you and Mom were acting funny when Kane was mentioned.”
“Yeah.”
He mulled it over, nodding stiffly. “This is not what I expected.”
I forced a laugh. “Me neither.”
“He’s…the stepdad?”
“Yep.”
“Who’s the lucky girl?”
“Rebecca.”
“Do I know her?”
“Yeah, she’s the one you laughed about that first night in the car with him.”
Now his eyebrows went up. “The…wispy girl?”
“Oh, my God, Conor.”
“I’m serious, dove. The moth?”
I buried my face into his chest, holding my breath so I wouldn’t laugh. “She’s actually very beautiful and kind. Don’t be a dick about it.”
“She wanted to suck my dick once, dove.”
“Conor.”
“I’m not trying to be crude, but…I didn’t think Reid would go back to her.”
“Well, we were all young, and besides, you really think Reid’s keeping it in his pants for the girl?”
“It’d be awful if he wasn’t.”
I looked up at him. “He’s not, and it’s not even our business, and aside from their messy relationship, I know he loves Kane dearly. I think that boy gets treated really well at home. You can see it by the way he acts. He has so much confidence and he talks about all the things Reid does for him. It’s kind of sweet, even though Reid is…well, Reid.”
Conor nodded, but his demeanour changed. “I’m not trying to be a dick, dove, but…I don’t see a happy ending in this.”
I pulled back to get a better look at him. “They’re just kids.”
He nodded. “I understand that. I do. But…I’m telling you right now, it won’t end well if we encourage them to be around each other.”
“What’s the harm?”
“The harm is this boy’s under Reid’s influence. He could very well wind up like him, and I don’t think that’s a good thing. Do you?”
I hesitated and then shrugged. “They’re just kids,” I repeated, weakly. “She adores the boy, and he looks like he’d walk to the ends of the earth for her.”
“I’m not faulting the boy. It’s Reid I’m not happy about. He can’t be trusted.”
“No, he can’t.”
“People like him don’t just change, and even if he did, I could never forgive him for the way he treated you back then.”
“Me neither. I’m not saying we have to trust him. We don’t. But we could be peaceful, couldn’t we? Just until Penny and Kane move along to other kids.”
He brought me back to him, planting a kiss on my nose. “Sure,” he said sweetly. “What the fuck do I know? Anything to make my baby happy. I’ve been wrong about so many things.”
“So, you’re okay with them playing together?”
It went against his expression, but he nodded. “Yeah, dove, I am. If it’s playful, and someone’s always around to supervise, I’m good.”
I let out a relieved breath.
Megan would be so relieved too.
For so long, we didn’t know how Conor would react to this.
Sounding curious, he said, “Locke and Jem let slip that Reid’s a big shot around here.”
“He’s got money,” I simply answered.
I didn’t want Conor to get caught up in the whole Reid/Locke bullshit. Ghost Billy was right; it wasn’t our business they were going to step on each other’s toes. Also, I didn’t want to drag Conor into any drama. I needed him to focus on himself.
“Where does he live these days?” Conor asked.
“Same house,” I answered.
That surprised him. “What, with his dad?”
“No, his dad hasn’t been around lately. Megan thinks he’s sick. The last time she saw him, he’d come to the hospital to run some tests. Since then, he hasn’t been around. Probably for the better.”
“Why for the better?”
I shrugged, not meeting his eye because there was so much more to the story and now was not the time. “He was an asshole, Conor.”
Conor nodded, saying nothing, though his eyes wandered in thought.
“By the way,” I added, quickly changing the subject, “Megan’s been hounding me about seeing you with Ember. When you’re ready, let me know, okay? She’s persistent.”
Relaxing, Conor leaned back against the bench, pulling me back with him. “Ember’s idea of a good time was Jem’s bar.”
I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, it still is, but it doesn’t have to be. We can have them over.”
“Did Ember express any desire for this, or is this strictly coming from my mother?”
I bunched my lips to the side. “It doesn’t matter, does it?”
Truth was, I hadn’t received a single text from Ember asking how Conor was doing. It was actually really messed up. Didn’t she care about her freaking brother?
“I’m wary if they came over everyone else will come over. Not sure I like people in our personal space so soon,