Adam raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Really?”
“Yes. I’ve been gone longer than I intended. I never meant to abandon you, and the project is in its final stages. They can cope without me.”
“But you love Paris,” Adam said.
Under the counter, Jared knocked his knee against Adam’s in what he hoped was familiar reassurance. Adam knocked his knee back.
“And Paris isn’t going anywhere. Plus, I’ve heard all sorts of tales of mischief that you’ve been up to while I’ve been away. You clearly still need your mother around.”
“Mom,” Adam whined again. She grinned.
“I’ve arranged to go for cocktails with Ms. Saunders so we can fully catch each other up on what’s been going on around here.”
“You know Hadley?” Jared said, interrupting.
“Of course, dear,” Juliette said with a perfectly cat-like grin. “She’s a fellow New Harbor rebel. How could I not know her?”
“I’ve got a feeling this won’t end well for us,” Jared stage-whispered to Adam, making Juliette laugh.
“You two make a lovely couple,” she told them. “I do hope things work out for you.”
Jared watched with amusement as Adam’s cheeks flooded with color.
One of the first things Adam’s mom did when she came home was to dismiss the housekeeping. Even without the familiar sounds of movement through the house, it seemed warmer somehow, more full of life as Juliette took charge of her home once again.
Adam and Jared disappeared after breakfast to change, and Jared took a few moments to thoroughly kiss his boyfriend before pocketing the keys to his truck.
“I’ll see you soon,” he said, kissing Adam again for good measure.
“You don’t have to leave.”
“I know. But you haven’t seen your mom in ages, and you should spend some time with her. It’ll be good for the both of you.”
“Love you,” Adam murmured. They were still unfamiliar words, rarely spoken.
“Love you too. See you later.”
Later turned out to be much later. Although Adam called late that night to talk for a few minutes before they went to bed, they didn’t catch up with each other again until Tuesday in school. Juliette had yanked her son out of school on Monday, calling the administration team and telling them she was taking him to the doctor for reasons she wouldn’t discuss. Adam sent Jared a text and said they spent the whole day shopping in Seattle, then drove out to the coast for dinner.
Tuesday nights meant extra study sessions, so he didn’t get to see Adam that evening, and by Wednesday he was starting to feel a strange sort of jealousy towards his boyfriend’s mother for taking him away.
“Mom invited you and Hadley to dinner on Friday night,” Adam said as they walked the hallways of Harbor Academy on Thursday. “Hadley has already accepted, so you might as well.”
Jared laughed once. “Yeah, okay. Do I need to dress up?”
“If you want,” Adam said with a shrug. “I think it’s only the four of us, so you don’t need to go overboard.”
“Okay,” he said and kissed Adam’s temple before splitting off to go to his class.
Juliette had said the dinner party would be a quiet evening for parents, guardians, and young lovers to get to know each other a little better. Jared had wondered how on earth the compassionate, funny woman was Adam’s mother. She seemed far too sensible to have birthed such an erratic son.
Still, there was no denying the two of them were lovers. Hadley certainly knew, so he didn’t have a ready excuse to get out of the big family dinner. Also, Adam didn’t seem opposed to the idea, so Jared decided to go with it.
They had gone their own ways after school on Friday, parting with only a brief kiss and a “see you later.” Jared wondered if he could ask Adam what he should wear, then decided he would almost certainly be made fun of if he did, so he wasn’t going to bother.
After finishing his homework for the weekend, Jared dragged himself into the shower and stood under the hot spray for as long as possible. He ran his hand over his jaw, decided he could get away with not shaving again, and went back to his room to stand in front of his open closet and pout at what was there.
He still had the white striped shirt from the white party which was nice, but Adam had seen him in it. Plus, white and the danger of spilling things made him wary. In the end, with the clock ticking down, he pulled out a dark red button-down Oxford shirt his grandma had bought him for Christmas and paired it with dark jeans. He used unscented deodorant, a habit he’d picked up when living in dorms with other teenage boys. The last thing he wanted was to smell like a teenage boy.
Instead, he slicked a tiny amount of expensive cologne on his throat and styled his hair with something he’d found in Adam’s bathroom. The small black pot contained a goo that was perfect for mussing his hair, and he’d used it for a few days before deciding to invest in his own. After one trip to three different drugstores and a supermarket, he gave in and called Adam to ask where he’d got it. Adam had laughed down the phone, then said it was only available online. He gave Jared the website, and they hadn’t mentioned it again, although Adam had taken to rubbing his cheek over Jared’s head, and Jared thought he liked the smell of it.
Sneakers were too casual and shoes too much like what he wore to school, so Jared pulled on his boots, thinking Chris would approve, and grinned to himself.
“Jared!” Hadley called up the stairs. “Are you ready? We’re going to be late.”
“Coming,” he called back, and checked his reflection in the full-length mirror before grabbing his phone and wallet—habit, now—and jogging lightly down the stairs.
“You look nice,” Hadley said,
