36. Precious
"Are you-are you sure your mom doesn't mind?" Jeff asked.
"Of course not! She's been saying you could move in since she first met you; she likes you!"
"Well, I'm not moving in," Jeff reminded Nick. "It's just until Jayme gets back from camp. Then I have to go back to my house until we go back to Dalton."
"At least your mom let you lie to your dad and say you were going to camp," Nick said brightly, frantically clearing closet and dresser space for Jeff's clothes.
"Yeah, well, she doesn't wanna deal with him angry anymore than I do, and I sure as hell was not going back to that camp. Jayme may be a football person, but it wasn't for me! Hell, I was half the size of everyone else. Plus, I couldn't kick the ball cuz it's shaped like a frickin' cone! I'll stick with soccer, thank you very much," Jeff said to no one in particular, unpacking his suitcase. "And my mom thinks I'm staying at a "friend's" house, not my boyfriend's house."
"Well, technically, even if we're dating we're still friends," Nick explained. "So you weren't really lying to her."
"Yeah," Jeff said. "But of we were just friends we couldn't do this." Jeff leaned in towards his boyfriend and they shared a long, passionate kiss.
They both whipped their heads around as they heard an amused voice.
"You boys are just too precious," Nick's mom squeaked, a huge smile on her face.
"Moooom," Nick groaned, burying his head in his hands. "Precious? Really?"
"Hey, I don't know about you," Jeff said smiling. "But I am pretty damn precious" He smiled at Mrs. Duval, who burst into laughter, joining the two boys in folding and putting away Jeff's clothes.