Page 82 of More Than a Spark

“Thank you. It has been a long time.” I gave Maria my best smile. I really wanted to leave, but I couldn’t do that to Maria. She poured so much love into the food she made for us. “Here’s your wine, Mom.” Leaning over the table, I filled her glass and chuckled to myself. I had to find comedy in something right now. How much of that conversation had Maria heard?

“Thank you.” Mom pushed her chair out and rounded the table to me, then brushed my bangs off my forehead. “Ryder, I love you, son. Let’s start new.” The edges of her lips twitched.

My eyes stung. She never said that. Fuck, this would be hard. I hoped it was worth it and she didn’t let me down. I glanced at Milo, his eyes glistening. “Yeah, love you, too, Mom.” I draped my arms around her shoulders and held her to my aching chest, biting my lip and holding my breath. Shit, don’t start crying. What an emotional night.

With a sigh, I freed Mom and perused the spread in front of us. There was a plate of various styles of tamales, a small platter of enchiladas in a red sauce with melted cheese and a big bowl of guacamole with chips and salsa. “This food looks incredible.”

“Damn right.” Milo hopped out of his chair and filled a plate with tamales and guacamole.

Mom dropped into her seat and sipped her wine, a careful smile playing over her lips. “Milo, if he’s going to be gay, I’m glad it’s you he’s with. You’ve always been good to Ryder.”

Milo dropped his jaw for a second, then quirked his lips into a grin. “Thanks, Sheila. He’s always been good to me, too.”

Here we were, one big happy family for the moment. For now, we could pretend it was all right. But there was a lot of work to do. “Now we just have to tell Milo’s dad.” I added a few tamales to my plate and an enchilada.

Milo twisted his lips. “Did you have to bring that up?” He scoffed a laugh.

* * *

After our intensedinner with Mom and Malcolm, we’d hugged them both goodbye with a promise for me to keep in touch and start some therapy sessions to work out my mommy issues. Now, we were pulling up to the band house and I was looking forward to some alone-time with my boyfriend. We’d been mostly quiet on the ride home. We both had a lot to think about and were talked out as far as I could see.

As Milo pulled his car into the driveway, my gaze swept over the house, the glow from the main room’s lights spilling out the large window and onto the front yard. “Looks like someone’s home.” I wondered which one of the group it was.

“Good, I hope it’s Silas, so you can talk to him about Mia’s therapist.” He shut off the engine, then faced me. “I’m really happy your mom wants a new start with you.” He plucked my hand off the center console, then kissed the back of it. “Sometimes I wonder if our parents get to a certain age, realize the time they have left is limited, and try to undo all their wrongs.”

I stared at him, my lips parting. Dang, he came up with some doozies every once in a while. “Yeah, I think you may be right about that.” I leaned in and kissed his cheek. “I’m glad she’s doing it now and not, heaven forbid, waiting until she’s diagnosed with some fatal disease.” A shiver worked up my spine. I sure as hell didn’t want to lose her now. “I was serious about your dad, Milo.” I studied him. What would he have to say to that?

He eyed me. “That might be a lost cause.” He opened his car door. “Let’s go inside.”

I climbed out of his car and met him on the front walk. “How is your mom?” He hadn’t told her about us, had he?

With a shoulder shrug, he said, “She’s fine.” He unlocked and opened the front door.

Cash and Silas, tangled in each other in the center of the sectional, shot up to sitting, then Cash combed his fingers through his unruly brown hair. “Hey, how’d it go with Ryder’s mom?”

With a scowl, Silas snatched the remote from the coffee table and paused the movie they’d been watching.

“As good as it could be.” Milo strolled to the couch, then dropped into the end of it.

I peered at Milo. I had yet to see his mother since I’d been home. Or his father. What was going on there? I’d talk to him about it later. I sat down next to him and placed my hand on his thigh.

“Ryder’s mom wants to mend their relationship. Can I get Mia’s therapist’s name and number from one of you?” Milo set his hand over mine on his thigh.

“Uh, yeah, sure.” Silas furrowed his brows. “So…Does she know about you two or not?” He hugged Cash into his side.

“Yeah, we came out to her by accident. Milo has a habit of outing me to people.” With a snort, I slowly shook my head. The guy just didn’t have it in him to hide who he was. Which was fine by me.

Milo shot me a mock glare, then let a grin creep over his lips. “Yeah, guess I do, huh.”

“That’s okay, Milo. With a man as handsome as Ryder, I’m sure you want the whole world to know he’s yours.” Cash beamed at Milo, then me.

Gripping my hand tighter, Milo said, “I thought she took it as well as could be expected, right, Ryder? And Malcolm?” His gaze slid to mine.

“She gave me the whole,I’m sort of okay with it but I’m worried about prejudice speech.” I bit the side of my lip. At least one of the guys had had to have dealt with the same thing. But I knew Milo hadn’t.

“Yep.” Silas huffed a sigh. “My dad did that. I think he’s still not all the way cool with me being queer, but he really likes Cash and so he’s not as cold toward me as he was.” He planted a kiss on Cash’s cheek.

With a nod, I said, “My mom loves Milo. Maybe the fact that I’m with him helped her, too.” I swung my arm around his shoulders and tugged him closer. “Anyways, we should probably leave you two to your movie.” I nuzzled into Milo’s hair, then whispered in his ear, “I can’t wait to get you alone.”

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