Whatever ball and chain had been around my heart slipped free with a resounding thud. Said organ expanded and soared so giddily I was surprised not to see it on the ceiling. Finally, all the turmoil and doubt was gone. I’d never felt so clear and certain about anything in my life.
“I love you too,” I said. “We have chemistry and comfort. We’re drawn together inexorably. And that’s everything.”
Fortunately, he leaned over for a kiss or I probably would have strained my neck worse trying to get up to him. He kissed me slow and sweet, careful, as if I were spun glass. And that was just right—for now.
When he pulled away, there was silence in the room. But I knew my parents were still there. They were probably sending eye telegrams. Enough was enough.
“Mom, Dad—please stand where I can see you,” I ordered.
Their faces came into my line of sight, Mom and Dad together on my right side. I gave them a glare. “I did what you asked. I went out with Jeremiah. And he came to the game. Two dates. Two dates in which he talked about himself. I’m not interested in him. I never will be. We have the chemistry of two dead fish.”
My mom and dad looked at each other.
“Well, you’re young—” my father began.
“And I want to tell you I’ve never been ashamed of you before, but I am now. I brought a guy home with me for the first time, and you two never even gave Bubba a chance. You were snobs. Total elitist snobs. You insulted him, and you belittled him. Going to a certain school does not make you a better person. Bubba worked hard to get where he is—probably harder, and against more odds, than Jeremiah was ever forced to endure. And Bubba’s a good person who cares about others, not just himself and his own success. He likes me the way I am, and he makes me happy. And, most significantly, I’m the one who’s dating him, not you!”
My mom bit her lip, looking guilty. My dad pushed up his glasses. “It’s possible we overstepped. Since you’d never expressed interest in dating before, we may have been…over-enthusiastic.”
“Overbearing,” my mother corrected him. “I apologize, Sean. And Bubba, I apologize to you. Sean’s right. I’m afraid we already had an idea in mind before we ever met you, and we were too quick to judge.”
Bubba smiled, and it looked only a little forced. “That’s okay. I know you don’t believe in me. But I’m gonna prove to you that I deserve Sean. Just you wait and see.”
Damn it, I was going to cry again. And happy tears were so illogical. “Mom, Dad, why don’t you go get some coffee or eat in the cafeteria. I want to be alone for a while. With my boyfriend.”
My mom looked alarmed. “Sean, you may not have a broken neck, but you should still be careful. The doctor said—”
“It’s okay, Mrs. McKinney. I’ll take good care of him,” Bubba said quietly. He raised my hand and kissed it.
My parents went.
“Get on this bed and hold me,” I demanded as soon as they’d shut the door.
“Uh, Sean? I’m too big for that bed. And I don’t want to move you.”
I wasn’t having it. “Just help me shift over a little, and you can lie on your side.”
After much insisting on my part, Bubba helped me shift over enough to make room. Honestly, my neck ached, but now that I knew it was muscle pain, and I wasn’t in danger of severing my spinal column, I felt more mobile. I’d take a lot of hurt if it meant being held by Bubba.
We got arranged with Bubba lying beside me, his big arm over my waist and his hand cradling my shoulder. His breath was on my cheek. I closed my eyes and sighed. It was like plugging in to a charging station. Stupendous. I loved chemistry.
“It really hurt me, on the train,” I whispered, feeling like I was sharing a secret. “When you said you wanted to break up. Perhaps I should have gone after you? But it was my first breakup. I may not have handled it as expertly as I might have done.”
“It killed me when your parents thought you’d be better off with someone else,” Bubba whispered back.
I frowned. “How did you know they said that?”
He sighed softly. “I heard you going downstairs, and I followed. I didn’t mean to spy, but—”
“Oh no. You heard that whole conversation? About Jeremiah? I’m so sorry, Bubba.”
He smiled against my cheek. “It’s okay because then I figured out that, no matter how smart your parents are? They were wrong about that.”
“Exorbitantly wrong,” I agreed.
“Total fail,” said Bubba. He raised his head so I could see him smile.
“Let’s not let anyone tell us who we are, ever again.” I raised my pinky.
Bubba snorted. “You wanna pinky swear?”
“Any ceremonial gesture is as significant and binding as its adherents believe. So, yes, I’m all in on the pinky swear.”
Bubba’s eyes warmed with amusement. I knew he got a kick out of my formal wording, and if I played it up a little now and then, no harm, no foul. He hooked his pinky around mine. “No one can tell us who we are, ever again. Only we get to decide that.”
“Precisely.”
His gaze dropped to my mouth. “Kissing is also a, um, whaddaycallit gesture in some parts of the world.”
“You don’t say.”
And so, we swore on that too.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Bubba
It was daylight when I drove into Hartsboro, but honest to God, it felt as dark and ominous as midnight. The last time I came home, I knew what I was doing and why I was there. This time? Not so much.
My dad had called me the previous day and asked if I could come to Hartsboro “to talk,” which was weird as fuck because my father never liked to talk. It was a weekday, and I had classes, so I’d told him I could be there in the afternoon, which meant we had to meet at the garage. That was okay with me. Home alone with my dad was never a comfortable place to be.
I’d almost asked Sean to come with me, just so I could get the whole story of “who Bubba is” out on the table at one time, but I’d never ask a guy just out of the hospital to suffer my father. As for what I was going to tell my old man, that was one big I don’t know. This was his meeting, as the suits always said in the movies.
I parked behind the garage and slid out of my car, my stomach jumping. As I walked toward the side door, it opened, and my father strode out. He frowned, but that was his regular expression, so it wasn’t like a big cause for worry. Besides, what the hell did I have to worry about? No matter what happened, I had Sean, and that was what mattered.
“Hi, Bub. I thought we could grab some coffee and go sit at the table in the park.”
“Uh, okay.” All my snarky comments about how he hated any air that didn’t smell like oil and gas wanted to push out of my mouth, but he hadn’t started anything, so damned if I would.
In weird silence, we walked into the café. A couple people waved, and I waved back. My dad went to the counter and ordered a black coffee, then, holy crap, he looked back at me like what did I want.
“Coffee with cream and sugar.” He gave me a slightly surprised look because he’d been ordering me black coffee since I was sixteen without even asking if I liked it.