Second Chance(38)

“What are we having?” he asked.

“Sausages and mash. Nothing exciting.”

“Sounds good to me.” There was a pause while Nate steeled himself for more embarrassment. “So, um… is it okay if I ask Jack over here sometime?”

His mother glanced at him, a small smile on her face. “Of course. Did you mean for dinner, or…?”

“I meant to hang out, but dinner sometime might be nice too. I think he’s going to come over tomorrow evening, if that’s all right?”

“Yes, that’s fine. Do you want to invite him for dinner? I’m making spaghetti bolognese and can easily stretch it to four.”

“Okay. I’ll ask him. Thanks, Mum.” It would be weird sitting around the dinner table with Jack as well as his family, but Nate reckoned if they could get past that first bit of awkwardness it would help him and Jack to feel more relaxed about hanging out here.

There was another gap in the conversation. Nate knew he was blushing and could feel his mum’s eyes on him while he chopped the carrots. Her hand was still, the potatoes temporarily forgotten.

“So, you’re seeing him then? Dating? Boyfriends?”

“Sort of.” Nate wasn’t going to explain the complexities of friends with benefits to his mum. “I guess you could call it dating. It’s nothing very serious though.”

“Are you sure about that?”

Nate glanced up, surprised by the question. “Why do you ask?”

“The two of you have a lot of history.” Her expression was knowing and Nate tried not to squirm. Perhaps his mum had noticed more than he’d given her credit for during his teenage years.

“Yeah, we do,” he admitted. “But it is what it is. I don’t think he’s going to stick around here for too long once he’s feeling better, so it’s never going to get a chance to turn serious, even if we both wanted that.” He went back to chopping, finishing the last few strokes. “Here, these are done now. Do you want them in the steamer?”

“Yes please. And can you top and tail some green beans to go in there too?”

“Sure.” Nate went to the fridge to get out the beans.

“What’s wrong with Jack?” His mum asked.

“What do you mean?”

“You said once he’s feeling better. Is he ill?”

“Not physically.” Nate opened the packet of beans and put them on the chopping board. “He had a bit of a rough time. But he’s on the mend now.” He didn’t want to go into too much detail; it wasn’t his story to tell.

“Okay, well… just take care of yourself, Nate.” She frowned. “I don’t want to see you hurt.”

“I’m a big boy, Mum. I can handle it.” Nate gathered a handful of beans and sliced through them deftly, separating the tips from the rest. If only it was so easy separate his feelings from his attraction to Jack. His mum had a point, but it was already too late for Nate to get out of his entanglement without feeling unhappy. He might as well see it through.



After dinner, Nate went up to his bedroom to call Jack.

“Hi,” he said, settling down on his bed. It was weird to think that tomorrow Jack would be here with him. “I spoke to Cass and my mum and everything’s fine. So you can come over tomorrow evening.”

“Cool, thanks.” Jack sounded pleased. “What time works for you?”

“Well, Mum said you can come for dinner if you like—do you want to?”

“Oh, um… yeah. Okay. That’s nice of her.”

“So can you come over for about six? We normally eat around six-thirty on a week night.”

“Yes, that’s fine,” Jack replied.

There was a pause, and then they both tried to speak at once.

“Sorry,” Nate said. “What were you saying?”

“Just that I was looking forward to seeing you.”

Nate’s heart did a happy little skip. “Yeah. Me too.”



Jack met his mum at the supermarket after work on Wednesday. She’d given him a lift in to work that morning with the proviso that he helped her with the grocery shopping on his way home. It had been pouring with rain earlier, so he’d been grateful for the lift even if he hated trailing around the supermarket with her.

“What do you fancy for dinner this evening?” She asked as she perused the fridge full of ready meals. “I don’t feel like cooking tonight. I was thinking maybe a pie, or perhaps lasagne….”

“Actually I’m going to be out for dinner today, so get whatever you and Dad like.” Jack deliberately avoided her gaze, concentrating on the label of a shepherd’s pie as if it was the most fascinating thing in the world.

“Oh?” There was a definite question in her tone, but Jack ignored it. She didn’t let that pass though, adding, “So where are you going?”

Jack answered before he had time to think about what he was saying. “Just going out for a pub meal with a colleague.” His heart rate spiked, face heating at the untruth, but his mother didn’t seem to notice.

“That’s great!” Jack chanced a look at her and she was smiling brightly, “I’m so glad you’re starting to socialise a bit more. It’s good for you to meet other people locally.”