Love in Secret

Ace

My phone has been ringing nonstop for the last two hours and it's annoying the shit out of me. I swear my parents have better things to do than call me every two minutes but I guess I'm wrong. It's my day off and somehow I still can't relax. My phone goes quiet for another second before it starts ringing again.

I groan loudly into my pillow before finally relenting and answering the phone," Hello?"

"Finally," My mom's voice is clear through the phone," It's like you think you're too busy for your own mother."

"Hi, Mom," I rub my eyes, glancing sidelong at my alarm clock. It's 8 in the morning," How are you?"

"That's not important right now," She rushes through her sentence," I need to know if you're coming to our fundraiser tonight. It would be great publicity and we haven't seen our dau- son in so long."

I pull the phone away from my ear before slamming my head into my pillow a couple of times. I don't understand how she still gets the pronouns wrong. I'm 23. I've been out since I was 13," I don't know yet, Mom. It's my day off and I'm meeting Jason and Emery to help get things set up for their wedding."

"Oh yes," My mother sounds completely bored by this conversation," they are such a cute couple. Their wedding is in, what, a few weeks?"

"It's on Friday, Mom," I try my best to keep the hard tone out of my mouth. I told her this a few days ago when she last called," I don't know how long I'm staying there so I don't know if I can make it this time."

"Well, make time for your mother," Her tone is sharp," I haven't given up most of my life for you to blow me off for your friends."

I flinch," Yes ma'am."

"Good g- boy," She stutters again and I push down the sting it creates," Goodbye."

I toss my phone to the side, rubbing a tired hand down my face. I know she's trying but I didn't think it would take this long for her to get the pronouns right. My phone starts ringing again and I groan loudly. I pick it up without checking who it is," What?"

"Wow, such a warm greeting," Aaron's voice rings through and my stomach flips.

I sit up quickly," Sorry. Long morning. What's up?"

He just chuckles before continuing," I'm at your door with coffee and food. If you're done being so grumpy, I'd like to come in and give it to you."

"I'll be there in a second."

I didn't think I would see him until later today but I thought wrong. I pause to pull on sweats and clean my hair up before letting Aaron in. His smile is bright and I don't return it, instead, I snatch the coffee from his hand and chug half of it in one go. Dealing with my mother caffeinated is a torture I wish upon no one.

"Always such a bright greeting from you in the morning," Aaron punches my shoulder, moving into my kitchen," Why are you so grumpy today?"

I shrug," Early morning calls from my mother are terrible."

He raises a questioning eyebrow," I would have thought you would have a good relationship with her. What did she want?"

"She wanted to see if I was going to a fundraiser with them today," I take another long drink of my coffee, picking through the food he brought," And then told me I was going after I said no. I hate going to those fundraisers."

"Why's that?"

I glance up at Aaron and I try not to feel anything under his gaze. I look back at my food," It's just a bunch of snobby rich people flaunting money that doesn't actually care about any of the causes they filter money into."

"Aren't you one of those snobby rich people," Aaron teases, flicking a grape at me.

I shrug," I don't know. Do I seem snobby?"

Aaron smirks at me and my stomach flips," Absolutely."

I roll my eyes," Okay, asshole. Why are you here right now? I didn't think I would see you until set up time."

"Do I need an excuse to see my favorite person," He asks, taunting in his voice. I know it's a joke but I still feel my cheeks heat from his words," Besides, I like your car much more than I like mine and was going to ask for a ride."

I scoff, the happy feeling he caused diminishing slightly," I see where I land in your priorities."

Aaron laughs and I smile. I love the way it sounds. It's rougher than mine but it's still a soft sound. It's very relaxing," I'm only joking. My car is just in the shop and I didn't want to take the bus to a wedding venue and I like hanging out with you compared to the rest of the guys."

I ignore the last comment as I turn from him, grabbing my car keys from the bowl in front of us," When are you going to get rid of the truck? It doesn't work for more than a month before it has to go back to the shop again."

"Never," Aaron rushes forward to open the door for me," It's a classic and it was my dad's."

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I plaster a fake smile onto my face as I pose for a picture with my parents. I hate doing these events with them. They push me around like a show horse just to say that their son is a successful hockey player and it's all because they showed me so much support.

"Son," My father pulls me aside into a group of old men," Meet my coworkers."

They introduce themselves before turning all their attention to my father. I tun out of the conversation on instinct and my eyes move around the room slowly. I don't fit into any of these groups of old business men. I've never fit into my parents lives.

I see an opportunity to leave my father's side and I take it quickly. I slink through the groups of people around me until I'm sitting outside and have a drink in my hand. I pull out my phone as it starts ringing in my pocket and smile when I see Aaron's name.

"Aaron, what's up?"

"Me and Jay need your help," He says quickly," Em's on her period and she needs stuff."

"Do you seriously not know what to buy a girl on her period," I snort, gulping down some of my drink," What exactly do you need?"

"Well, we got tampons on stuff," Jay's voice breaks through," But what do girls like to eat when on their periods?"

I take another drink," Just cause I'm trans doesn't mean I know what every girl craves on their period, Jay," something cracks behind me and I stiffen. I look around nervously but I don't see anything," Uh, just get her some chocolate and something she likes to drink."

"You okay Ace," Aaron asks," your voice sounds tense."

I blow out a breath," Yeah, yeah I'm fine. I just thought I heard something. Like I said, chocolate and something she likes to drink."

"You're the best," Jay says loudly before the call ends.

I glance around again. No one's here but there's a pit in my stomach that I can't shake.