“I’ll have Miles take care of it. We’ll get it all shipped down.”
My stomach flip-flopped. “I don’t think that’s such a good idea, getting Miles involved.”
Ryan gave a grim smile. “He still works for me, too, you know.”
“But – I need to talk to my landlord – sign papers – ”
“I’ll have Miles take care of it.”
“But I still have three months left on the lease.”
“Not a problem.”
“But… that’s, like, over three thousand dollars…”
As soon as I said it – and realized who I was saying it to – I felt incredibly foolish.
Mr. Multi-Millionaire Rock Star Bassist raised one eyebrow. “Kaitlyn?”
“…yeah?”
“We’ll make it work.”
“Okay…”
“Trust me, everything’ll be fine.”
“Okay,” I said, and smiled weakly before I left the room.
62
Holy shit.
Five minutes ago, I’d gone into the studio to set up separate trips to Athens and Savannah.
And now I was giving up my New York apartment, moving in with Ryan, and taking him to see my parents.
HOLY SHIT.
Part of me hoped that my mom wouldn’t go for an extra visitor, but I knew that was about as likely as seeing a unicorn out in the pastures.
I hit ‘Call Back’ on my phone. It rang a couple of times before she answered.
“Hi, honey!”
“Hey, Mom.”
“Did you book your flight?”
“Um, not yet… Mom?”
“Yes?”
“I’m, uh, sort of dating this guy…”
“Oh, that’s wonderful! How long has this been going on?”
“Well… only a couple of weeks… but I’ve kind of known him for four years… off and on.”
“Really! Well, that’s so nice, I’m so happy to hear that.”
“Anyway, we’re… sort of… on vacation together.”
“That’s great! Are you having a good time?”
My mom wasn’t fazed at all by my being on vacation with some guy I’d only been dating two weeks. Remember, she was also the one who had told me in college to always remember to use a condom.
All I could think of was
Thank God my dad isn’t on the phone.
“Yes… we’re having a very nice time.”
“Oh, well, if you don’t want to cut short your vacation, I can understand that. You can just come home whenever it’s convenient for you. Don’t worry about Tim, he’ll see you at Christmas.”
Tim was my younger brother, and was in his senior year at Georgia Tech.
“No, no, that’s not what I meant… I, uh… would you care if I brought him along?”
“Your boyfriend? Of course you can! We’d love to have him.”
I started to say,
He’s not my –
but then I caught myself.
You’re moving in with him.
You’re leaving New York to be with him.
Are you really going to insist he’s not your boyfriend?
“Okay… great… we’ll book our flight and I’ll get back to you soon.”
“Wonderful! I’m so looking forward to meeting him! What’s his name?”
I almost said ‘Derek.’
I swear, I actually started to form the sound ‘D’ with my lips before I stopped myself.
What the fuck was THAT?!
Stupid.
Stupid!
“Ryan,” I said. “His name is Ryan.”
“Wonderful! Well, we’ll be so happy to have him come stay with us.”
“Okay… thanks, Mom…”
“Alright – talk to you later, honey! And tell Ryan hello for us!”
“Okay…”
“Love you! Bye-bye!”
“Love you, too… bye…”
Oh my God
Oh my God
Oh my God
Why the hell did I almost say ‘Derek’?!
It took me another 15 minutes to calm down.
The cherry on the sundae was my brother Tim called me minutes afterward.
“What’s this about you bringing a guy home?”
he demanded.