Page 83 of Obsessed with my Temptation

But they still kind of went there.

“Are you getting involved with the wrong people, Scott? He’s not bullying you or anything, is he?” my mother asked immediately, hand reaching out to mine.

My father jumped in before I could. “Of course, he isn’t, darling. You heard Scott the other day.” He looked at me with a growing smile on his lips. “I thought it was quite interesting, your reaction. You’d never had such a passionate outburst about anyone before.”

My mother still didn’t look convinced.

“He’s not bad at all, Mom, and he’s not bullying me either. Travis makes me feel like no one else has before, like it’s okay to be myself, like he likes me forme. Not for who everyone wants me to be or for my ‘Prince’ persona.” I stopped again, throat feeling thick with emotion. “Travis is one of the greatest people I know, and I care a lot about him.”

I love him.

I wanted to say it, but I thought he needed to hear it first.

My mother’s expression went from concern to an emotive smile. “That’s wonderful to hear, son,” my dad said, reaching out to me as well. “As much as I suspected after that, I won’t say I’m not surprised but…I’m sorry we assumed the worst, Scott.”

“You believe me?” I asked, feeling a little dizzy.

My mother slapped me playfully on the shoulder.“Oh,you.Of course we believe you! You’ve always had good judgment in people, honey. But you better believe you’re bringing this Travis around, and soon. I want to speak to him properly. I’d never seen anyone make you feel like this.”

“I’ll cook dinner to soften your mother’s interrogation,” my father said with a wink.

I chuckled, shocked, dumbfounded, and just…

Did I mention he broke up with me?

“But what is this thing with you and being a Prince? I thought you liked it!”

Oh, she had another thing coming.

Once the most important thing was out and into the world, I had the strength to tell them about everything else. How trapped I felt by expectations, how much I felt like I couldn’t be myself. I told them because it wasn’t reallythem, even, that created the expectations, but they had been all too happy to keep up with them and maintain them.

“We like you being a ‘Prince’ as people call you, Scott, and we like that you’re a good student we’ve always been able to feel proud of. But your happiness and your well-being will always be a priority.” My father squeezed my hand.

It might be a tough adjustment to make, and an effort to try and make myself act not as I thought I should but as I wanted to. In a way that felt true to who I thought I was.

But with the truth before me and my friends by my side, I felt more than strong enough to face it. And if Travis would be with me too…Well.

Then I was willing to face anything.

Chapter 27

Travis

It had been a week since I’d last talked to Scott. A week since Andy gave me a hell of a pep talk, and yet I was still torn up about everything.

My stomach was in knots. I studied, trained, did my midterms, and on and on each day went. I went through the drills and the routine, but my head wasn’t in it. Not my heart either, because Scott had it with him, and I was miserable without him.

Because Andy was right. I had a choice before me, but I was still afraid to make it. I’d spent too long working toward this one goal—becoming a pro boxer, showing the world I could be good at something, that I didn’t know what I would be without it.

I didn’t know who I was without all of this repressed anger.

Could I let go of it? Say fuck it and go into the unknown, risk losing everything again, with no goals and no hope in my future?

I wanted to talk to Scott. I wanted to see him, even from far away. But I couldn’t face him when I was feeling like this.

I needed to figure myself out first. I needed the midterms, the competition, and all the noise in my head to go quiet and be over so I could have some brain space to consider the shit I was in and how to get out of it.

But I didn’t have all the time in the world, and the day of the competition had finally come. I needed to screw my head on straight, even temporarily, if I didn’t want to throw all of my efforts out the window.

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