another age gap topic., sorry guys, i guess i lack originality. Options

[mytangerine]

i know shortnsweet88 posted a topic not too terribly long ago about this, but can you please give me advice anyways? that would be so helpful

the situation isn't entirely the same, since i am 17 & he is 23. we have the most incredible connection and chemistry that i really cannot see myself finding anyone else with that degree of compatibility. we can talk about anything and everything, and physicality is not a focus at all. sure we kiss/makeout, but we talk significantly more than we do that.it is also incredibly apparent that he is not just a jerk that wants some young booty or anything, he is actually legit.

main dilemma;
telling my parents. do i or don't i? i feel horrible for hiding such a major thing like this from them, it seriously kills me. however, just today i told my mom i had gone to dinner with some older college guy friends of mine & some of their friends and she said "i don't know if i feel comfortable with you hanging out with older guys like that" that just kind of killed my hopes that she will actually be okay with it if i were to explain properly. but is hiding it from her longer really going to be better than just letting her know & perhaps dealing with the wrath that might ensue? i really expect to stay with this guy as long as possible, he really is as close to perfect as i have come to finding.

[mytangerine]

the thing with waiting til i'm eighteen is that i'm not eighteen until april 2nd

thank you for your responses! i was thinking of inviting him over, but i'm scared my parents will automatically assume he's a love interest since i've never talked about him before.