Page 69 of Craving Theodora
“He wanted Finn to start going to his place on the weekends,” she replied quietly. “Up until now, if he wanted to see my boy, I could be there to monitor it, you know? But he’d started pushing for more time. Unsupervised time. I knew his son as well as anyone knew Mike, and I knew what kind of father David was, and I know what kind of man he is now. I couldn’t let Finn go there alone, and excuses would only work for so long before he lost patience.”
“You made the right decision.”
She nodded as she passed me and walked toward the door.
“Hey, Curt,” she called, turning to face me in the hallway. “Do you remember when Finn was freaking out because he’d just found out that we were moving away from all his friends?”
“Yeah.”
“You told him that you had a huge yard, and you needed to get it all cleaned up and asked if he and Jesse could help you with it, and then a couple of minutes later, when you were telling him about Dylan, you said that you knew they’d be friends even though Dylan was seventeen and that he’d really appreciate the help too.”
“Yeah, baby, I remember.”
“You could have said nothing and let me deal with the fallout. Instead, you included him and promised him a cool new friend. That’s when it started for me,” she told me with a crooked smile.
Chapter 12
Curtis
“Why are youstill with her?” Jesse asked Dylan, carrying a big bowl of fruit to the table. “All she does is bitch at you.”
“She doesn’t bitch that much,” Dylan argued, setting plates out.
“Bro,” Jesse sang with a knowing smile. “Finn, back me up.”
“She does seem mad at you alot,” Finn said apologetically to Dylan.
“She’s not mad at me. She just misses me.”
“So that’s why you couldn’t watch a movie with us yesterday or take us to the store the day before that? Because she misses you?” Jesse asked dryly. “Like, damn. Give it a rest.”
“You knew I was on the phone,” Dylan countered.
“You’re always on the phone, and when you’re not, you’re texting. Like, seriously. You don’t have to be up her assallthe time.”
“I’m not up her ass all the time.”
“You’re awake like twelve hours a day, and you’re on the phone or texting her like eight of those hours,” Jesse replied. They weren’t wrong. “I’m not sure how she’s missing you when she’s talking to you every waking hour.”
“It’s you,” Dylan blurted out, throwing his hands up. “Okay? She’s all fuckin’ weird because we’re always hangin’ out.”
Teddy and I both turned to stare.
Finn’s mouth dropped open in surprise.
Jesse started to laugh, and it grew in volume and intensity until tears ran down their face.
“Nuh-uh,” they said, gasping.
“I shouldn’t have even told you. She’ll be pissed if she finds out,” Dylan grumbled.
“What kind of Beverly Hillbilly shit does she think we’ve got going on here?” Jesse wheezed. “All in the family, right?”
“We’re not technically related,” Dylan countered, his cheeks growing red.
“Yeah, that’s true,” Jesse replied. “But shedoesknow that I’m gay, right? You don’t have the right parts. Isla, on the other hand…”
“I—uh…well, I wasn’t sure,” Dylan shot back defensively. “We haven’t talked about it, and I didn’t want to say it if it wasn’t true.”
