♥ Aiden ♥
Jessica and I walked up the narrow path to my parents’ front door with a bowl of potato salad between us and a quiet buzz in my chest. We had done this before. Family BBQs weren’t new. Jessica had met my family months ago, long before we put labels on what we were and what we had. She had sat in this same garden as ‘the girl I was seeing’ while everyone pretended not to notice the way I looked at her.
This time, there was a word between us.
Relationship.
We weren’t just together. We were boyfriend and girlfriend. We were an official couple. From the backyard came music, the sizzle of meat on the BBQ, my mother’s laugh, and my brother and sister arguing. I shifted the salad bowl and glanced at Jessica.
“Ready?” I asked.
“As I will ever be,” she said. “If your mother hates m
