Nick had never spoken to her like that in his life. Even when she made it obvious she wasn’t fond of Jill (though not quite as boldly as she did with Bryce), Nick tried to keep the peace. He wouldn’t do that anymore.

“I’m with him, no matter how you feel about it. I’d like your support, but if you can’t respect Bryce, I won’t come back over until you can.”

Bryce started, “Nick—”

“No. That’s how I feel about it.” He looked at his mom. Her eyes filled with tears as her hand shook while holding the back of the chair.

“Your father would be turning over in his grave if he heard you speak to me like this. If he knew you were...doing whatever it is you’re doing with that man. This would kill your father, and I refuse to accept what I know he wouldn’t have been able to.”

Nick’s stomach dropped. He’d hoped that she would surprise him, that she would accept this, but he saw now that she wouldn’t.

“You’re my only son, and I love you. I know you’ll come to your senses. I know you’ll see this isn’t you. I will never stop loving you, Nicholas, but I can’t accept this, either.”

She looked at Bryce. “I’m asking you nicely not to come back with him. He’s my son, and this is my home. I deserve that. You two can continue to do whatever you’re doing, but I don’t want to see it. I don’t want to hear about it. I don’t want to know you even exist in my son’s life.” She turned to Nick. “You’re my son. My baby. I won’t lose you. I won’t walk away from you, but I’m still your mother, and I deserve your respect. If you love me at all, pretend he’s not in your life when you’re in my house, or your sister’s houses. I want my son, my Nick, but I don’t want to know anything about him.” And then she added, more softly, “I don’t want to lose my boy.”

Nick closed his eyes, pain ricocheting around in his chest. She sounded broken. Lost and broken. He knew she loved him. But he couldn’t do that to Bryce, either. It wasn’t right. Nick opened his mouth to tell her no, that he couldn’t accept that, but Bryce’s hand squeezing his leg stopped him. It was Bryce who spoke. “Yes, ma’am. We can respect that.”

His mom turned and walked away.

“Bryce—”

“It’s what she needs. She has a right to make that request. I don’t have a right to push myself into her life. You want me in yours, I’m here. She’s your mom, Nick. I know you. It’ll fucking kill you to lose her. It’ll kill us. We can do this. It’s not a big deal. It’s no different than the way we’ve been living, anyway.”

For the second time in the last minute, someone Nick loved walked away from him.

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

Nick was pissed off.

He was beyond pissed—at his mom, at Bryce, at himself. What was the big deal? He didn’t fucking get it. Why did everyone act like he and Bryce were committing this huge fucking crime by being together?

And why the hell had Bryce accepted what his mother had said? That wasn’t the Bryce he knew.

Nick didn’t think he could do what his mom asked, and what Bryce seemed to be okay with. He was one hundred percent in, or one hundred percent out. That’s the way he worked, and he thought that was the way Bryce worked as well.

“Maybe we should take the night to be by ourselves,” Bryce said when they pulled into Nick’s driveway.

“Excuse me?”

“We’ve been through a lot. Don’t tell me you don’t have a lot of shit on your mind, Nick. If we’re not working, we’re together. We’ve basically been living with each other since the start of our relationship—a relationship that’s a big fucking deal for both of us, for a number of reasons. It’s only been a couple of months, and...” he shook his head. “I’m just saying that it’s a lot. Maybe we need some breathing room.”

He guessed there was his answer. Bryce was ready to throw in the towel. He’d just fucking told his mom that he was in a relationship with a man, and now Bryce was asking for space. “Yeah, sure. Whatever you say.”

“Nick, I don’t—”

Bryce reached for him, but Nick pulled his arm away. What the hell was Bryce’s problem? He couldn’t believe they’d spent the weekend dealing with their families only for him to ask for space now. “You want space, you got it. You say this is too much, I agree. My last relationship was a hell of a lot of work. Jumping into another one was a bad idea.”