Page 38 of Project: FU (Longwood U #3)

TAVIS

Rachel’s new house is only three minutes further from the school than our old house. While our drive from the old house was longer than our walk, from Rachel’s new house, it’s shorter. Different traffic patterns, I suppose.

I’m walking today since Skye got out early and wanted to meet Orion at Rachel’s to work on his motorcycle. What that means is Skye will be hanging around, watching. He doesn’t actually want to help with the motorcycle. I love that he’s there, though.

As I get closer, I hear Hannah’s rapid chatter. No one can talk like Hannah can. She has one speed, and it’s ‘ try to keep up .’ I pause just out of view.

“Mikey said that Janet’s butt is nice, but only after Diane asked him. Of course, Diane got upset and picked a fight with Mikey, and now they’re broken up,” Hannah says.

“Again?” Orion asks.

I grin.

“Yep. This is like the eighth time this year. If you ask me—and Diane made the mistake of asking—I think every time she wants to fool around with someone else, she picks a fight with Mikey, so they break up. That way, she’s not cheating on him.

When she’s had her fill of a different cake, she comes crawling back to Mikey. ”

“At least she crawls,” Orion notes.

Hannah snorts. “In my opinion, he should make her beg. Actually, no. In my opinion, he should stop taking her back.”

“Agreed,” Orion says.

“I think Tory encourages her because ‘ at least you’re not cheating ,’ but honestly, why keep going back to someone if you’re not interested in them? You’re just messing with them, and that’s not fair. Stay broken up. I hope Mikey meets a nice, pretty girl this summer and forgets all about Tory.”

“A nice, pretty girl like you?” Orion asks.

“Thank you. I’m glad you think I’m nice and pretty, but no. Mikey isn’t my type.”

“What’s your type?” Skye asks.

Hannah doesn’t answer. I shift so I can almost peek in without being seen. I love to see my kids together. Their friendship and bond are so special to me.

“I don’t know,” Hannah says, laughing. “I guess I’ll change my answer to I’m not interested in him. Maybe I don’t have a type.”

“Have you had a secret boyfriend that we should know about?” Orion asks.

“Okay, first, if it’s secret, I’m not telling you; otherwise, it wouldn’t be a secret anymore. And second, no. I’m not interested in the guys at school.”

“How about the girls?”

“Ugh,” Hannah says. “Have you not been listening to the drama I’m surrounded by? No, thank you.”

My phone buzzes. I fish it from my pocket to see a message from my kid.

Skye Davenport

Where are you?

I don’t answer. As I drop my phone back into my pocket, I walk up the rest of the driveway and into the open garage.

Hannah gives me a big smile. “Hi, Daddy.”

I set my bag by the garage door and stop at her side to give her a hug. She’s sitting on the workbench with a towel under her. “Hi, baby doll. Having fun keeping your brothers entertained?”

“I’m just glad they can keep up.”

Orion snorts.

“It’s harder than it sounds,” Skye says.

This I know. I’ve been practicing utilizing my short-term memory with Hannah since she was a kid and would come home from second grade with a story for all twenty kids in her class, expecting me to remember them all.

She rarely asks about the same story after the info dump, so as long as I pay attention in real time, I’m good.

I squeeze Skye’s shoulder on the way by.

“I got out the… carburetor? I don’t know. Whatever that roundish thing is. I forgot. It’s gross, though,” Orion says.

“You’re taking pictures to put this thing back together, right?” I ask as I move toward the bench.

“I’ve taken like eight thousand pictures.”

“But you take them before and after. You need to take them like I did and snap them as you’re pulling it out, so you know exactly how to put them back in,” Hannah says. “Really, you should set up a video feed. You could stream it live, and people could watch and donate money.”

“It’s a little hard to take action shots of myself, Hannah.”

“Skye’s here. Dad’s here. Even when I’m not.”

“Noted,” Orion says.

I try to hide my amusement as I take a seat on the stool and look at this gross piece of metal casing. Hannah holds a clean rag up, dangling it in my face. Grinning, I take it from her.

“You make plans for the summer yet?”

Hannah shakes her head. “No,” she says, sighing. “Maybe I’ll get a job. Or maybe I’ll…” She pauses. “I don’t have a second thing. What did you do the summer before your senior year of high school?”

I concentrate on wiping off gunk and grease as I think about it. Well, fuck. “I don’t remember. Ask your brothers while I think about it.”

She laughs. “Ry?”

“I worked at the amusement park.”

“Ohh, I remember that. We used to stop in every week to see you.”

“Yep. As far as summer jobs go, it was the best.”

“Skye? What about you?” Hannah asks.

“I didn’t do anything. I stayed home and read, hung out with Dad, Ry, you, and Mom. I relaxed.”

“Vastly different things. Dad? You remember yet?”

“I’m inclined to say something like party, but I really don’t remember, which makes me believe it wasn’t that exciting. I bet your mom will know. Summers tend to blend together for me.”

“Sucks getting old, huh?” Hannah says. “Memory is the first to go.”

I reach for her with my greasy hand. Hannah squeals and shoots off the counter. She darts across the garage and stops with a huge grin on her face.

“He might be old, but he can still score a hot, sexy guy half his age,” Orion says. “That’s goals, Han.”

“You’re saying our dad’s a stud, aren’t you?” she teases.

“Yes,” both of my sons answer. I grin.

“Maybe it’s in your genes. You could be a cougar when you get older. Get those young hotties and teach them how to make a woman happy,” Orion says.

She laughs. Her phone rings and she pulls it out. “Oh. I’ve been waiting for Diane’s call. We need to finish the last part of our project. I’ll be back.” She leaves the garage as she explains her departure before answering the phone.

“I was under the impression she didn’t like Diane,” Skye muses.

“They’re frenemies,” I say. “I remember the first time she told me about her was in second grade when Diane put a cricket down her shirt and tried to blame it on Benjamin. Apparently, she thought Hannah was stupid because Benjamin was across the room. In the very next sentence, she asked if she could spend the night at Diane’s. ”

“Wow. Even little girls are confusing,” Orion notes.

I chuckle. Once I’m relatively certain I’ve gotten the first layer of gunk off this thing, I tap the tablet and search for the video on how to take it apart, clean, and repair it if necessary. I love how you can find everything you need to know online.

“So,” I say as I pause the video again and look at the part in front of me. Nope, I need to see that again. I hit the back button a few times before hitting play. “Want to talk about Nolan?” I ask. Without looking, I can feel both my boys pause.

“What about him?” Orion asks.

I have a feeling there’s going to be a whole lot of denial right now. “I’m not going to pretend to be oblivious that you haven’t stopped flirting with him since… the barbecue. Skye might be far more subtle, but subtlety isn’t your strong suit.”

I glance up in time to watch both boys exchange a look.

“I’m just teasing,” Orion says. “I didn’t think it bothered you or Nolan.”

“It doesn’t, but do you really think I believe you’re just teasing?” I meet his eyes, and his cheeks are flushed pink. “That’s a guilty look if I’ve ever seen one.”

Orion sighs. “I’m… He’s hot.” He shrugs, still playing it off.

“He is,” I agree. “He’s also smart, kind, loyal, and a lot of fun to be around.”

While I turn my attention back to what I’m doing, I can see the way both boys smile. They’re not fooling anyone.

“He is,” Skye agrees, echoing my earlier words.

“So you’re making blatant come-ons to him all in fun, huh?” I ask again.

“I don’t mean to overstep in your relationship, Dad,” Orion says. “I’ll stop.”

“That’s not at all what I said. Is it?”

His eyebrows knit together. “No. Maybe I don’t understand the direction of this conversation.”

“You want my boyfriend,” I assert. “Are you denying it?”

Oh, he’s trying to. There’s a war on his face. He looks at Skye, but my baby boy has never liked confrontation, so he’s looking a little pale right now, knowing the question will be turned to him soon.

“I don’t know what the right answer is here,” Orion admits.

“The truth. I’m never going to tell you that a lie is okay.”

He hesitates. “Fine. Yes, I want him. Once wasn’t enough.”

I turn my attention to Skye, ignoring the way my chest heats. Seeing them fuck around with Nolan in my mind’s eye is strong. Like memories, they’re lingering around. Shadows of a past that never happened. Hints at a future that might.

Skye flinches when I meet his eyes. He nods, not offering me any words.

“But we’re not going to, you know, make a serious move on him,” Orion quickly says. “We’d never do that. Never, ever try to get between you and Nolan.”

Skye shakes his head, enthusiastically agreeing with Orion.

I think this conversation needs far more delicacy than I’ve thought through. Inviting them into a relationship with Nolan isn’t exactly something I can do right now, anyway. Not until I talk to Nolan and see where he is.

Asking him to let me fuck him in a way that my boys can watch is one thing, and it’s a far cry from inviting my children to fuck my boyfriend.

I nod in response to Orion. How do I say that I’m not bothered by their flirting without making it sound like I’m encouraging it? I contemplate this question as I work on dissecting this… thing. What the hell did Orion take off the bike again? It’s one of those puzzle boxes.

“Does it bother you?” Skye asks.

I blink out of my confusion at the bike part. “What?” Did I say something out loud while I was looking at this thing?

“That we flirt with Nolan,” Skye clarifies.

“Oh. Nope.” I turn my attention back to the metal ball filled with parts and pieces that I’m trying to take apart. There’s a screw somewhere that I’m missing. I rewind the video again to see what I missed.

“Oh,” Skye repeats.

“That confident in his relationship,” Orion says, and I can once again hear the smile in his voice. “Not threatened by the newer, younger models.”

I can practically hear Skye’s eyes roll in response to his brother.

I grin. “That’s correct. I know how to satisfy my man and keep him happy.”

“And coming back for more,” Orion adds. “That’s always important.”

“It’s more than good sex. That’s why our relationship is strong.

Sex is never a foundation. It’s the cherry on top.

Everything else needs to contribute to a good, solid foundation in a relationship.

That way, no matter what you build between you, that foundation holds strong.

No matter what storms you weather, the foundation never cracks.

Good sex is great. Awesome. But it doesn’t assure you anything except a good time at that moment.

Life still happens, and sex isn’t the answer to ninety percent of what you face in life. ”

“He’s like a self-help book,” Orion mutters.

“Life coach,” Skye corrects. “But yeah, he is.”

“I’m just saying that it’s all well and good to crave someone in bed, but you need to think about what happens after that.

Are you in the same place? Is this mutually scratching an itch, or are you trying to set yourselves up for the long haul?

It’s an important question to answer, so neither of you gets hurt. ”

“A question Nolan should have asked outright to his last girlfriend,” Skye notes.

Fair enough. “You live and learn from all the experiences you go through. Even and especially the really shitty ones.”

“This is going to sound like it’s a direct question to this conversation, but… what if the person you think you’re supposed to be with is already in a committed relationship?” Orion asks.

“Ooh, subtle,” Skye deadpans.

“I don’t mean anything by this conversation. I genuinely want to know. What if Dad had known that Nolan was his perfect match when they first met, and Nolan was still in a committed relationship with Kelsey? I’m obviously ignoring the familial complications for this question.”

I nod as I consider the question. “I suppose you need to ask yourself if you feel this way or if both of you feel the same way. That answer weighs heavily on what happens next, right?”

“I’m just thinking that you spent a lot of your life without that kind of happiness and love. What if it’s right there in front of you, but just out of reach?”

“There are a lot of ethical arguments for that scenario,” Skye says.

“Absolutely,” Orion agrees. “I’m just curious.”

“I don’t think I can offer an answer,” I say. “Not only does it depend on whether you both feel the same way, but there are a lot of other factors involved.”

“If they’re married and have kids?”

“This is going to sound ironic, but I have never been an advocate for staying together ‘ for the children .’ Often, you’re not doing those kids a favor.

Adults who think they can hide the tension, arguments, and unrest between them from their kids are stupid.

Not only are you now raising them in a less-than-ideal environment, you’re now heavily influencing what they perceive as a healthy relationship. ”

“Yep, that’s a little hypocritical,” Orion notes.

I chuckle. “I agree. One of those cases of do as I say but not as I do.”

“You and Mom did well to keep the illusion that you were happy, though,” Skye says. “In hindsight, I can definitely see signs.”

“Especially now, seeing you and Nolan together,” Orion adds.

Skye nods. “But if it weren’t for this change, I’m not sure I’d have ever picked up on it. You both put on a good act.”

“Deep down, your mother and I have always loved each other. I think that’s why. We always knew that there was love there, and I think that helped. Even if we lost our friendship along the way. Had we been able to keep that, I think a lot of things would have been different.”

“Okay, I’m back,” Hannah says as she bursts back into the garage. “And get this: Mikey won’t take her back! She’s furious.”

I smirk as she hops up on the counter again and recounts her conversation with Diane.