Once Mason had broken out of his shell socially, it was as if he had grown wings and wanted to fly. The night after Mason came to serenade me, he decided to hold an impromptu New Year’s party and promptly invited everyone he knew. He told me to invite friends, too, saying that he wanted to push himself and have a party at his place for the first time.

I sure as hell wasn’t going to stop him. Ever since he sang to me, I felt I’d been watching him in awe, wondering how and when I’d gotten so lucky.

He’d even invited his family down to visit, and I’d been surprised that they agreed. I knew that they were only ninety minutes away, and for everyone other than Mason, that was a short car ride. But I was nervous to see them again after the awful impression I’d made.

But I knew I wanted to do it right. Wanted to show that I cared about Mason more than just about anything and that I wasn’t pretending at all.

It was New Year’s Eve now, and Mason’s family was set to arrive in the late afternoon. I’d been at Mason’s place all day, helping him set up and cook before the party. But when it came time for his family to get here, I decided to leave. I knew that he needed to speak with them alone first.

I headed out to Wicker and Barrel to grab a drink while I waited. It was strange, going through the world knowing that I had a boyfriend and that he was waiting for me at home. Every other time when I used to come to Wicker and Barrel, it was to hook up with someone or to meet with a client, and now, I was doing neither.

Joe, the owner, was there when I arrived, but it was otherwise nearly empty at four o’clock.

“Howdy, there, Kade,” Joe said, flashing me his usual smile as I sat down at the familiar bar.

“How’s it going, Joe? Been too long.”

“It’s been far too long,” he said. “What are you having tonight?”

I ordered two fingers of whiskey and settled in, watching Joe pour. A slow country song was playing in the background, and for the first time in a while, I realized that I was calm.

“How’s life been treating you lately?” Joe asked, leaning on the bar as I took a sip of my drink.

“It’s been fucking crazy, I’ll tell you that much,” I said. “Remember that client I met in here a while back?”

Joe cocked his head to the side. “Sweet guy, kinda strange? Inspected every glass for water spots before he’d drink out of it?”

I laughed. “That’s Mason. I… kind of fell in love with him.”

Joe’s eyebrows shot up. “You? In love?”

I nodded. “I know.”

“Hell’s frozen over now, Kade,” Joe said. I’d never seen him astonished about anything before—he typically was the most even-keel person in the world. But he looked flabbergasted.

“I’m just about shitting my pants with worry right now because his parents are visiting.”

Joe nodded. “Yeah, meeting the parents can be a shock to the system,” Joe said. “Wow, Kade in love, huh?”

I shook my head. “I’ve actually already met his parents. And… it didn’t end well. So now I’ve got to make it up to them. Show them I’m trustable, you know? They have no reason to believe it right now.”

“Shit,” Joe said, leaning back and crossing his arms. “That’s a rough one.” He looked lost in thought for a moment, but then he held out a finger, telling me to wait. He disappeared into the back hallway for a minute, and then returned with a box in his hands. He brushed a layer of dust off the box and presented it to me on the bar.

“Bring them this,” he said. It was a bottle of champagne, brand-new and in a fancy black box, and all the words on it were in French.

“This looks very fancy,” I said. “Joe, where did you get this?”

“Regular customer brought it to me from France as a gift. Rich son of a bitch. But I don’t dig champagne too much myself, so… it should go to a good home. Probably cost over a hundred bucks”

“Are you sure?” I asked. “Jesus, that’s a nice gift.”

He nodded. “Kade, you’ve brought us more business than anyone, with bringing your clients in here. I owe it to you.”

“This is beautiful. Thank you, Joe.”

“Just gotta promise you bring more clients in, huh?” Joe asked, smiling.

I pulled in a deep breath. “That’s something I’m working hard on, too,” I said. “I actually talked about it with Mason this morning. He thinks he can help me streamline my website and get the ball rolling with some online promotions. Thinks it’ll get me more interested clients.”

“He good at that kind of thing?”

“Mason’s great at it,” I said. “His job involves promoting events at the Terrance Hotel, so… I’d sure hope so.”

“Terrance Hotel is a beautiful place,” Joe said. “You know Debbie and I were married there, right?”

“You were?” I asked. “I had no idea. God, that’s beautiful. I’ll have to tell Mason.”

Joe nodded. “Back in their garden, thirty-three years ago. If you ever end up getting hitched, consider it.”

I nearly spit out my sip of whiskey, and Joe laughed. I felt my cheeks growing hot. For Christ’s sake, I wasn’t the type to blush.

A group of young, loud women burst through the front door of the bar, and after nodding at me, Joe went to help them out. I sat, trying to calm myself down for the impending party.

I tried using my confidence tactics on myself. Every time a negative thought went through my head, I would counter it with a positive one.

They won’t accept you became they’ll love you.

They don’t want some deadbeat became Mason makes his own money and doesn’t need yours.

They don’t want you as Mason’s boyfriend became they just want the best for their son.

It only slightly worked to alleviate my anxiety. After a half hour had passed and I’d long since finished my drink, I said goodbye to Joe and headed out with the champagne in my hand.

When I made it back to Mason’s building, I entered and the front desk attendant let me up. I felt like I was about to face a firing squad as I ascended in the elevator, but there was nothing else I could do.

I made my way down the hallway, knocked on the door, and took a deep breath.

And when it opened, three dogs bounded up to greet me, covering me completely.

“He’s here!” Jenny said, running over to give me a hug. “Kade, while I do need to have some words with you… I’m so fucking glad you’re here.”

Micah was right behind her, smiling at me. “Honestly? I blame Mason for the whole mix-up. He shouldn’t have lied about having a boyfriend in the first place. You’re innocent.”

“Hey!” Mason said from the kitchen, where he was in his apron. “Thanks a lot for the support.”

“You’re my brother. I have to give you a hard time. And I see Kade has a gigantic bottle of fancy alcohol, so I have to be nice to him.

Micah hugged me, and I couldn’t have been happier. But the comfort only lasted for a moment—I saw that Mr. and Mrs. Hartley were in the living room, standing up from the couch.

“Kade, I’ve just got one question for you,” Mrs. Hartley said, her face serious as she walked over. “Stella. Scarlet. Get down from his legs,” she said, pulling the golden retrievers away. Mrs. Hartley stepped closer to me, looking me dead in the eye. “You’re not going to hurt my son, are you?”

I felt like I was on trial. I realized that Mrs. Hartley could be very intense when she wanted to be, and I’d never felt so put on the spot before.

“Never,” I said. “Mrs. Hartley… I love him.”

“Good. Because we love him too.”

“Are you done putting the fear of God into Kade, honey?” Mr. Hartley said, reaching under the Christmas tree that Mason still had at the corner of the room.

“I think so,” she said, cracking a small grin at me.

“Good,” Mr. Hartley said, coming over to me with a bottle in his hand. “Because it seems like we have a liquor exchange in the works.

He smiled and handed me a bottle of tequila, complete with a big scorpion at the bottom of the bottle.

“Had to go to three stores to find one of these bad boys,” he said.

“Oh, God, it’s perfect,” I said. “And I brought you this very fancy champagne—just don’t ask me to translate any of the label.”

“So you’re going to eat the scorpion, right, Kade?” Jenny asked.

“I’ve already eaten one scorpion in my life, and that’s enough.”

“I figured we’d make Micah eat it. How’s that sound?” Mr. Hartley said.

“What the hell, Dad?” Micah said. “I’m going to feed it to Squiggles.”

“Don’t kill my cat!” Mason called out from the kitchen. “Squiggles is an innocent!”

I let out a sigh of relief as Mason’s family resumed their normal happy bickering, and I made my way to kiss Mason in the kitchen. He was midway through making bite-sized cakes for the party, and he smelled like cinnamon.

“I’m so fucking happy,” I said. “They… were okay?” I asked.

He nodded. “My mom definitely cried a little when I told her the story, but… she’s so happy for me, Kade.”

“Oh, thank God,” I said, kissing him again.

“Do not be surprised if they joke about it for a while, though,” Mason said, smiling. “My family can’t exactly resist a good roast.”

I laughed. “They can give me all the shit about it that they need,” I said. “As long as I can be with you.”

A few hours later, the party was in full swing. There was a sizeable amount of people who came—Mason’s family, Tom and Camilla, Mason’s boss, Adrian, and his boyfriend, Josh, a few of Mason’s coworkers, and Terry. When Mason’s neighbors, a young couple with British accents, heard the noise, they stopped by to see what was going on—and I watched as Mason confidently and smoothly invited them inside to join in the party.

Mason was giving me a run for my money with his skills now. He still faltered, of course—it was going to be a long time before he was a perfect conversationalist, and a long time before he stopped stuttering altogether. But the important part was that he didn’t shut down and turn inward when it happened, now. He kept going. He kept engaging.

And the best part about it was that I got to be there with him, to watch him grow.

Mason still had the karaoke machine in the corner of the room, and a few hours into the party, Jenny noticed it.

“Hell, yeah! Karaoke!” she said, pulling it out and setting it up. Camilla, Terry, and Micah were equally interested, and soon the drunken singing had started.

“Wow, my sister really does not know how to sing in key,” Mason said, smiling and shaking his head as he looked over at her. We were on the couch, enjoying glasses of the champagne and taking in the party. Mason’s parents were in the kitchen concocting some mulled wine, and other people were in the dining area, playing with Mrs. Hartley’s dogs.

“She’s not going to win any awards, but she definitely is having fun,” I said. “And I love her for that.”

Mason leaned against me, pressing a small kiss to my cheek. “Am I doing well?” he whispered in my ear. “Is this… is it a good party?”

I leaned back, looking him in the eye. “It’s great,” I said. “And you’re doing so well. This is one of the most fun New Year’s parties I’ve ever been to.”

He beamed, and then his eyebrows shot up. “Oh, I forgot to tell you! Guess what?” he said.

“What’s up?”

“I was talking with Alexis, from next door. She was telling me that she’s having trouble being assertive at work, and I told her how your coaching has helped me, even at work. I gave her your number, and she says she is going to call you for a phone consultation.”

I paused, blinking at him. “Are you serious, Mason?” I asked. I’d been mostly trying not to think about my financial problems and enjoy the party, but this was the best news I could hear.

“Of course! I’m looking out for you, Kade,” he said. “I want… I want to take care of you, too.”

My heart could have burst at that moment, with pride and love for Mason. I pulled him into a tight hug, ignoring Jenny laughing at us on the other side of the room for the public display of affection.

“You’re incredible,” I told him.

“And you’re the reason why,” he replied.

“Lovebirds!” Jenny shouted from the corner of the room, and finally we looked over. “Come sing a song! Mason, I heard your story of singing on the street—now you have no excuse!”

Mason turned to me, shrugging in defeat. “Want to sing a duet?” he asked me, his eyes sparkling.

“Oh, God,” I said. “What would we even sing?”

Mason stood up, pulling me over to the machine, flipping through the different options on the screen. He chose a song, and when it began to play, I had to smile.

We sang I Got You Babe together, by the light of the Christmas tree, and Mason’s singing voice was about a hundred times better than mine.

I was surrounded by the nicest people I’d ever known, singing with a man I loved, and the strangest part about it was that I felt like I belonged. I wasn’t scared. I didn’t want to run away. I didn’t feel smothered by the fact that I was committed to Mason. In fact, I didn’t want anyone in the world other than him.

The other day Mason had told me that sometimes I had to fake it until I made it. But the truth of the matter was that I realized I’d been faking it my whole life before I met him. I’d thought I wasn’t the type for relationships, commitment, or love.

But really, it was just that I hadn’t met him yet. The man who made me feel like all my old rules didn’t matter, and that my only future was with him.

I hadn’t been able to be his boyfriend by Christmas—not for real. But I hoped now that I could be his man, his rock, his person, for the rest of his life.