.”

What. The. Fuck.

I gaped at her. “You did?”

“Oh, Angel. You always had a thing for good looking men.”

“Oh my God. My whole life has been a lie.”

“So, what’s his name?”

“Um…Gideon,” I said. Might as well go for the gold.Try this for amusement, Mom. “And Vihaal.”

She stared at me and her chin dropped. “He has…two names?”

I shook my head.

“Then what do you—oh! Two men? You cheeky devil.”

I couldn’t help laughing at the look on her face.

“Angel! What on Earth?”

“What can I say? It just happened. I don’t remember how.”

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