She was nice, but she wouldn’t work.
He took a deep breath and picked up the phone, hitting line two. “Hi, Mom.”
“Don’t you ‘hi mom’ me like you’re so innocent. My babies are all falling in love and no one calls me?” Her voice was crisp, and he was right back to feeling like a kid.
“The guys said they called you.”
Had she found out about him? Bryce wasn’t sure what to tell her, so he’d hoped to stay under the radar for a little longer. He was past the point of fooling himself. He knew it was serious. His date with Oliver later in the evening was proof of that. He just wasn’t sure what to call it.
Hi Mom, here are my lovers…
Hi Mom, meet my boyfriends…
HI Mom, meet my Dom and our sub…
Hi Mom, meet my friends…
The last option had him cringing. Luckily, she charged on, stopping his mental gymnastics. “I called Garrett twice this week from crazy places and where is he? At Wyatt’s house. But all I’m getting is vague talk about getting serious and talking things out. Is he living with that boy without a collaring ceremony?”
“Um…” Bryce was going to play dumb with this one. He wasn’t sure what she’d been told, and he wasn’t going to be the one to tell her anything. He didn’t even know what Garrett was doing, so he wasn’t exactly lying. “I don’t think so.”
“We raised you boys better than that. When a Dom gets serious about a submissive, he or she has certain responsibilities. And that sweet boy shouldn’t be letting Garrett get away with taking advantage of him. I’m going to—”
Bryce had to jump in. “Wyatt’s thoughtful, but he wouldn’t let Garrett talk him into anything that…” He wasn’t sure what to say. He felt like he was having a 1950s-type discussion about a BDSM relationship. “I’m sure they’re making good choices.”
“How good? Do you know what they’re doing? If I find out he’s collared that sweet boy before I get home I’ll—”
“I haven’t heard anything like that.” Wyatt and Garrett had been acting odd, though nothing he had to define, so he thought he was in the clear. Besides, Garrett would know better than to do something while she was out of the country.
“I’m starting to think I need to come home sooner than I’d planned.” Her voice was thick with suspicion. She always had a sixth sense when they were up to something, and the way he figured, serious new relationships probably counted.
“Won’t they miss you?” She’d planned the trip and organized just about all of it.
“No. I think they’ll manage. Gerald will keep everyone in line. He’s good with managing people.” There was a quality to her voice that he hadn’t heard in a long time, but he didn’t want to know what it meant.
“That’s good, but I don’t want you to miss out on…Greece?”
“That was last week.” She clucked her tongue. “I could disappear and my children wouldn’t even know where I was supposed to be.”
“I was close.”
“No, you weren’t. I’ll resend you my itinerary. I should do that for all of you.” She was going to start micromanaging their calendars again if he couldn’t get her distracted.
“Grant met someone. He’s dating Carter.”
His mother sighed dramatically. “Yes, I had to hear that from Wyatt first and not Grant, but when I called Grant, he sounded very happy. I can’t wait to meet his young man. All my boys are falling in love. Brent and Calen finally stopped dancing around each other, which is a relief. I thought I was going to have to intervene with them when I got back.”
It seemed like a safer topic, so Bryce jumped on it. “They seem happy. Something seemed to be holding Calen back, but they’ve sorted it out.”
“Now we just have to get you sorted out. I met a very nice young man when I was in Germany. He’s a bit shy, but I think—”
“I don’t need you to set me up.”
“So you’ve met someone?”
Shit. He’d fallen for it. It was like high school all over again. “Mom, give me some space.”
She made a disapproving sound. “When I give you boys too much space it turns out like cooking. You never figure it out on your own. You do better with someone to manage you. Take-out works for dinner, but not really well for sex. At least, not without getting arrested or a disease.”
