Page 16 of Hard to Pretend

I grabbed my phone and started to type again.

Chris

Seb and I broke up.

Short. Succinct. To the point. There was nothing flowery, no stupid explanations. Maybe everyone would just send sad emojis and leave it alone.

My fingers hovered over the send button. Did I really have the mental energy to deal with everyone asking me a thousand questions right now? I could always type it out and send it again tomorrow. That would probably be the smarter idea. Then I could send it before I left for work and ignore everyone’s well wishes until my shift ended.

That was tempting.

“Get over it,” I muttered. I was about the press the button. I really was, but then the phone rang saving me from having to deliver the bad news.

Seb’s name appeared on the screen. I had no idea why he was calling me, but I didn’t mind the distraction. “Hey,” I greeted as I brought the phone up to my ear. I relaxed back on the couch.

“Have you told anyone that we broke up yet?”

That wasn’t the question I was expecting. “I was actually about to send it to the group. Why?”

“My mom found out about us.”

His mom?

“How the hell did your mom find out about us?”

“I have no idea. Do any of your friends work at the hospital?”

“Natalie. Why? What did she do?”

“I’m guessing she told my mom that she met me and that I was dating her friend.” Well, wasn’t it a small fucking world? “It wouldn’t be a big deal. I’d tell her we broke up, same as we planned, but she’s been worried about everything in my life lately. My job, my dating life or lack thereof, all of it. I think she’s afraid I’m going to die sad, alone, and completely unsatisfied.”

I laughed. “How old are you?”

“Not old enough to be worrying that my life is over because I don’t have a serious boyfriend.”

“And that translates to?”

“Twenty-four. Barely twenty-four. My birthday was two months ago.” He sounded frustrated. “My mom never got married. She actually had me when she was my age. Maybe she’s just afraidthat my life is going to end up like hers: struggling with a kid or something.”

I nodded, even though I knew that he couldn’t see me. It made sense to me, even though it wasn’t a struggle I could relate to. My parents didn’t get on me about dating. My friends did. My brother did, but my parents left well enough alone. I think they trusted that I’d find someone when it was time. “So why did you want to know if I told anyone that we’d broken up?”

Seb didn’t say anything for a moment. I could practically hear the cogs turning in his head. It took a few minutes before he spoke again. “Can we play pretend one more night? Maybe if my mom saw me with a boyfriend, she’d worry less.”

He wanted me to meet his mom? That seemed a few steps up from playing pretend at a friend’s birthday party. For one thing, she’d probably seen him with other partners in the past. She’d probably see right through us. “Is that a good idea?”

I already knew the answer to this question.

“Probably not.” At least he agreed with me. “But she’s my mom, and I hate when she worries.”

That was actually sweet. He was a mama’s boy? Even though I knew it was a terrible idea, I couldn’t say no. It was obvious that he didn’t want to disappoint his mom. And besides, I kind of owed him. He’d helped me. Twice. He hadn’t had to help at all,and he’d shown up for metwice. It was my turn to help him. “When?”

“I can set up a dinner for next weekend. Then we can date for another few days, and the breakup can happen.”

“And then?”

“And then maybe we try to see if we can do the whole friendship thing.”

I smiled. I liked the thought of us staying friends. He was a cool guy, someone that I got along with. Yeah, he was also scorching hot, and the night we’d spent together had been intense. It was the kind of night that I’d replayed in my head for weeks after the fact. If life hadn’t gotten in the way, I would have been more than willing to have a repeat experience. It was too late for that now, but I didn’t want to lose him either.

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