Page 111 of A Much Younger Man
“You love him?”
“Could be.” Understatement of the year.
“A special someone.” The hand Dad laid on my shoulder warmed me through my shirt. “Now that doesn’t come along every day, does it? I believe that even if something goes horribly wrong, you won’t be sorry you had your time together.”
“Mom thinks—”
“Shush.Your mom got her say. This is mine. You’re not chasing after all the boys half your age. You met one guy who happens to be young, and things clicked, right?”
I nodded. “Right.”
“I’m thinking your mom reinforced the doubts and fears you already had. But what if he’s your actual soulmate and you walk away because you’re scared?”
“I…never thought of that.”
“Well, think about it now.” Dad squeezed my neck and shook me a little. “In the end, any partnership is between two people. And those two individuals are the only ones who know whether it’s right or not.”
“Consenting adults.”
“Duh.” He gave me another shove. “Your boy’s twenty, isn’t he?”
“Yeah.”
“So. Now you know what I think. Just leave your mother to me.”
“She’s going to go nuclear.”
“No, she won’t.” Dad jerked his head toward the stairs. “She’s going to love anyone you love who loves you back. Full stop.”
It was a lot to think about.
Was he right?
Borrowing trouble was probably the number one pastime of people contemplating relationships. After sex.
“I may have already ruined everything.” I didn’t need Rico to say it.
“Well, first, let’s go get dinner. Everything looks better after a good meal.”
“Right.” As I followed him up the stairs, my heart beat twice as fast as the exertion required.
Dad’s right.
Loving someone—really loving them—and walking away because things might not work out? That was just stupid. If what I felt in my heart was real and if Beck felt the same way, then we had something precious.
Oh God. I’d fucked up. Could I fix it?
And what about the naysayers—my mother’s disapproval, the ribbing from my staff, and the likely censure from some of my peers? Was I so afraid they were right, so caught up in how things looked tothem,that I didn’t consider how things actually were between Beck and me?
Could I live with that? Why let other people make our decisions for us?
In order to find out if I had what it takes to reach for joy, I had to give up my ego, go all in, and make things right with Beck.
