The Betrothed: Book 2 (BoyxBoy)

VI.

Uh... Suuuper late, but here it is! Enjoy! :)

* This chapter may contain grammatical errors and typos. *

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Nathan

Fresh out of college, all I really want to do now was to get a job and start to earn my own living. Before that, though, I'd really like to enjoy mooching off of my parents for at least until the end of the summer.

I graduated school with a diploma in culinary arts, which means that I love to cook. My dream in the long run would be to own and run my own restaurant, but I'd probably need to partner up with someone since I know nothing about running a business -- only cooking food.

Speaking of food, breakfast at IHOP was okay but the company was better. That was two days ago though. I haven't heard from Eric since then and I don't really know why. I thought our breakfast ended nicely, but things may have been different for Eric.

Ever since summer started, I began watching Queer As Folk on Netflix, but watching too much sometimes gives me a headache. I was sitting on the couch in the living room and watching an episode of the show on TV when my mom came in.

"Nate, dinner's ready," she announced. I looked away from the TV, nodding off at her.

"Okay, mom."

Even though I went to school to learn how to cook, I wouldn't turn down my mom's cooking. I may be able to cook all of these very intricate and savory dishes, but I wouldn't trade them a nice homemade meal. Also, I figure that I'd be doing too much cooking later on anyway, so I might as well enjoy it when someone cooks for me instead.

Once seated at the dining table, everyone else was already settled except for my mom and Chelsie. They came out from the doorway to the kitchen a few seconds later with my mom carrying a large dish with meatloaf on it and Chelsie, or should I say my mother-in-law, carrying a bowl of steamed vegetables and some mashed potatoes. There was already a gravy boat set in the middle of the table.

"So, Nathan," my dad began. "How's your summer so far?" he asked.

I knew where this was leading to. They probably didn't like watching me be a potato all over the house. They think I'm lazy as fuck.

"So far, so good," I said simply, shrugging as I served myself some meatloaf.

"You went out for breakfast couple days ago... How are your friends?" grandma asked this time.

"They're doing alright," I replied, now spooning some mashed potatoes right next to two slices of meatloaf on my plate.

"That's it?" she countered. "Who'd you have breakfast with?"

I looked up from the bowl of potatoes as I set it back down at the middle of the table. "Eric. We just haven't seen each other in a while and he invited me to have breakfast with him."

"Oh, that's right! I almost forgot about Eric," grandma mused. "Are you guys together yet?"

"What?!" I asked in shock. "No. No, we're not."

"Still? I mean, you guys went as each other's dates in Hunter and Tyler's wedding last year. How can you guys still not be official?" Grandma inquired. I saw my mom and Chelsie nodding to her question.

"Yeah, hon. You guys look perfect for each other," my mom added. My dad just coughed awkwardly and pushed his food around.

"Well, I was away for the most of the previous year. I didn't really want to start off our relationship with a long distance one," I explained, not mentioning the fact that I really don't want a relationship right now.