by Amanda Kay
Bryson had told me tonight would be a night I would never forget, and I wanted to feel excited about that prospect, but instead, my nerves were slowly getting the better of me. It was my birthday, and I hadn’t celebrated it since the year my grandpa died. The year I turned thirteen. The year my life changed.
Now, I was seventeen. I was in my junior year of high school. I had a boyfriend who was not only the love of my life but also my best friend. I could trust him with the depths of my heart, soul, and mind, and I could feel safe in knowing he’d never judge me.
I had my mom back, and Mark was gone. Well, not gone, not yet at least. He had made bail, but one of the conditions of his release was that he not come anywhere near my mom and me. However, lately, I have noticed his car parked near the school or driving up and down the street. Mom and I had moved back into our house. It took some time, and I was grateful Bryson was so close by, because when I couldn’t sleep, I would call him, and we would leave the phone on all night while we slept. It provided me with a comfort I desperately needed, and Bryson seemed to always understand that.
“Are you ready?” Mom asked, looking into my room.
“I don’t know what to expect,” I admitted.
“I think he just wants you to feel special.”
“He makes me feel like that every day, though.” He didn’t need to do anything other than be him for me to feel special.
“Well, that’s the joys of love,” she sighed and looked down, and I wondered if she was thinking about Mark and the love that must have been there at one time for them both. She looked up and studied me as if trying to read my thoughts. “He never loved me.”
“What?” I knew the shock was all over my face.
“It took me a long time to accept that, but I now know that he never loved me. Even if your grandpa hadn’t died, I think he had always planned to manipulate me. Grandpa’s death just gave him an easy in.”
“I’m sorry, Mom.” She shook her head and pulled me to her.
“Don’t apologize, Caiden, you’ve done nothing wrong. I’m sorry for not being able to see that sooner.” I squeezed my mom tight. I was so glad to have her back in my corner. The doorbell rang, breaking our moment.
“That’s probably Bryson,” I whispered.
She smiled at me and brushed her hands along my shirt. “Have fun.”
I kissed her cheek and trotted down the stairs, the nerves I had been feeling suddenly gone as the excitement overtook them.
BRYSON
Once we were in the car and on our way to the surprise party I had planned, I broached the subject that plagued me since the moment I learned Caiden’s birthday was the same day as Corbin’s. “I need to tell you something,” I swallowed, and I instantly felt a concerned look cross his face.
“Is everything okay?” I nodded and pulled us into the parking lot of the restaurant.
Once parked, I looked over at him. “I love you. I wanted this day to be special, but I haven’t been honest with you.”
“What’s going on, Bryson? You’re scaring me.”
That was the last thing I wanted to do. I took his hands in mine, and lightly kissed his lips. “I don’t want to scare you,” I exhaled. “I love you.” I repeated. Why was this so hard for me?
“Are you breaking up with me?” he asked on a tremble.
I squeezed his hands and fiercely shook my head, “No!” I took a steadying breath. “Today is Corbin’s birthday too,” I finally got out.
Caiden sat quiet for longer than I wanted him too, but then he spoke, “You were worried about telling me.” I nodded because it was the only response I had. “You miss him. I know you do. But I also know you love me.”
“So much, Caiden.”
“I wish you had told me sooner. I don’t like when we keep things from each other,” he admitted, and I hated that I had put that sadness in his voice. One more secret to share, but this would be a fun secret.
“I’m sorry, but I’ve kept something else from you too.”
“Seriously, Bryson?!” This time his voice had an annoyed tone in it.
I shrugged. “Come on and I’ll show you.” I got out of the car, and he followed.
When I took his hand, I could feel his hostility; I took a breath and walked toward the restaurant. Pulling open the door, I allowed him to step inside first.
“SURPRISE!” the crowd shouted. Our friends, our families, our world, all there to help me give Caiden the best damn birthday I could.
He looked back at me, tears in his eyes. A smile on his face. That genuine smile that sent my heart spiraling out of control. His hands cupped my face. “I love you,” he whispered before kissing me hard in front of everyone. The whistles began, and he pulled away laughing. “Thank you.”
I squeezed him tight. “Happy birthday.”
Chapter 31
Senior Prom
CAIDEN
I was all sorts of nervous; Bryson and I had decided that tonight was going to be our night. My phone pinged, and I smiled as Bryson’s name flashed across the screen. He always seemed to know when he was needed, and that made my heart soar.
BRYSON: Call me.
The brief text alerted me, and my heart sped up. My thoughts began to run a million miles an hour.
“Hey, Caiden,” he answered on a sigh.
Was he okay? Was he canceling on me? Was he about to break up with me? My emotions ran wild. “Everything all right, Bry?” I tried to keep my voice calm, but it cracked when I uttered his name.
“Honestly?” he asked, and I was put on higher alert. Honesty had become something we lived and died by. And if one of us was struggling to tell the other something, we had started to ask, Honestly? I don’t know why it helped but helped it did.
I placed my free hand against my heart and replied in our usual response for this situation. “Honestly, I’m here. You can tell me anything.”
“I’m nervous,” he admitted, and I exhaled. I could handle nervous. Hell, he wasn’t alone in his nerves.
“Me too.”
“Should we just come home after prom then?” I shook my head.
“Don’t shake your head, and if you do, at least answer me verbally.”
I laughed. “How do you know I am?”
“Window.”
I turned and faced my window, and he waved.
“I want to spend the night with you. I’m nervous, but I know I want this.” I hoped I sounded convincing, but I was confident my emotions would betray me. Bryson and I had talked about sex, and he understood why I wasn’t comfortable with it, but I wanted him. I didn’t want to wait any longer. We were graduating, and he’d be leaving to play professional baseball. I needed this.
“Okay,” he answered simply, and I felt the urgent need for more. “See you in a little while. Love you.” Before I could reply, he hung up. I didn’t like that I hadn’t had the chance to tell him I loved him too; my nerves skyrocketed. Something was wrong, I could feel it.
BRYSON
I didn’t want him to worry, but my heart was slamming in my chest, and he deserved to know how I was feeling.
“Why are you so nervous?”
I turned and spotted Corbin standing in my room. I hadn’t seen him since the night he revealed Caiden’s secret to me. And I hadn’t spoken with him since Caiden’s birthday party when I kept from him that he and Corbin shared the same birthday.
“Why are you here?” I asked a little defensively.
He held his hands up in surrender. “Easy, Bry. I’m your guardian angel, remember? I’m here to help you work through these nerves so that you can have a good time tonight.”
I nodded. “Sorry, I’ve got a lot going on in my head.”
“Is it the rings or the idea of sex that’s bothering you?”
“Both.” I had bought promise rings for Caiden and me, and I was going to suggest that he come with me to Florida. Move in with me. With Bennett’s help, I had purchased a condo near where I would be playing in the minor leagues. I had inked a
deal with the Florida Boomerangs. A new National League East team in the West Palm Beach area. Spring Training and my minor league team was based in the Stuart area. I needed Caiden with me. His plan was to get a degree to become a sports agent, and if you asked me, he was damn good. Considering he acted as my agent and pretty much guaranteed I wouldn’t be in the minor leagues long. I knew we were young, but I wanted Caiden forever.
I had been accepted to a Florida university in an online program for sports training and coaching at both high school and college levels. My plans tonight went beyond Caiden and I having sex. I wanted him to come to Florida with me. I wanted him by my side. I wanted him to live with me. I just hoped he wanted that too.
Corbin’s hand went to my shoulder. “Breathe, man. It’ll work out.”
“I just don’t want to put too much on him,” I admitted.
He winked. “It’ll work out,” he repeated before vanishing.
I took a deep breath and exhaled. I wanted Corbin’s words to be true, but something was turning deep in my gut. Something that was telling me everything was about to fall apart, and I hated that I couldn’t shake this feeling.
As I tried to calm myself down, I thought about the visitor I just had; deep inside, I knew that would be the time I’d see him or even hear his voice. I had to move on and that was with Caiden, and if he decided he didn’t want this, I wasn’t sure what I’d do.
CAIDEN
Pictures were snapped. Boutonnières were exchanged. Tears from my mom and Bryson’s mom were shed. Now, we were alone in his car, driving toward the hotel to check into our room and enjoy our senior prom. We attended the prom together our junior year; we had a 1 A.M. curfew, but this year was different, and our moms relented to allowing us to spend the night together. They didn’t like it, and it was because they understood what Bryson and I had discussed, even if we didn’t tell them outright.
Now, standing on the dance floor, swaying to some song I knew but couldn’t name in the moment, I took a chance. “I know something is wrong?” I whispered. He didn’t respond but I felt his nod as his arms tightened around me. “Can I fix it?”
“Nothing to fix, Caiden,” he whispered, but I could feel the tears as he buried his head into my neck.
I pulled back, cupping his face in my hands. “I don’t want to lose you.”
He blinked and then pulled me back into his arms. “I don’t want to lose you.”
“What’s happening, Bryson?” I took a breath before speaking again, “Is tonight goodbye?”
He shook his head. “I hope not.”
I swallowed. “I can’t imagine my life without you, Bryson Trevino.”
“I love you, Caiden Kamry.” I tightened my arms around him as the song shifted to another ballad. He didn’t make a move to exit the dance floor, so we continued to sway to the music.
BRYSON
We had fallen into a rhythm, but I needed something to drink. I needed fresh air. I needed to sit down. Caiden needed to know everything that was bogging me down and he needed to know it now, or I wasn’t going to survive the remainder of the night. “Want to go outside and sit?”
He pulled back. “Sounds nice.”
“Let’s get some punch first.” He smiled and led me off the dance floor toward the refreshment table.
As we stood in line, I kissed his cheek and he smiled over at me before giving me a quick kiss. We were careful in public, especially at school and school functions, to not shove our relationship in people’s faces, but we didn’t hide either.
“A little distance, boys.” My back tensed up at his voice and I tightened my grip on Caiden’s hand. “There are rules.” I turned to face him, and over his shoulder caught a couple making out on the dance floor.
“Yes, sir,” I muttered, trying to keep my cool. He had been standing over by the entrance, which meant, to get to us, Vice Principal Adams had to walk by the couple who had been making out on the dance floor for the last thirty minutes to come yell at us. It wasn’t the first time he got on our case, and I hated it with every fiber of my being.
His eyes drifted to our hands, and Caiden tried to shake loose. “I said, distance.”
“The rules were for extreme kissing and touching. We’re just holding hands,” I argued.
“You kissed,” he replied.
“A peck is hardly a kiss. What about them?” I asked, flicking my eyes toward the dance floor.
“They’re fine.”
“Why?”
“Trevino, don’t start.”
“Why?” I asked again, and Caiden squeezed my hand, forcing me to look his way. “What?”
“Stop,” he mouthed.
“We didn’t do anything wrong,” I addressed toward Caiden.
He bit his lip but didn’t respond. “Do you want to walk, Trevino?”
“Are you threatening me?” I knew my voice held the shock I was feeling. Caiden and I hadn’t broken the PDA rule, but clearly, the rule was different for us. Caiden finally got his hand out of mind, and I sighed, relenting, and Vice Principal Adams smirked and walked away. It stung that Caiden had chosen to just let him run over us, and it hurt terribly that Vice Principal Adams just returned to his spot without confronting the other couple.
“We didn’t do anything wrong,” I muttered.
“No, we didn’t,” Caiden agreed.
“Then why did you let go of my hand?” I was hurt and I didn’t hide it.
“Because it wasn’t worth you not walking.” I embraced him quickly. He was protecting me; what Vice Principal Adams had done wasn’t right, but Caiden still had my back and that relieved me. It was very likely I would’ve defended us until I crossed a line, and then I could kiss graduation goodbye.
CAIDEN
I knew he wouldn’t stop; one thing I had learned about Bryson Trevino was, he didn’t back down from what he thought was right. He fought for us often, and nothing had ever made me feel more loved than knowing he’d fight for us until he couldn’t anymore. However, when Adams suggested Bryson wouldn’t walk, I knew the fight wasn’t going to be worth it. Bryson was graduating second in our class. He worked his ass off to get the merits he was graduating with, and I wasn’t going to let him put that in jeopardy.
“I wouldn’t have stopped,” he whispered.
“I know.”
“Thank you, Caiden.”
“Bry, you’re really wound up tonight. I wish you could tell me what’s going on. My mind is running wild and that’s not helping the sinking feeling in my heart.”
He sighed but said nothing, approaching the counter to grab two punch cups. “Let’s go outside and talk.”
I nodded and followed his lead. On the dance floor, he had said he didn’t want to lose me, and I prayed he meant those words. Bryson was loyal, and we’d be friends for the rest of our lives, even if we needed to end our relationship, but I didn’t want to end our relationship.
“Is this about tonight? We don’t have to have sex. In fact, I probably would’ve chickened out.”
He looked my way and took my hand, leading us to a couple of chairs that were facing each other.
“It’s not about that, but maybe we aren’t ready for that step the way we thought we were.” I couldn’t disagree with him, but also knew what I needed.
“I still want to spend the night with you, though.” I didn’t want to end the night with a simple kiss and have him go into his house and me go into mine. I wanted to wake up next him.
“I want that too.” He set his drink on the table and reached into his pocket. “Caiden,” he whispered, setting a box on the table. A ring box.
“Oh, Bryson.”
“It’s not what you think,” he interjected quickly, and my heart sank. “Stop. They are rings, but I’m not proposing. They’re promise rings.”
“I’m listening.” I couldn’t offer much more because I wasn’t sure where he was going with everything.
BRYSON
I swallowed hard; for the life of me, I couldn�
��t imagine why this was difficult. “I want you to come to Florida with me. Move in with me.”
“You do?” Why did this surprise him?
“This shocks you?” I questioned, holding my breath. What if he said no?
“No. Yes. No.” He stopped talking, and I squeezed his hand. I wanted him to express himself to me. I wanted him to understand I was okay either way. “I’m not shocked, I just wasn’t expecting this tonight, I guess.” He shook his head and I remained silent. “I knew something was up, I wasn’t expecting this.”
“Is that a yes, Caiden?”
“It’s a─” He was cut off when someone cleared their throat. I looked up to see who had interrupted us.
“Coach Lewis.”
“Hello, Trevino, Kamry.”
“Hello, Coach,” Caiden replied. Caiden smiled at him. Both my mother and his mother had gone to the district finals this season since it was my last year, and let’s just say, when we introduced Coach Lewis to Caiden’s mom, sparks flew.
“We aren’t doing anything wrong,” I snapped. I liked Coach Lewis and all, but I wasn’t going to have another person chastise me tonight.
“Did I say you were?” He glared at me. Caiden glared at me.
I shook my head. “Sorry, Coach.”
“What happened with Adams?”
I looked at the table and sighed. “He got on our case for breaking the PDA rule.”
A strange look crossed his face when I looked up, “I’ve watched you two all night. I have not seen you breaking the rules. I did see the encounter with Adams, and I could see you getting hot, that’s why I came to find you.”
“It’s nothing, Coach. Caiden stopped me before he decided I couldn’t walk.”
“He threatened that?”
“It’s no big deal, Coach,” I tried to play off.
“But it is. Are you prepared to deal with the constant scrutiny over your sexuality, Bryson?”
“I’ll have to be. I love Caiden, and I’m not giving him up to create an image.”
He nodded and silently walked back inside. “I love you too, Bryson.” I felt the smile cross my face.
“So, will you move to Florida with me? Bennett helped me get that condo.”