Page 124 of A Game Of Love

“Thank you.” Ugh, the last thing I want to do is make more of a mess of my makeup. I’ve cried too much tonight. All happy tears, thankfully.

“Well, that went a lot better than I thought it would,” Bee says, standing next to me as we watch my moms go.

“I always knew your parents were cool,” Jonas says.

Bee and Jonas leave next.

“Did that really just happen?” Toby asks, rubbing the back of his head.

“You mean our parents accepting us because they love us and want to support us? Yeah, it did.” I laugh, wrapping my arms around his waist.

“I feel like a fucking fool,” he groans.

“Don’t. You could have told your mind a million times, but you know you needed to hear it for yourself.”

“I know. You're right. I just wish I said something sooner. It would have changed so much.”

“But you didn’t, and you can’t change that. No more thinking about it, okay? We got the best response we could have asked for. The hard part is over. They’re the only opinions that matter.”

“I guess,” he murmurs, placing his chin on the top of my head.

“You two ready to get out of here?” Bishop asks from the doorway.

“Ready?” I ask, looking up at Toby.

“For you?” he leans in and kisses me before speaking against my lips. “Always.”

Chapter 23

Tobias

I was an idiot. A complete dumbass.

Here, I’ve wasted so much time worrying about what our parents were going to think about me having feelings for Lilly, and in the end, all they cared about was that we were happy.

I’ve made this whole step-sibling situation such a taboo thing in my mind, letting it eat away at my thoughts and consuming my whole damn head for nothing.

Lilly was right about one thing: I know for a fact that despite her telling me they would accept us, I needed to find out for myself. To hear it from their own mouths.

What pisses me off the most is that I didn’t tell them sooner and save us all the time and trouble. To save Lilly the pain of lying to her parents and keeping this from them.

It wasn’t just the worry of how they would handle things, it was the fact that for the longest time, I thought I was broken and not good enough for Lilly—that my mental health was the deal breaker.

Every session with Gracie, I understood more and more how my own mind and thoughts were the poison. I was self-sabotaging for years.

She assured me it wasn’t my fault and it was something that was largely related to my disorder.

I’m not cured, I’ll never be. This is who I am, it’s how I will always be. Even with my meds, I still find myself having small mood swings from time to time. Mostly, it’s only been after we lost a game.

But true to her word, Lilly was there at my side, talking me down and through it.

She’s really my saving grace. I don’t know what I’d do without her, and I don’t want to find out.

The past few years have been hell, and honestly, I don’t think I'd have survived any more time apart from her.

To get better, you need to want to get better for yourself. And while I did, I don’t think I’d have taken that step if it wasn’t for wanting to get better for Lilly as well. She saved me. I owe her my life.

It’s only been a few days since our parents found out, but even so, it’s felt like a massive weight has been lifted off my shoulders. One less thing to worry about.

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