Page 37 of To Love You

“I thought I knew more than I did. Apparently.”

“I think it’s admirable for you to admit there’s things that are new to you,” Grant said, sipping at his drink. “It’s never too late to learn. What’s the saying? Teaching an old dog new tricks?”

“I’m not an old dog.”

“Aren’t you?”

Adam let out an exasperated breath and Grant laughed, shoving him in the arm. “You’re being too sensitive. You’ve got to stop taking yourself so seriously.”

“Like you’re one to talk.”

Grant scoffed. “What does that even mean?”

“Mister stoic and alone.”

“I’m not a switch,” Grant said. “While there may be things formeto learn, how to get comfortable on my knees isn’t one of them.”

“Have you tried it before?” he pressed.

“No. Because I know it isn’t for me.” Grant pointed at him. “The idea interested you, which is why you tried it.”

“I tried it because Cooper makes my fucking dick hard,” he corrected.

And at the time—in the past—that was all it had been. He’d wanted to be with Cooper, and if Cooper wanted him to kneel and crawl, he was all for the games. He’d never expected it to turn into anything more than that. But here he was…

“Isn’t that why any of us do anything?” Grant mumbled, rolling his neck to the side and cracking it. “Speaking of love. How’s Wyatt?”

“I think he’s lying about being okay with the divorce,” Adam said, grateful for the casual subject change. “But it’s hard to tell with him on the other side of the country.”

“Does he like New York?”

“More than here.” Adam laughed.

“I think your son likes anywhere more than here.”

“What’s not to like about North Edgewood?” he asked.

Grant shrugged. “When is the divorce final?”

“A few more months, I think. I don’t remember what the statutes are there. But he told me everything was signed and they’re just waiting it out.”

“Amicable?”

“Not contested,” he said. Things between Wyatt and Mike had just run their course. They wouldn’t be friends when everything was final, but they weren’t enemies. “I told him he should come stay here awhile, but he didn’t seem too keen on the idea. I think a change of scenery from the city would do him good.”

“What’s he going to do, Adam? Work for Cooper again? There’s nothing for him here,” Grant said. “It was hard enough for me to find something in finance here after leaving New York. It’s a different pace, a different lifestyle.”

“I think that’s what he needs,” Adam countered.

“He’s a grown man,” Grant reminded him. “He’ll figure something out. He doesn’t need the kind of dad he needed last time he was here.”

“I’m still the same kind of dad I was then.”

“I know I don’t have kids, but I gather parenting a teenager and parenting an adult are different beasts.”

Adam squinted, gnawing on the inside of his cheek. “I’ve never been good at either.”

“You’re not good at much,” Grant teased, “But it sounds like you’re beginning to excel at taking instruction.”