Page 50 of The Build-a-Boyfriend Project

“Mom . . .”

“Don’t ‘mom’ me, Eli. I’m just trying to help you out.”

“By setting me up with guys I’ve never met?”

“I just want you to be happy. I feel like you’re being held back by your inner saboteur.”

“Is that another RuPaul thing?”

“He’s a very smart man.”

“Well, he does support trains rights.”

“See?” Rue waves her son off, not getting the joke. “I’m just saying, you’ll never move on past Keith unless you get back out there.”

“It sounds like you’ve been talking to Patricia and Rose.”

“I have! They’re very nice girls.” Rue flips on her turn signal. “But that’s not the point—”

“Mom, I’m seeing someone.”

Eli lurches forward as his mother slams on the brakes, his seat belt locking.

“You are?” she says, shock all over her face.

“You don’t have to act surprised.” He can’t help himself. It’s the only way that he can get his mother off his back.

“Well, you’ve spent the last six months turning down every boy I’ve wanted to introduce to you.”

“Yeah, well . . . I didn’t want to tell you just yet.”

The car behind them honks loudly at where they’ve stopped in the middle of the street.

“Okay, okay, don’t get your panties twisted.” Rue fusses, accelerating to catch up with traffic. “So, tell me about him. What’s his name? Does he live in the city? He doesn’t work with you, right? I told you, Eli, you need to stay away from your coworkers, it only makes things messy—”

Eli has to stop her before she truly starts to rant. “He doesn’t work at Vent, Mom. He works in tech.”

“Oh, well . . .” Rue pretends to be happy to hear that. “That’s wonderful.”

“Yeah.”

“Show me a picture.”

Eli sighs, questioning whether this truly was worth it. He fishes in his pocket, pulling up his texts to Peter and the selfies that he sent.

“Oh, what a handsome young man.”

“Mom!” Eli has to scream so she’ll brake, avoiding a fender bender with the car in front of them.

“I’m sorry, I’m just . . . so happy for you, Eli.” She smiles at him.

“Thanks.”

“When do I get to meet him?”

What a good question, Eli thinks. He figures that introducing Peter to his family at some point will be a good test, a showcase for what Peter’s learned. He’s already gotten a head start on both articles, writing a bit about his and Peter’s first two dates. And he’s written a few paragraphs about the things Peter had shared with him.

“No idea,” Eli tells her. “It’s still new.”