Page 49 of Surrender
Dallis found himself smirking. “Now, that’s always exciting.”
“I’m sure. When are we going to get to meet Ms. Morris anyway? As Colbie and not as your teacher.”
“Your guess is as good as mine, Mom. I mean, Colbie’s comfortable with our relationship, sure; but she still worries about people finding out and losing her job. Not to mention she’s worried about what you and Dad will think of her for dating me.”
“You know, you’ll have to tell her at some point that we already know.” His mother told him, turning to look at him. “She may not like that you lied to her about it.”
“I didn’t lie to her. I just didn’t tell her,” Dallis tried to defend himself.
“Omission.” His mother said with a raised eyebrow, and he knew what she meant. “Besides, it’s a conversation that needs to be had. Probably sooner than later, considering I’d like her to have Christmas Eve dinner with us.”
Dallis looked up at the ceiling. While they rotated Thanksgiving dinner between their house or one of his two uncles’ and aunts’ homes, they always spent Christmas together separately.
His family always did Christmas Eve dinner instead of making a big deal about it on Christmas Day. They preferred to spend that day in each other’s company.
“You’re putting me in a tough spot,” Dallis told her. “That doesn’t leave me much time to figure out how to tell her.”
His mother rolled her eyes. “You act as if you need some sort of preparation. It’s a conversation. As a matter of fact, it’s one you can have with her tomorrow. You don’t have any plans. Good,” she concluded, not giving him a chance to answer.
Dallis didn’t bother trying to argue with her because he did, in fact, have plans tomorrow. However, they happened to be with Colbie, and he knew his mother was right. He needed to tell her, and tomorrow would be as good a time as any.
Dallis knocked on Colbie’s front door the following afternoon. They didn’t plan to go anywhere, so they decided to hang out at her house. It was Saturday, so they both knew that the risk of them running into someone if they went out was likely even with the population.
When she opened the door, he took a minute to take her in. The weather had gotten colder, and she wore sweatpants with a matching long-sleeved crop top. It amazed him how every time he saw her, it always felt like someone had kicked him in the stomach but in a good way.
Colbie smiled at him as she stepped aside to let him in. Once she closed the door, he turned to her, leaning down to place a kiss on her lips. He couldn’t remember the last time he had kissed her. How many agonizingly long days it had been. Okay, well, maybe he was exaggerating, but it had been too long in his book.
When they finally pulled apart, he leaned in to kiss her forehead. “I missed you, gorgeous.”
“You just saw me,” she told him teasingly as she walked past him.
“Don’t be cute,” Dallis stated before smacking her on the ass. “Wait, you can’t help that.”
Colbie laughed at him. “You’re so corny.”
Dallis shrugged as he followed her over to the couch. Sitting beside her, he figured he might as well have the conversation with her now — no need to procrastinate and just rip the band-aid off.
“So, baby, my mom wants you to come to dinner on Christmas Eve,” he stated.
Colbie furrowed her brow at him. “Dallis, I don’t think that’s a good idea. You know how I feel about having your parents look at me like I should know better than to be dating you.”
“You don’t think it’ll be any different when I graduate? The only difference is I won’t be your student anymore. The age difference won’t change, Colbie.”
Yes, he had said he would just out and tell her, but he honestly wanted to see what she would say to that. As far as he could tell, she may not have thought that far, but she needed to. He wasn’t going to let her go at any point.
“We don’t have to tell them when you graduate. Not immediately after. We could wait a while.”
Dallis clenched his jaw. “That wasn’t the deal, Colbie. Till graduation. That’s what I said.”
“It may have been what you said, Dallis, but you didn’t actually give me a say in it.”
“I didn’t hear you protesting when I told you. You’ve had all this time to do it, and you haven’t.”
“I wasn’t even sure we would be together when you graduated.”
Dallis slid back on the couch, putting more space between them. “So, you doubt our relationship.”
“I didn’t say that.”
