Page 34 of The Score

Chapter 12

Bear

My parents believe us.

In fact, the moment they take the video call and see us cuddling, smiles split their faces. We give them the same story we gave Pen's parents. They respond with sadness when we explain about Pen's dad but, whenever we mention our wedding, they go back to clear excitement.

It's disconcerting. Unlike Pen's parents, mine have never made a comment about us. I didn't expect them to have much of an opinion about it.

"It only makes sense," Mamma says. "You've been friends for so long!"

"Don't tell us you've been waiting for this to happen, too?" Pen asks, echoing my thoughts.

"Of course." Pappa smiles. "There's something about you two that looks more like a couple than friends. But do you have a date for the wedding? You said six weeks. Is that official? We need to look at tickets."

"Will you need anything else from us?" Mamma adds.

I shake my head "I'm just happy you might come."

"You will probably have to keep it simple," Mamma says. "Too short notice."

"We're hiring someone to plan, I think." I glance at Pen.

"I'll send you Gramma's wedding set, of course. You might need to resize it before the ceremony."

My eyebrows shoot up. Gramma— my mom's mom— passed a decade ago. I didn't get to know her very well growing up, as she lived back in Norway.

Pen gazes at me with a question in her eyes. I shrug.

"What rings?" I ask my mom.

"She left me her rings when she passed. I've been saving them for you."

I raise an eyebrow. "And you're just now telling me? What if I had already gotten a ring for Pen?"

"She could have kept both. I don't see why not?" Mamma lifts an eyebrow just like I do. It's one of those reminders that I am in fact her son. "It's not like there's a maximum amount of jewelry she can wear."

Pappa smirks. "And she doesn't have a ring yet, from the sound of it, so it's all good."

My parents take a quick look at each other.

Mamma takes over. "Right, well, we need to go to work. We're sorry to hear about Sergio. I'm glad we'll get to see your parents soon too, Pen."

Pappa nods. "We'll let you know how it goes with getting time off and trying to go there for the wedding."

"We're really happy for you both." Mamma smiles. "Truly."

"Thank you, Sofie," Pen says. "I didn't expect the rings."

Pen stares at the screen with a wistful look to her eyes. My parents have always insisted she calls them by their first names.

"We'll keep you in the loop as we plan," I add.

We say goodbye and I put my phone on the bedside table. What did my parents witness through the years? They didn't see us interact nearly as much as Pen's parents, and barely at all over the past decade. Yet they thought Pen and I would fall in love.

Sometimes it seems like everyone always assumes we're secretly in love. For the longest time I thought that it came from people who think you can't be friends with people you could be attracted to. No one knows the lengths to which I've gone to prevent that from ever getting in the way. But times like tonight, when my parents say they've seen something between us despite the distance, I'm forced to wonder why.

What if there had been something between us? Once upon a time?