Dirty Thoughts - Megan Erickson Page 0,50
you find us?”
Asher opened his mouth and then looked up at Cal, clearly wanting him to make the explanations. He didn’t want to put the kid through it again, so Cal explained, in as few words as possible, that Asher had an asshole father, and he was staying at Cal’s temporarily.
Brent’s face was red. “And your mom didn’t do anything about it? What the fuck is wrong with that woman?”
Max bit his lip, his eyes sad. “That’s horrible, Ash. I’m sorry. Damn, Dad’s a total dick, but he’s never done something like that.”
Cal didn’t miss the nickname, and he also didn’t miss the way the tenseness had begun to leave Asher’s body.
“I didn’t know what to do,” Asher said quietly. “Mom talked about you guys sometimes. I always wanted to meet you, but she put me off every year. I assumed I wouldn’t be able to see you until I could drive or until I turned eighteen or something.”
“Christ,” Brent muttered under his breath, turning away to rub his forehead.
It was a cluster-fuck, Cal knew that, but he’d held them all together before when shit hit the fan. He’d do it again. “I have some steaks, so how about I grill ’em up, and we all sit down and eat together, yeah?”
Max nodded, his eyes on Asher. Max was a teacher now, so Cal thought he’d be one of the best to know how to deal with a teenager. “Ash is complaining about my video game selection, Max. Maybe you two can talk about what’s popular now.”
Max led Asher away toward the video games, their heads bent together, talking softly. Asher looked at Cal from over his shoulder, and Cal nodded. Ash smiled and continued to talk with Max.
Cal took a deep breath and walked into the kitchen, Brent hot on his heels.
“What the fuck, fuck, fuck?” Brent chanted under his breath. “Dad is going to lose his ever-loving mind.”
Cal opened the refrigerator and grabbed the package of steaks. He dropped it on the counter and began to unwrap them. “I know.”
“Like, in the looney bin after a heart-attack-slash-stroke kind of thing.”
With the steaks on a plate, Cal grated pepper over the top of them. “I know.”
“Like, lose-the-function-of-one-side-of-his-body kind of stroke.”
Now that the steaks were seasoned, Cal grabbed a pair of tongs and walked out to his deck.
Brent, of course, followed. “So he came here? Not a friend’s house?”
Cal had already preheated the grill, so he opened up the lid and began tossing the steaks on. “They just moved from California. He said he doesn’t know anyone.”
“How’d he get here?”
“Bus.”
“Damn,” Brent said, leaning on the railing with his arms crossed over his chest. “That’s committed.” He furrowed his brow as Cal lowered the lid of the grill, the steaks sizzling inside. “And not safe, man. He’s sixteen?”
“Yup.”
“Not safe at all to travel by bus by himself. You wouldn’t even let me ride in Sam’s truck until he’d been driving two years, remember?”
Sam had been a friend of Brent’s in high school. “Yeah, I remember. Damn kid was a maniac. And I was right too. He totaled that truck after six months and broke his arm.”
Brent chewed his lip. “Yeah, you were right.”
“And I know it wasn’t safe for him to the ride the bus alone, but can’t do anything about it now. He’s here, and I’ll make sure he’s okay.”
Cal made to walk past Brent, but his brother shot out his arm and grabbed his bicep. “Hey.”
Cal kept his eyes on the window of the back door, looking at Max and Asher sitting on the couch together inside.
“If anyone can take care of that kid, it’s you,” Brent said quietly. There was no joke behind his words. No smirk. “You dragged Max and me out of the muck, and you can do it with Asher.”
Cal closed his eyes and let Brent’s words sink in. He didn’t want them to. But his tone slipped in all his cracks and plunged right into Cal’s heart.
“I know that Max and I don’t tell you enough that we appreciate what you did. But we do. And Asher is going to appreciate it too.”
Cal didn’t want that to make his heart beat faster, to make his skin warm. He wanted to resent Brent and Max. And then Asher, for putting him through this again. But he couldn’t resent them. Because he’d do it all over again in a heartbeat. Seeing Max happy and hearing Brent’s awful singing and bad jokes always reminded him that every