Page 56 of Forever Midnight

“That’s good news. Uh, I promise I’ll be around for brunch tomorrow.”

“Okay, have fun tonight.”

“Thanks, Ma. Night.”

“Night.”

After ending the call, I bang my head against the buttery leather seat several times. Midnight holds my hand with a sympathetic expression on his face.

“She wants you to come to brunch tomorrow.”

Midnight nods as if he already knew that. He must have heard the conversation.

“And how do you feel about that?” he asks.

I shrug. “Don’t know. I’ve never had anyone come around. Friend or otherwise.”

“Why not?”

“I didn’t like the feeling that people might hang around me to get close to my family. To use us.”

“You wicked rich or something?” Thorn asks, twisting around in the front seat.

“I’m not, but my dad is. He’s also really influential. Politician friends and shit like that. He doesn’t know…” I pause, too embarrassed to admit it out loud again.

“He doesn’t know you’re into dick?” Thorn asks.

Midnight literally growls, but I just shake my head and laugh. “No, he doesn’t know that.”

“You think he’d be mad?” Thorn asks.

“I’m not sure. My parents are decent people, even if they do live in a fantasy world they created, but I just worry about how it would affect them, like, in business and socially.”

Thorn scoffs. “It’s not 1798.”

“Oddly specific year,” I murmur.

“People get over shit, Tru,” Thorn continues. “And if they don’t, you won’t be alone. You have us now. We can be your family too.”

His words warm something deep inside me, instantly calming me down.

“These guys are the best,” Bowie says, glancing at Syn. “You’d always be welcome with us.”

“That’s good to know,” I answer, squeezing Midnight’s hand.

“You already know how I feel about it,” he whispers. “If you don’t want me to come tomorrow, if it’s too soon, I understand. But if you do want me to come, then I will.”

I don’t know what to say. I want him to come but I’m also really afraid of that. Gah, I’m such a coward. Willing to take on the city’s most dangerous gang members but too chicken to tell my parents I’m gay and I’ve met someone special. I’m gonna ruin everything with Midnight if I can’t step up and face this.

We pull up to the apartment building and step out. The guys go ahead, leaving me and Midnight to stroll together, my hand in his.

“I’m scared,” I admit. “But I always promised myself that if I met someone amazing, I would tell my parents. Now it’s here, and it’s overwhelming.”

“I’m someone special?” he asks, a smirk on his lips.

I roll my eyes. “Duh. I like you a lot, Midnight.”

He lifts my hand and kisses the back of it. “I like you a lot too.” He stops walking, shifting his gaze up to the clouds, then back to me. “We both carry our secrets, and neither of us intended to reveal them, but for whatever reason, our lives collided.”

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