Gage
Why did I do that? I thought angrily as I swung my fist toward the punching bag. Why did I agree to meet Carter’s parents? I didn’t meet people’s parents, let alone a girl’s. Seeing how nervous Carter was asking me at the bowling alley yesterday and with her big blue doe eyes on me, I found myself saying yes.
It had been a fun day, something I didn’t expect when Carter asked us to come. I was very tempted not to show up, but thinking about Carter’s face if I didn’t show made me rethink that decision. I couldn’t bear to see her sad.
But as I stood here thinking about what I had agreed to yesterday, a part of me was mad that I’d even gone. If not, I wouldn’t have to meet Carter’s parents. Never in my life had I met a girl’s parents before.
There was something about Carter that just made me say yes and made me do different things than I normally would. Never would I have gone bowling, especially with her brother and the “golden boy.” Now this.
I couldn’t deny that Carter had wiggled her way into my life. Ever since the fight in front of the gym and when she got hurt, I wanted to protect her undeniably. I was still mad that she didn’t tell me about getting hurt during the whole thing, and I blamed myself. She shouldn’t have been there in the first place, and I was pissed that the guy went after her. She was a girl, for crying out loud. You didn’t hit a girl. Even though she reassured me plenty of times this past week that she was fine, I still couldn’t help but be upset about it.
Since that day, the need to protect her and make sure she was okay had grown. There was something about her that just made you want to stay near her and keep her safe. Her innocence probably didn’t help.
“Dude, why are you punching the bag so hard?” Dylan asked as he suddenly appeared. He moved around the bag and held it still while looking at me.
“Nothing.” I grunted.
“Doesn’t seem like nothing. Is it Carter?” I looked at him, surprised that he hit it right on the mark. He gave me a look. “Dude, it is clear that you like her. It’s so obvious.”
“I don’t like her,” I said, although something inside of me told me otherwise.
“Yes, you do. You can’t deny it. I mean, I never have seen you like this before, and I’ve known you since we were kids. You’ve never done anything you don’t want to do, and you’ve never been so touchy-feely with someone,” Dylan said.
“I am not touchy-feely with her,” I replied defensively.
“Oh yeah? Than why did you throw her over your shoulder yesterday? Or why do you always reach out to touch her?” My mouth opened and closed. I didn’t have a response. “I like that she is changing you. You are a lot more fun to be around.”
Changing me. Was that a good or bad thing?
“Anyway, what did you do now?” Dylan asked. I sighed and hit the bag a few more times before I answered.
“I agreed to meet her parents. Apparently they found out we are dating and want to meet me.”
“That’s not terrible. I mean, you guys are dating.” He shrugged. “What’s the big deal?”
“Dylan, we are fake dating. It isn’t real. That is the problem.”
“What did you think would happen when you offered to ‘fake’ date her?”
“It was just supposed to piss Ethan off, not go this far.” I grunted, swinging at the bag. Dylan had to hold onto the bag tightly or he’d be shoved backwards.
“Gage, I swear you are stupid.” He shook his head at me.
“What?” I stopped punching and looked at him.
“You like Carter, and don’t deny it.” He held his hand up when I tried to interrupt him. “This fake dating thing was stupid because it wasn’t going to work anyway. Both of you are bound to fall for one another. Just grow some balls and ask her out for real before something ruins it.”
“Dylan—” I started to say, but he cut me off with a firm look.
“Let go of whatever your deal is and ask her before someone else does. I mean it, Gage.” With that, Dylan stepped back and walked off. I stared after him wondering what that was all about.
But as I went back to working out on the punching bag, his words echoed through my mind. Before someone else does. Just the thought of someone else touching and dating Carter pissed me off. No one was allowed to be with her unless it was me.
Dylan’s words were all I thought about the rest of the night, and the more I thought about it, the more he started to make sense. It was the first time I was admitting to myself that I actually liked Carter, as more than a friend. She was something completely different from any other girl, and I liked it. I liked how she had become feisty and vocal. She had touched me in some way that now if I was away from her, I missed her presence. Dylan’s advice clicked into place in that moment.
I needed to ask Carter out for real before it was too late. And hopefully she would say yes.
***
Carter
When I called my mother on Sunday night to tell her Gage wanted to meet them, she flipped. I had to literally pull the phone away from my ear so I wouldn’t lose my hearing. And just like every parent, she had to yell over the phone at my father to tell him the news. When she started to ask me what Gage liked to eat and whatnot, my mind went blank.
I knew stuff about Gage, but apparently not that much. I didn’t know what his favorite food was, or if he was allergic to anything. My mom kept pressing, wanting to get a jump-start on planning our dinner even though we weren’t coming over until Saturday. With no answers for her, I told her I’d ask Gage if there was anything he’d want to eat and get back to her.
It was now Monday morning and I was running late to my English class. My alarm hadn’t gone off, so I was once again rushing out the door with a haphazard outfit and my hair everywhere. After class I would ask Gage about the dinner with my parents. I didn’t know anything like that about him, and it made me upset that I didn’t. But I guess this was the perfect opportunity to ask.
I crashed into my English class with exactly four minutes to spare. Thank the lord the professor wasn’t there yet, but unfortunately everyone else was, so all of their eyes went straight to me when the door slammed shut behind me. Blushing like crazy, I ducked my head and went up the stairs to my usual seat. When this class first started about two months ago I was seated far away from Gage, but over the last few weeks that had changed. Instead, I was sitting right next to him, at the end of our row. It was nice sitting next to someone, so you didn’t look or feel like a loser with no social skills.
As predicted, Gage was already here and seated comfortably. When I came up the last few steps, he raised an eyebrow at me.
“Someone’s late,” he commented as he moved his legs so I could get by. See? A lot had changed; he wasn’t trying to trip me anymore.
“My stupid alarm didn’t go off,” I grumbled as I fell into my seat next to him.
“You look really tired. Did you get any sleep last night?” Gage asked, turning to face me, a mask of concern on his face. Because I had gotten up late I didn’t have time to hide the horrible bags under my eyes.
“I didn’t, and that is because I had to listen to Macey and Luke going at it late last night.” I made a face as I spoke. Let’s just say it was the worst night of my life; it’d been super long. “I spent most of the night trying to block out the noises with my pillow.”
“Well, that is…”
“Gross, disgusting, horrifying, scary, take your pick,” I said, taking out my English notebook and textbook.
“Those are some good adjectives,” he commented, sending me a grin.
“I try.” I shot him a sarcastic smile just as the professor walked in.
Our conversation ended there, but throughout the lesson I could see from the corner of my eyes Gage looking at me every so often. It almost looked like he had something to say, but he held back. I did try to focus in class, but with a hot guy staring at you, it was near impossible to do so. I was afraid of how I looked since I didn’t put any makeup on and didn’t do my hair. I knew I looked like crap, so that didn’t help the situation as well.
When class finally did end, I immediately turned to Gage to ask him for the information I needed to know. I fired each question off one by one.
“My mom wants to know what kind of food you like. Are you allergic to anything? Don’t like something?” I rattled off as I got my things together.
“I like anything honestly, just not a huge seafood fan. I am allergic to bees, some medicines, and bullshit.” I couldn’t help but laugh at the last one.
“Don’t worry about seafood; my mom hates it too. Okay, it’s good you aren’t allergic to any foods. I’ll tell my mom.”
“What day are we meeting them again?” Gage asked as he stood up and waited for me.
“This Saturday. Is that okay for you?”
“Saturday, it should be.” He shrugged. As I looked into his face, I wanted to know what he was thinking about because I couldn’t read his expression.
“I’ll tell her we are definitely on for then.” Gage just nodded and headed down the stairs, with me trailing after him. He didn’t say anything else as we left the classroom and headed out of the building.
“Hey, are you okay?” I asked, touching his arm. He seemed quieter than normal, which made me think something was up.
“I’m good.” Gage sent me a small smile. “I gotta go to class. I’ll see you after, okay?” Still worried about him, I nodded.
“Yeah.” I watched him walk away wondering what was going on. He seemed a little off. Still worrying about him, I headed to my next class as well.
***
The rest of the week flew by. Classes were picking up and midterms would be here soon—something no one was looking forward to. Gage was still acting kind of weird around me, but it was nothing terrible. He seemed more withdrawn and quiet instead of his usual rude and collected self. I wanted to believe it wasn’t anything to do with me, but that little voice in my head made me think otherwise.
All of us were busy with schoolwork, so we didn’t hang out too much during the week. However, when I did see Luke after we went bowling, he made a comment about Gage. He said: “He isn’t terrible.” His exact words I tell you. So, having all of us go bowling last Saturday had been a good idea.
It was finally Saturday morning, which meant it was the day Gage was going to meet my parents. A day I was dreading, yet excited for. I wasn’t worried that Gage wouldn’t make a good impression; I was just worried that my father would do or say something that would cross the line. My father had the tendency to do that.
We were supposed to head over to my parents’ house around noon. It was only nine, and I was already stressing out on what to wear. I didn’t want to look like I was trying too hard or not hard enough. Of course my parents could not care less, but I didn’t want Gage to think something else. So yes, you could say I was a little stressed about tonight. Okay, “little” might not be the right word; I was more like “extremely nervous.”
I let out a frustrated groan, as I didn’t see anything to wear. I made my way to my bed and flopped down on it. I covered my eyes with my arm, just wanting this day to already pass by. Why, God, why did Amy have to say something about this to my parents? If she hadn’t, none of this would be happening!
“What is all the groaning about?” I heard Macey’s voice as she entered my room. I didn’t even move to look at her.
“Can you go to lunch for me instead?” I asked.
“You make it sound like you are going off to your death.” Even though I couldn’t see her face, I knew she was rolling her eyes at me.
“Might as well be, Mace.” I sat up and looked at her perched on the side of my bed. “There is no way this is going to work out. What if my parents do something that Gage doesn’t like? What if he does something and they ban me from seeing him? What if they realize we are fake dating?” I only paused for a second to catch my breath.
“Wow, you are really overthinking this, aren’t you? Carter, everything will be fine. Your mom will love him no matter what, and your dad will give him the third degree for a while, then he will calm down like he normally does. By the end, your mom will be so in love with Gage and your father will tolerate him. Then you can ride into the sunset.”
“How can you be so sure?” I asked softly, playing with my fingers.
“Because you two were meant to be together.” She put her hand up to stop me from saying anything and continued. “There is just something about you guys that makes me know you were meant for each other. No one can deny this thing you have, and I know soon you guys are going to tell each other your real feelings instead of hiding behind this fake dating thing.”
“How do you know I have feelings for Gage?”
“Car, I know you better than you know yourself. You have clearly fallen for him but won’t admit it to yourself. You keep saying that you guys are fake dating even though you don’t want to be.”
“He won’t feel the same way about me, Mace,” I said sadly.
“You never know unless you try. You never did anything with Ethan; you never told him how you felt and now he is with Amy. You should say something to Gage before it is too late. Sure, you may get hurt, but isn’t that worth it just to know?” I knew she was right. I should say something to him about how I felt. Even if he turned me down, at least I would know how he felt. I didn’t want this to be another Ethan episode, where I never told him how I felt and I had to watch him love someone else. Because I didn’t think I could watch that again.
“So, don’t stress about him meeting your parents, it will work out. Get out of bed and come watch some TV with me before you have to get ready in a little bit.” With a pat on my knee, she stood up and waited for me by the side of my bed.
I sent her a smile and got up. I pulled her into a hug while whispering “thank you” into her ear. Not saying anything, she pulled away and smiled back at me.
“Let’s go watch a little TV before we get you all dressed up.”
***
About an hour or so later, I was sitting in front of Macey’s vanity while she did my hair. I had about forty-five minutes until Gage would be here to pick me up. Mace had taken it upon herself to get me all ready for our lunch with my parents. I was once again glad she was great at this sort of thing so I wouldn’t have to worry about getting ready on top of everything else.
“Gage is not going to be able to keep his hands off of you.” Macey beamed as she moved onto my face to finish it up.
“Don’t make me look slutty or anything because my dad will literally lock me in my old room.” She laughed at that.
“Hasn’t he done that before?”
“Yeah,” I said, rolling my eyes. “I was going out on a date with Quinton when I came out wearing a dress that was ‘too revealing’ in his mind. So, my dad literally shoved me back in my room and didn’t let me come out until I was dressed in loose jeans and a plain t-shirt, along with a baggy sweatshirt.”
“I remember that! You sent me a picture of it and you looked like a hobo.” Macey cackled.
“He seriously made sure that I looked terrible. I was just happy Quinton didn’t dump me right then and there.”
“Mr. Miller sure does know how to make things interesting.”
“More like humiliating,” I muttered.
“Your mom handles him pretty well, though.”
“Yeah, my mom is like the only person to talk him down or to make him let us do stuff. But it is so gross how touchy, lovey they are with each other. I mean, they’ve been married for twenty-something years, and it is gross.” I shivered just thinking of my parents and how they acted around each other.
“It is gross, and my parents are the same way. I think it is their generation or something,” Mace said as she put some lipstick on my lips. “Okay, you are done!” she exclaimed a second later and stepped back. She tapped my arm for me to open my eyes.
When I opened my eyes, I saw she had done a great job at making me look presentable. She covered the dark circles under my eyes, which I had thanks to this crazy week, and the one or two zits that had appeared. My eyes were done in a soft smoky pink-grey color, and the eyeliner was on point. It wasn’t overly done, and I liked that. My cheeks had soft blush on the tops and that was it, nothing extreme. Mace finished the look with light pale pink lipstick that was gorgeous. Yes, my friend was amazing.
My hair was done simply. She had put some light curls in it and only pulled up half of it, to braid it to the back of my head. The soft waves fell down my shoulders, and a few pieces framed my face. All in all, I didn’t look terrible. Now to get dressed before he showed up. We couldn’t be late to my parents’.
“Okay, we need something simple yet cute.”
We were almost making this out to be a date, but it was more important than a date, in my opinion. A girl always thinks about the day her boyfriend meets her family and how it will go. To someone like me, for whom family was everything, it was a big deal that they liked Gage. I guess I was old-fashioned, that I wanted that approval from my parents.
“Here you go. Put these on, but don’t ruin your hair or makeup.” With that, Macey shoved the outfit into my hand and left the room.
I was once again glad that Macey and I were the same size and that I could wear her clothing. I didn’t own anything cute like what she gave me, so it was only logical to borrow her clothes. What she had given me was a gorgeous white dress. It was simple yet so pretty. Thankfully it was warm outside, so I wouldn’t freeze to death.
I pulled the dress on, as well as the green jacket type thing Macey had also given me. At first, I didn’t think it matched, but once it was on and I looked in the mirror, I thought different.
Almost like Mace had a radar, she came into the room right then. She looked me over and nodded her approval. She then went over to closet and grabbed a pair of cute combat boats that I have been wanting to steal from her for forever. Once I had put the shoes on, she grinned.
“Perfect!” I had to admit it as well; I looked good. I was definitely planning on stealing this outfit and never giving it back to her.
“What time is it?” I yelled over my shoulder as I headed back to my own room to grab my bag.
“It’s eleven. When did Gage say he would be here?”
“A little after eleven.” I made sure I had everything in my bag and I was ready to go. With nothing to keep me occupied, my worrying thoughts were coming back as I waited for Gage to show. A small voice in my mind was telling me he wouldn’t come, but I didn’t want to listen to it. He’ll show, I thought fiercely.
A few minutes past eleven, I started to worry Gage would bail. The stupid voice was making me doubt him, but no matter how many times I tried to convince myself that it was only a few minutes, the voice would start back up again.
Right when I really started to worry, the knock on the door finally came. I let out a huge sigh of relief as I got up and went to answer the door. Opening it, I found Gage on the other side running his hands through his hair, almost nervously. I looked over his attire and my mouth went dry.
Gage Harper cleaned up well. Gone were his normal regular t-shirt and jeans, replaced by a light grey dress shirt under a dark blue sweater with the sleeves rolled up. Gone was his ripped jeans and in their place a pair of dark-washed jeans with no holes. His hair was styled back instead of his usual sexy, messy style.
While I was looking him up and down, he was doing the same to me. I actually felt underdressed. I found myself smiling at him. He wanted to look good for my parents; that was so sweet.
“You clean up nicely,” I commented, really liking this look on him.
“Thanks. Dylan said I should look nice and said this worked.” He rubbed the back of his neck nervously. I found it very cute that he was nervous.
“You look really nice. Don’t worry. You will definitely impress my parents looking like that,” I said. I noticed his sleeves were pulled up just enough to hide his tattoos. Probably a good idea.
“You look really pretty, Princess,” Gage said, sending me a soft smile. I almost melted under his gaze. The way he was looking at me made my knees weak.
“Okay, lovebirds, you better get going.” Macey butted in behind me. With a firm push on my back, she basically shoved me out the door.
“You ready to go?” I asked, fixing my bag on my shoulder.
“Yeah.” I could tell from his tone that he was, in fact, nervous. Not really thinking about it, I brought my hand down and laced my fingers through his. With a smile, I tugged him after me.
It didn’t take us long to leave the building and reach the parking lot. I didn’t even get a chance to offer to drive before Gage was already pulling me toward his Jeep. I could tell he was nervous, as he fiddled with the keys before he finally started the car and backed out.
I wasn’t sure what to say as we drove in the direction of my parents’ house. I wasn’t sure if I should say something encouraging to calm his nerves or to not say anything at all. Music played softly in the background, and Gage kept his hand on my thigh the entire time, like I was centering him a little bit.
Thankfully there wasn’t much traffic as we drove. For a Saturday that was surprising. I gave him directions to my parents’. A little bit later, we pulled up in front my parents’ house. The familiar brick of my house was a welcome sight for me, but not so much for Gage. I watched him gulp as he stared at me house.
“Hey.” I touched his arm gently. He turned to look at me, his brown eyes on me. “I’m nervous too, but it will be okay. My parents are going to like you, I promise. But fair warning: my dad will interrogate you, but just answer him and that should be it.”
“Your father isn’t huge, is he?” he asked. I couldn’t help but laugh softly.
“Not necessarily,” I said even though he was a bigger guy, or at least bigger than Gage.
“Great, that was a big help,” Gage muttered sarcastically.
“You’re welcome.” I grinned at him.
“This is the first time I have ever met a girl’s parents before,” he admitted as he stared up at the house.
“Don’t worry, you will be great.” I squeezed his hand and sent him an encouraging smile. “We better go before my mom starts to peek through the window at us,” I said before I untangled my hand from his to unbuckle my seatbelt and to get out of the car.
When we came around the car, I once again grabbed his hand. I gave him another smile, and we started for the front door. Gage’s grip on my hand tightened the closer we got, and I knew what he was feeling. I was just silently praying this afternoon went by fast and painless. If someone was up there listening, now would be the time to do some good.
“If you don’t want to be here anymore, just let me know and we can go, okay?” I said, looking up at him from his side.
“Okay, thank you.” He sent me a smile back. Just as I reached for the doorknob, I realized something.
“You aren’t scared of dogs, are you?” I asked quickly.
“No, why?”
“We have a family dog named Sam. I may have forgotten to mention him before.”
“It is okay. I’m cool with dogs.” With a nod, I took a deep breath and opened the door.
Thank goodness that when we entered we weren’t attacked by my mother. As I glanced around, I was relieved to see there wasn’t a banner up above us like with Macey and Luke, or that Aunt Kay and Uncle Nick were here as well. It would be even more awkward if anyone else were to have lunch with us. I had to tell Luke to stay away today and not to come over. It would just make things worse.
Not seeing anyone else, I tugged Gage deeper into the house and yelled out my mom’s name.
“Mom? Dad? We are here!” I yelled. Just as I finished I heard the familiar sound of nails on the hardwood floor. I saw our dog, Sam, running toward us. I dropped Gage’s hand and kneeled down to greet him. Even though I saw him last week, I had missed him so much. I was a huge dog lover and that meant I was that annoying person who would gravitate toward the dog first before saying anything to the owner. Like if there were a dog at a party, I would instantly find it and be there all night long.
“Sammy!” I giggled as he licked all over my face, getting me all nice and slobbery. Once I was all good and loved up, he moved onto Gage. He took a minute to sniff all around him before Gage kneeled down as well, and Sam went to town on kissing his face. I grinned as I watched Gage scratch the back of Sam’s ear, and he smiled. There was nothing better in my opinion than a guy and a dog. It just instantly made a boy ten times hotter.
“Someone likes you,” I heard a voice say a few minutes later. In walked my mom, coming from the kitchen. She was wiping her hands off on a towel as she headed in our direction. As usual, my mom looked very pretty. Her dark brown hair, similar to mine, was up in a messy ponytail. She had some makeup on, but since my father liked her without any, she hardly ever wore it unless we went to an event somewhere. She was wearing a pair of blue skinny jeans and a cute blouse. To me, she screamed “Mom,” but I could see why others all called her beautiful.
“Hey Mom,” I said as she pulled me into a hug. I hugged her back for a second before I pulled out of it and turned to Gage.
“Mom, this is Gage Harper. Gage, this is my mom, Layla Miller.” While my mom was hugging me, he had straightened up and was smoothing out his shirt.
“Nice to meet you, Mrs. Miller.” He went to shake her hand, but in true fashion for my family, she pulled him into a hug. Just like me, she only reached his shoulder.
“Call me Layla, please,” Mom said as she pulled away, a bright smile on her face. “Welcome, by the way. It is great to finally meet you.”
“It is nice to meet you too. Carter talks about you guys a lot.”
“Only good things I hope.” My mom chuckled.
“Where’s Dad?” I asked, looking around for him.
“He had some last-minute things to do for work, so he is up in the study. Why don’t you go get him for lunch while I show Gage here around a little bit?” Mom offered.
“Uh, you alone with him, Mom?” I asked, my blue eyes widening a little. I had no clue what my mother would say to Gage when they are alone.
“Yes, I won’t bite, honey.” She waved me off. “Go grab your father so we can eat. Come with me, Gage, I’ll show you the kitchen.” I stood there watching as they passed. When Gage passed me, he softly touched my hand before he followed after my mom. With them occupied, I headed up the stairs to my father’s study to get him for lunch.
As I went up the stairs, I realized how much I missed this house. It had only been a few months since I moved out, but it has felt like years since I was last here. When I reached the study, I knocked softly before opening the door and peeking my head inside.
“Dad?” I called.
“Sweetie, you are here,” my dad said as I stepped fully into the room, the door opening all the way behind me. “I didn’t hear you guys come in.” He came around the desk and pulled me into a hug. I hugged his sturdy frame back.
“Mom told me to come get you for lunch,” I said once I had pulled away.
“Is this Gage Harper downstairs with your mother?” my dad asked as he shut down what he was doing on the computer and coming back around to me.
“Yeah, he is, but, Dad, please be good. I don’t want you to scare him off.”
“Why would I scare him off?” Dad asked, raising an eyebrow down at me. I sent him a look.
“I know you. You are going to interrogate him and try to scare him using your whole business demeanor.” I waved my hand to get my point across.
“As your father it is my duty to make sure the young man doesn’t get scared easy.” I rolled my eyes at that. Yeah, that was what he liked to say.
“Yeah, right,” I muttered as we came down the stairs. Before we reached the kitchen, I stopped him. “But seriously, Dad, get to know him before you judge.” I looked up into my father’s blue eyes—the ones I inherited. I even used my puppy-dog eyes to help; my dad could never say no to those.
“I will, honey. I promise.” He smiled at me. Knowing he would stick to his word, I nodded and smiled back.
Entering the kitchen, we found my mom pointing to our backyard talking to Gage, Sam at their feet wanting to be involved with someone new. My dad cleared his throat to get my mom’s attention, as well as Gage’s. I quickly went around my father to go stand by Gage before I introduced them, my dad right behind me. At least my father wasn’t dressed to the nines today. Instead, he was just dressed in a nice dress shirt and a pair of jeans, almost similar to Gage. His outfit must have been something my mom told him to wear instead of his normal suit, which would have made him seem scarier than he actually was.
“Dad, this is Gage Harper. Gage, this is my father, Ashton Miller.” I gestured between them. Unlike my mom, my father put his hand out for Gage to shake. I watched as they shook and paid attention to the pressure both guys were using. I didn’t see Gage wince, so that was a good thing. Their shake didn’t last long, but I did notice a raised eyebrow from my father as he let go of Gage’s hand. I had no clue what that was about.
“It is nice to meet you, Mr. Miller,” Gage greeted with a nod. I noticed he had squared his shoulders a little and was trying to hide his nervousness.
“Nice to meet you as well, Mr. Harper.” It was awkward for a moment before my mom stepped in.
“How about we eat? You kids hungry?”
“That is a good idea, Mom,” I rushed to say. Gage just nodded, and my father stared at him.
“Ashton, come help me with the plates,” Mom all but demanded of my father. Looking at Gage for another second, he finally turned to help my mother. I sent Gage a small smile, which he returned. It calmed some of my fears a little.
It didn’t take long for all the stuff for lunch to be at the table and for us to be seated. Me and Gage were on one side, while my parents were across from us. In front of us was a bowl of spaghetti with my mom’s homemade marinara sauce, in another bowl was a salad mix with tons of different dressings to one side, and a plate full of garlic bread was in front of us as well, along with some cheese to put on the spaghetti. It all looked really good, and having been too nervous to eat this morning, I was starving.
We all dug in, and only when we had food on our plates did my parents finally break the silence. I was just hoping they wouldn’t fire question after question at us.
“So…how did you two meet?” my mom asked first. I quickly swallowed the bread in my mouth before answering.
“We have an English class together on Monday, so on the first day I ended up sitting next to him,” I said, not mentioning how we truly met the first time. We had already discussed that we shouldn’t say that to my parents. I mean, would you tell your parents that you met your “boyfriend” as you went to pick your drunk friend up from a party, and invited him home to clean up his bleeding face. Yeah, I didn’t think so.
“She sat right beside me even though there was an entire empty row,” Gage added. “I wasn’t really social with her at first, but she broke down those walls pretty quickly.” He smiled over at me.
“That sounds sweet,” my mom commented, grinning across from us.
“How old are you, Gage?” my father asked then, basically already ploughing ahead with the personal questions.
“I am twenty, sir,” Gage replied, looking right at him. It was like he was telling my father he wasn’t that afraid of him.
“Isn’t that a little old to be dating an eighteen-year-old?”
I butted in. “Dad, that is two years’ difference. You and Mom are farther apart than that in age.”
“And you are a sophomore in college? Shouldn’t you be a junior?”
“I was held back a year, sir,” Gage said. Something I didn’t even know.
“Why was that?” my dad asked looking right at him, not even touching his food.
“I had some…family issues that got in the way, so I redid a year.”
“What family issues?”
“Dad!” I gasped. “He doesn’t need to tell you that.” Even my mom looked at my father with a raised eyebrow. He was being really straightforward today. Gage didn’t need to answer that question, especially right off the bat.
“Carter, it is okay.” Gage placed a hand on my knee and squeezed gently. “I was fourteen when my mother passed away, so I ended up living with my grandma. It was tough, so she let me mourn before going back to school. I ended up missing too much and had to retake eighth grade,” he explained.
I stared at him in total surprise. He had never told me his mother passed away. I mean, he never talked about her, but I just thought it was because we weren’t really that close. When he invited me over to his grandma’s, I didn’t really think too much of it at the time. But now it made sense why he was so close with his grandma.
“I am so sorry about your mom,” Mom said, a sad expression on her face.
“It is okay. It was a long time ago.” Even though he smiled, I could see it still pained him to think about. I couldn’t even imagine losing my mom; it would be absolutely terrible.
My father seemed okay with that answer and dropped asking any questions for a little bit. We ate in silence, bringing up some conversation every once in a while, so it wasn’t too awkward. Gage was being the perfect gentleman. He praised my mother’s cooking, which she loved. He was present in the conversation and did everything you wanted a guy to do when he met your parents.
Through lunch my parents still asked him questions about his life, what he wanted to do after college, what he was studying, if he had any plans already set for when he graduated. They asked everything under the moon and Gage gracefully answered them all. When they asked when we started dating, we answered just as we said we would.
We came up with a little story earlier during the week, for when they asked. We couldn’t say it was fake, but we had to have some sort of story. We did try to keep it close to what did happen, but make it real. So, we said we went to get ice cream after classes one day and while we were there, Gage asked me to be his girlfriend. It wasn’t a lie; it just wasn’t the full truth either.
During lunch I had learned a lot more about Gage. Besides finding out about his mom, I learned he planned on doing something with math after college, although he wasn’t sure what exactly. He planned on staying here in New York to watch over his grandma and help her.
Everything I learned about him made me like him even more. Seeing another side to him was different and refreshing. It was very open and honest, which I liked. Even when I talked, I noticed he would listen to every word I said, and that he would steal glances at me when it was obvious he thought I wasn’t paying attention. His hand was always on my thigh, warm against my bare skin. It was a comfort, and I could easily grab it when we talked. It was just so natural to have him here with my parents, and with me.
It was after dessert was done that my father decided it was time to interrogate Gage, but alone. I knew this bit. He would take Gage up into his study and do what he did for about twenty minutes, then they would come back down and act like nothing happened. Sure, this only happened once to me for a boyfriend, but my father had done it a few times before: when I got asked to homecoming by a guy on the football team, or to prom. He would take the guy upstairs to have a chat and return later with them looking like they wanted to shit themselves.
When the two of them walked away I watched them nervously, biting my bottom lip. Oh, how I wished to be a fly on the wall upstairs and hear what they were talking about. A touch on my arm jerked me out of my thoughts and back to my mom.
“Mind helping me with these dishes?”
“Nope.” I shook my head as I helped her grab our dirty dishes and bowls, to bring them to the sink. Mom washed while I dried, just like old times.
“Gage is pretty great,” my mom commented after a few moments.
“Yeah, he is.” I smiled down as I put a plate in the dishwasher. Just thinking about Gage brought a smile to my face.
“I can tell you are really smitten with him.” She looked over at me. I blushed under her stare. She was right: I was smitten—maybe even more than smitten, honestly. Just being around him made me feel good.
“I really like him, Mom,” I admitted.
“And that is good. Can you tell me why, though?” I paused in my drying and looked at her confused.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Why you like him is an important question you need to ask yourself. If the answer is because he is sweet and cute, that really isn’t enough to make a serious relationship.” She turned off the water and faced me, leaning her hip against the counter. “I want you to give me a real reason why you like him.”
“A reason why I like him,” I echoed.
“If you can’t answer that, then you may need to rethink your feelings. I just want you to think about it for a minute. Can you truly give me one reason why?” She looked at me expectantly.
As I thought about her words, I nodded. I could give her a million reasons why. I could tell her that I loved the way his eyes sparkled when he saw or did something he loved. I could tell her that I loved the way he tried hard in school but wouldn’t care to admit it to anyone. I could tell her he made me very angry at times, but that I loved when he pushed my buttons. But I didn’t tell her that. Instead, I simply told her, “He makes me feel like I actually mean something.”