Chapter 8

“Yes, Ma. A date.”

“Oh, Nicholas!” Her voice sounded thick, and I rolled my eyes as I came to a stop sign. Only my mother would cry over a date. “Who is she? Do I know her?”

That stopped my heart for a second, because of course she would assume it was a woman. We were going to have to have the talk. Again.

“Hisname is Emmett James. And yes, I’m sure you’ve met him since you pick Quinn up from rehearsal.”

A beat of silence that stretched on entirely too long. I waited it out. I would notbe the one to speak first.

“Oh.”

I held back a sigh. That was all she was going to give me? Fine. We’d do this the hard way. “I’m bi, Ma. You know that.”

“Of course, I do.”

This time I did actually sigh. “I love you.”

“I love you, too, sweetheart.”

“I know. But I don’t get why this is a surprise.”

“Well, I just thought—” She cut herself off with a gasp.

I knew I was going to regret it, but I asked anyway. “What did you think?”

“Well, that you, you know, were…past all this.”