Page 56 of His Secret

“Of course, Mom,” Amelia replies.

Mom quickly turns to talk to Leanna Thistle at her left, and Amelia leans over to whisper out of the side of her mouth. “Like we had a choice.”

I snort, rolling my eyes.

“How’s school going?” my father asks from the other side of the table, eyes trained on me.

“Good.” I clear my throat, straightening up. “I’m passing all of my classes, and football?—”

“Well, I’d hope so,” he says, cutting me off. “There’s no other alternative but to pass them.” He smiles for the sake of his friends, like he’s joking, but he’s not. I either pass each class with flying colors, or I’m cut off financially. “Andfootball is of no importance,” he says dismissively. “I’m afraid you’ll only damage your brain playing that game.”

“Anybody special in your life, Adrian?” Leanna asks me, reaching for her wine.

My mind instantly goes to Matías, but hell would freeze over before I’d confess that here and now.

“No, not really,” I answer with a smile. “I’m too busy with school anyway.”

The last part is added in the hopes that it appeases my father. He only wants me to succeed, so if I mention I’m only focused on classes, maybe he’ll be happy.

“Well, if you didn’t play football, you’d probably have more free time,” he says. “College is the perfect place to find a partner. You’ll know they’re also pursuing a degree and have hopes and plans for the future. Then you can leave college together with an idea to build your future together.”

I inhale and nod. Nothing I say will ever be good enough for my father.

“How about you, Amelia?” Mom asks, turning the attention to my sister.

“I’ve started to see someone,” she says with a small smile. “It’s in the beginning stages, but he’s a good guy.”

“What’s his major?” Dad asks.

“Uh, animal science.”

Dad scrunches his face slightly. “Well, it’s something. How did you meet him?”

“Stacy introduced us.”

Mom grabs her glass of wine and takes a drink while Dad sits up straighter in his seat. His eyes flicker to his friends, but it’s not like they don’t know how he is. “I thought we discussed her.”

Amelia shifts uncomfortably. “She’s in two of my classes. I can’t ignore her completely.”

“We don’t need the way she chooses to live her life to rub off on you.”

With a small scoff, disguised as a chuckle, Amelia says, “I don’t think that’s how that works.”

“It’s a mental illness, Amelia,” Dad says sternly, his eyes moving to me. “It’s not natural and it will not be tolerated in this family.”

“I know, Dad,” Amelia says.

I nod at him, feeling sweat break out all over my body.

Amelia’s friend Stacy is a lesbian, and our parents only found out because they overheard a conversation Amelia and I were having where she mentioned Stacy and her girlfriend.

Thanksgiving dinner stretches for hours, and Amelia and I know we’re not excused until our parents get up. We have quiet and uninteresting conversations until Dad stands, signaling dinner is officially over.

“We’ll be in the study,” he says to Amelia and I. “Help the staff take the dishes into the kitchen.”

We nod our obedience. Once they leave, two women who’ve worked for our family for years emerge into the formal dining room, and begin gathering plates.

Amelia and I join in, but Mary stops us. “We got it. It’s okay.”

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