Page 20 of Their Little House Tristan
“That sounds…swell, Mr. Riley.” I was not sad to see him race away, but I wished he hadn’t added the bit about telling my father. Ever since I moved out, my parents had been cordial but distant. I wanted to keep it that way.
“Guessing there’s a story there,” James said.
“Yeah. My family…they’re a little involved in their church, which doesn’t quite align with, well, me. And who I am.”
“Then I made the right call.” He gave a mischievous grin.
“What do you mean?”
“Inviting him to join us,” James said, “then punctuating it with a wink.”
“Oh my gods. You did not wink at Mr. Riley.” I’d been so focused on my father’s friend that I missed that. No wonder his jaw nearly went into the basement.
He nodded, grinning. “Got him out of here quick, didn’t it?”
“You are my hero.”
“I wasn’t going for hero status,” he said, leaning closer. “I have another title in mind.”
Daddy.
“You’re ridiculous.” And also, he already had that title, at least in my mind. “But also, thanks for that.”
I wasn’t really sure what to say other than that. I didn’t want to talk about my homophobic parents on our first date—but I didn’t want to hide things from him either. Letting this conversation lie here felt like the perfect way to go.
“I didn’t make things worse for you, did I?”
“Nah. I think that ship sailed when I got a job at Chained.” Before that, really, but that was what cut the anchor free.
The rest of the night was just the two of us getting to know each other, eating delicious burgers, and watching what used to be a horror movie—but was now mostly just funny. Campy. The monster moved slower than slow, knocking down fake trees one at a time.
The date was perfect.
Except…I missed Bellamy. And that left me with two choices: keep it to myself so as not to hurt James’ feelings, or be honest. If this relationship had any hope, honesty had to come first leaving only one real option.
“Is it weird that I miss Bell?”
“No,” James said. “It’d be weirder if you didn’t.”
“I think that’s good…because I do.”
“Thank you for telling me,” he said. “Means a lot to me that you already trust me with something that big.”
I hadn’t thought of it as a trust thing. But he was right. It was, and I did.
“Does that mean I was a good boy and get dessert?”
“Of course. Do you want something here, or should we go for ice cream?”
I slid right out of my seat, ready to go, not wasting time with actual words.
Daddy chuckled. “Ice cream it is, Tristan. Ice cream it is.”
Chapter Fourteen
Bellamy
Tristan had a great date with James. He didn’t give a lot of details, which was fine, but I could tell by his smile when he came in that evening that things had gone well. His eyes were red-rimmed, so at first, I thought something bad happened, but he assured me they had a bonding moment.
