Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 78043 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78043 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
Oh.
“Sure, no problem.” Marshall gave us both proud of you smiles. “They’re great and the meetups are fun.”
Daddy nodded as he reached out with his foot under the table and rubbed his leg against mine. “We’re actually looking to find someone to teach us how to safely explore some new…skills.”
Really?
Date night just kept getting better and better.
Chapter 25
Dean
I’d given myself an ulcer practicing the conversation I wanted to have with our server, but it’d been worth it to see Joel’s excitement.
And to show him that I wasn’t going to avoid what he wanted just because I didn’t get it.
By the time Marshall went to put in our orders and chat with the manager—something I wasn’t going to feel bad about—I had two names and no plan at all, other than passing them along to Tate.
I was supportive but not an idiot.
“M—Tate’s going to be so excited.” Joel bounced in his seat, barely able to keep from saying Master, but after a few seconds, his head cocked. “How long do you think it takes to learn to hurt someone?”
That wasn’t going to be the way we phrased what they were doing, but I pushed his wording to the side for the moment. “What do you mean?”
What he’d asked definitely hadn’t been what he wanted to know. I just couldn’t decide what the question should’ve been.
He blinked a few seconds and looked like he was replaying the conversation. “Oh yeah. I left out the other part.”
Yep.
“That’s okay. I just wanted to make sure I answered your question correctly.” Because as it stood, it hadn’t made any sense. I couldn’t even get embarrassed about it, so I knew I was missing something important.
“I wasn’t sure if we had time to learn the skills before the semester ends and then I started thinking about summer.” Going more serious than I’d seen in a while, Joel frowned. “We usually go back to our houses for the summer but that’s not…is that still the plan?”
I could see that he didn’t approve but I was proud of him for asking instead of just announcing that he wasn’t going to let us do it.
“I don’t think Tate’s thought about it and I know I haven’t.” He hadn’t mentioned anything, at least. “My first thoughts to your question are that I don’t want to be separated for that long and that I need to work.”
They were random but they were what had popped into my head, so I didn’t hold them back. Joel immediately started nodding, though, so I didn’t worry about my very practical list. “You save money for the school year. I remember. That’s very important for us to consider.”
It felt like he understood my requirements but wasn’t sure how to work around them yet.
“What are your first thoughts?” I was pretty sure I could guess, but I wasn’t going to make assumptions yet.
I’d wait and do that if his verbal explanation didn’t make any sense.
“Well.” Clasping his hands in front of him, he rested them on the table and gave me a very thoughtful expression I was pretty sure was completely fake. “We’re not going to ignore that you need to save money this summer. You’ve done it the last two summers and it’s worked very well for you so far.”
I was taking too many classes to deliberately add extra stress if I didn’t have to.
“Yes. I like not having to split my focus during the school year.” I volunteered for projects and in clubs, but I wasn’t going to add a job if I didn’t have to. “Thank you for understanding.”
But.
He was doing his best to look relaxed and grown-up, but it was like he was acting professionally instead of reacting. So to me, that said his first reaction had been to pitch a fit. Like, a throw himself on the floor and demand life be fair fit.
I was proud of him for not making me live through that again. Once had been enough. But it made me realize just how much he didn’t like the idea of us being apart for that long. “How do you think we can manage to handle both our goals?”
When he let out a deep breath, I did my best to not let on that I could see his stress. “Staying together is important to both of us, so I know there’s a way to work it out.”
And I’d figure out what to tell my family when the time came, not that I thought they’d be an issue.
Last summer I’d gotten entirely too many questions about what my plans were going to be going forward, and they’d sounded like they’d expected me to start doing more on my own. I wasn’t sure I liked the whole you’re a grown-up thing, but I was going to take advantage of it.
“Good.” Looking brighter and less like he was trying to come across as what he imagined a real adult would look like, he focused all that energy on me. “How?”