My Frnd Hot Mom < UHD >

"Now."

I laughed, nervous. "He's lying. I blue-shell him constantly."

She smiled, and it wasn't a flirty smile or a staged one. It was a tired, genuine, mom smile. "No, he's not. He's stubborn and he leaves his socks everywhere. But you see the good stuff. That's a gift."

"Your mom says I'm a gift," I said, deadpan.

"Sorry about the AC," she said, handing me a glass. "Leo says you're the only one who doesn't cheat at Mario Kart. High praise."

Mrs. Delgado was hot. That was still a fact, like gravity or the price of gas. But the story wasn't about that. The story was about a sixteen-year-old kid who stopped seeing a "hot mom" and started seeing Elena—the woman who could beat you at Scrabble, who cried at dog commercials, and who, when Leo finally went to college, would be the one left behind, drinking her iced coffee alone in a quiet kitchen.

As she walked back upstairs, Leo rolled his eyes at me. "See? Total dictator."

And that made him a good friend. Not just to Leo. But to the truth.