Tell Me It's Real(74)

“Is he coming here?” Sandy asked.

I shook my head. “He’s supposed to meet us at Nana’s house.”

“Just take it easy on him, okay?”

“You sure you don’t want to go? I could use a little help with this. I feel like I’m going to open my mouth and say the wrong thing. Which, to be honest, isn’t really a new thing for me. This just seems like it’s worse, though.”

“I gotta get ready for the show tonight, baby doll. You’ll be fine. The best thing for you to do is to be a supportive partner and let him come to you with this.”

I snorted. “Partner. Jesus Christ. This has been the weirdest week of my life.”

Sandy grinned at me. “You told him about your parents yet?”

“No! And I’ve already warned them to keep their mouths shut! I don’t need him finding out that Mom and Dad got married a week after they met. That’ll put ideas into his head that I don’t want to be in there. For fuck’s sake, he’s already told me he’s halfway in love with me. I am not going to end up like my parents.”

“You mean having a loving marriage thirty-five years later? Yes, Paul. That sounds freaking awful. I don’t know how you’d survive. The social ramifications alone would destroy you.”

“You know what I meant,” I said with a scowl.

“Apparently I don’t. Maybe you should try and beat their time instead. You’ve still got a few hours left.”

I gaped at him. “You… crazy… the fuck you talking about… I don’t even….”

He squeezed my hand tightly. “Breathe, Paul. Just take a breath.”

“Yeah, that’s exactly what I need. Getting married would solve all our problems.”

“And what, might I ask, do you and Vince have problems over?”

I opened my mouth to speak… and nothing came out. Not a single damn thing. I couldn’t think of a fucking thing. “Oh shit,” I whispered.

“Sounds like a little bit of love to me,” Sandy said, laughing.

“Or it could just be the first week of a relationship,” I snapped at him, trying to calm my thundering heartbeat. “It’s called the honeymoon phase. There shouldn’t be any problems at this point. That’d be a problem itself if there was.”

Sandy’s eyes flashed and Helena came forward. “I know you think sometimes that you don’t deserve to be happy. I’ve done my best to try and make you see otherwise, to show you that you’re fine just the way you are. But I can only do so much. Vince can only do so much. You have to do the rest yourself. And I swear on everything that I have that if you fuck this up because of some misplaced sense of pride, I will never let you forget it. You do not get to let Vince walk away from you. You do not get to push him away. You get me?”

“I get you,” I said, even though I was more worried then about what I’d do to fuck it up.

“Give me a kiss, sugar,” Helena purred. I did. “I’ll see you tonight, okay? You tell that fabulous boyfriend of yours that he may come up to the dressing room with you when you arrive.”

I was shocked. Helena never let anyone else up into the room aside from Charlie and me. Even the bar owner, Mike, had to steer clear or face Helena’s wrath. The fact that Vince had already shot past so many people’s defenses was knocking me off-center.

“You sure?” I asked, starting to sweat a bit.

“Positive,” she said with a grin. She threw her car into reverse. “Kisses,” she said. And then she was gone.





ON THE drive over to Nana’s house, I debated whether to tell my parents about Vince’s mom and dad, but in the end, I decided not to. I didn’t want anything to be said until I could talk to Vince on my own, and I didn’t want him to be uncomfortable, especially given how uncomfortable this situation was already going to be. I had tried to warn him that Nana could be pretty… blunt, but I didn’t think he was taking my warnings seriously, especially after meeting my parents and practically worshipping the ground they walked on. I felt a bit guilty after thinking that, given what I knew now about his own parents. I knew Mom and Dad liked him quite a bit, even after just one short meeting, but I didn’t want that to turn to pity if Vince didn’t need it.

Of course, best-laid plans and all that.

“You ride a bike over here, son?” Dad asked as he opened the door at Nana’s house.

I pushed past him, wheeling the bike inside. “No. It’s….” Shit, I haven’t told them I hit Vince with my car. “It’s a… present. For Vince.”