Page 64 of Atlas & Miles
We didn’t manage to get blow jobs in before we fell asleep sprawled out on my bed like the geriatric millennials we were. But we woke up with plenty of time to get ready for the prom.
Miles headed back to his house to get showered and dressed, and after I’d cleaned up—inside and out—in the shower and dried off, I still had about an hour. So I donned my pink satin robe, climbed on my bed, sat up against my headboard, and called my mother.
“Atlas, baby, how is the reunion going?”
I smiled at her voice and lack of greeting even as I knew I was about to break her heart. Everything had happened so quickly both yesterday and today that I hadn’t had a chance to break my news to her.
Because I really was moving back to Seattle.
Nerves swarmed in my gut as I took a deep breath before answering her question, delaying the inevitable. “It’s going great. We’re having fun.”
“We?”
Shit. Because Miles wasn’t out, I hadn’t shared our relationship with Momma, though I’d wanted to a dozen times.
Since he’d come out today, I’d have been comfortable sharing our relationship with her—while keeping his name out of it until I’d confirmed with him, of course—but since I was leaving in the morning, what was the point? It would get her hopes up only to dash them in my next breath.
So I ignored her question. “Momma,” I started, my tone softening, “I have some news.”
“Is it that you’re dating Miles Johnson?”
I choked on air, sputtering as I tried to find my voice. “Wait—what? How did you know that?” Damn, the Gomillion grapevine was alive and well.
“You know I have my sources, baby.” Meaning she’d spoken to Ms. Willson. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
I took a breath. “He wasn’t out until today, Momma. I wasn’t going to share news that wasn’t mine to tell.”
She clicked her tongue. “That’s because you’re a good kid.”
I bit back a snicker at that.Mileswas the good boy, not me.
“So tell me everything! Have you been dating long? Is it serious?”
“He’s . . . well, he’s truly amazing, Momma. I love him.”
Her gasp brought a wide smile to my face. “When’s the wedding?”
“Oh my god, Momma!” I yelled into the phone, but the smile on my face came through in my tone.
“What? Can’t a mother want grandkids?”
“You know Miles is a cis guy, right?”
She tutted. “You can always adopt, Atlas.”
I hesitated, considering what I should say next. Then I just ripped the bandage off, my voice dropping in my despair. “We won’t be. Because I have more news.”
There was a brief pause before “Oh, Atlas” came across the line. She knew this wasn’t going to be good news—not for her, at least.
My stomach sank. “Yeah.”
When I didn’t continue, she prodded, “Well, what is it, baby?”
I huffed a loud sigh. No sense in prolonging this any more than I already had. “I’m moving back to Seattle.”
She didn’t respond right away, but it seemed to only take her a few seconds to get her thoughts together. “When did this happen?”
“Just yesterday, Momma. I promise, this is the first chance I’ve had to tell you. Jeb couldn’t afford to keep me on any longer, so he let me go before I got off work yesterday. Then my friend, Chase, called only a few hours later with a job for me. It’s an incredible opportunity, and I can’t pass it up.”
