Boyfriend Chronicles 02 - The Boyfriend Mandate by River Jaymes

Tyler’s sake.
    Before they’d reached the top step, someone pulled open the front door, and all of Tyler’s insides became fair game for his stomach.
    A woman in her late forties with blond hair and Memphis’s hazel eyes pushed open the screen door and immediately pulled Memphis in for a hug. “It’s about goddamn time you came home for a visit.”
    Memphis engulfed the petite woman in his arms. “I’ve been busy, Mom.”
    Her hands gripped the back of his shirt. “How do you feel? Have you been taking care of yourself? Don’t forget you have a follow-up with Dr. Freeman next month. And I want―”
    “I’m fine.” Memphis pulled out of her arms and stepped back, an odd expression on his face. He nodded at Tyler. “Mom, this is my roommate.”
    Over his mother’s head, Memphis shot him a reassuring wink.
    Tyler awkwardly shifted the strap of his bag higher on his shoulder. “Nice to meet you, Mrs.―”
    Memphis’s mother pulled him into a crushing hug that almost hurt his ribs, cutting off his words with an oof .
    “Everyone around here calls me either mom or Anita,” she said. She released him and gave his cheek a pat. “At least that’s what they call me to my face.”
    “The Drill Sergeant on a good day,” Memphis said, eyes crinkled in amusement as he shared the nickname. “The Bitch from Hell on a bad one.”
    Anita Haines let out an unimpressed huff and led them inside to a hallway. “Ricky!” she called down the hall, and a teenager’s head appeared from around a doorway. “Take their bags down to Memphis’s room in the basement,” she said. She turned back to the two of them. “Set your stuff down here. Everybody else is out back. Come meet my husband, Tyler. He’s hiding out in the kitchen.”
    As they followed her down the hallway, Memphis leaned in and whispered, “Now would be a good time.”
    “Now?” Tyler hissed, his insides twisting.
    God, why had he agreed to come? He knew he had an embarrassingly wide-eyed look about him.
    “Why not?” his boyfriend said, his voice low. “It will make things easier.”
    Tyler suffered a flashback to the day he’d come out to his family. His mother had cried as if he’d died and his father had yelled and his brother had called him disgusting. None of them had considered “easier” a word that pertained to the situation.
    When they entered the kitchen, Memphis introduced his father. Brett Haines had salt-and-pepper hair, and his build reflected his age, but it was easy to see where Memphis had gotten his athletic grace. He paused in his task of slicing the turkey to give his son a one-armed hug and shake Tyler’s hand.
    “Do you have any food preferences, Tyler?” Anita asked.
    “No, ma’am.”
    Memphis grinned. “Anything with bacon and dipped in grease will do. But I’m chipping away at his resistance. He finally took to the spinach smoothies like an addict to crack.”
    “Me and my youngest daughter are vegetarians,” Anita said to Tyler, stirring a pot of gravy on the stove. “Marie, my oldest daughter, is pescetarian. My two boys, David and Wayne, won’t sit down to a meal unless there are at least two servings of pork or beef. And Memphis here is dedicated to organic and hater of all things related to red meat. All of which,” she said with a roll of her eyes, “makes holiday meals a pain in the ass.”
    She met Tyler’s gaze with a smile, and he couldn’t help but return with one of his own. Memphis might have inherited his build from his father, but his easy, open personality was all his mother.
    “It’s nice to finally meet my son’s roommate. So tell me, Tyler,” Anita said. “Is Memphis partying too much? Drinking too much? Flitting from one girlfriend to the next?”
    Tyler chewed on his lower lip, trying to determine how best to answer, while Memphis grimaced and opened his mouth as if to protest his mother’s words.
    Anita pointed the wooden spoon at her son. “No interruptions.”
    Memphis closed