shit I signed says otherwise.” God, it’s going to be so much easier once Jake turns eighteen and we don’t need to worry about these kinds of logistics. It’s not that I don’t trust him in the apartment or think he’s not capable of taking care of himself, it’s just that if I were to leave him alone with no adult present overnight and something did go wrong I could potentially lose guardianship, and that’s the last thing any of us want.
“But your mom?” Jake groans. “I mean, she’s a really nice lady but she’s always fussing over me and forcing me to eat.”
“Yes, that is a nightmare,” I deadpan. But I can kind of understand what he means; he’s a teenager, he wants his space. Unfortunately for Jake, my mom isn’t really one for boundaries. One time, after she discovered a dirty magazine under Liam’s bed, she had Da remove the door from our bedroom. I’m not sure what she thought that would accomplish; if she was trying to force us not to jerk off she was incredibly unsuccessful.
“Are you sure I can’t just come meet up with you in London?” Jake asks, his face lit up with hope.
I chuckle. “Nice try. You’re back at school next week, so no.”
Jake lets out a dispirited sigh. “Fine.”
Out the bus window, I catch sight of the post office that sits at the end of Jamie’s street. “I need to go,” I tell Jake. “I’m at my stop.”
I end the call and stand up; I collect my grocery bags from the empty seat next to me and move to the front of the bus, stepping off as it pulls up by the post office.
Jamie’s mom and granddad live just off a bustling high street, and evidently they’re friendly with the owners and workers at pretty much every single business on the street. I’ve lost count of the amount of times Jamie’s been asked questions regarding how his granddad is doing, or how his mother is holding up, or how things are going for him in the States, or how his American boyfriend is doing—usually while I’m right there. I guess it shouldn’t be too surprising considering Edward’s lived in this neighborhood his entire life, and worked on the high street as the local butcher until he retired only about five years ago, but for a native New Yorker I have to admit all this familiarity is a little disarming.
When I get inside the house, I once again find Jamie cleaning the kitchen; considering it’s usually me or Jake who clean up after him at our place, I’m not sure whether to be pleased or concerned about this new habit.
“Okay.” I dump the grocery bags on the counter and slip off my coat, tossing onto the back of a nearby chair. “I got all the stuff on the suggested dietary list—lean meat, egg whites, lots of leafy greens. And Blake sent me an email with a bunch of recipes he swears are both healthy and delicious.”
Jamie grins at me. “Yeah, he sent me the same email. That’s going to be the trick, convincing Granddad that not everything that’s good for you tastes horrid.” He shakes his head wryly. “He’s like a toddler sometimes when it comes to food. He’ll like something until he finds out it’s healthy and then all of a sudden it tastes like rubbish.”
I chuckle. “Right, so we’re going to convince him that despite having heart surgery we’re still going to let him eat junk. Meanwhile, we’ll secretly be feeding him healthy food.”
“Yep. Sounds like a plan,” Jamie deadpans.
“So, have you lads been thinking about when you’d like to get married?” Edward asks as he picks at his dinner the following night. Judging by the look of dissatisfaction that crosses his face as he pokes his fork around at the baked salmon and green beans on his plate, our plan to win him over to heart-healthy eating hasn’t been successful so far.
“We haven’t really—”
“Actually,” I say, cutting Jamie off and offering him a soft smile. “I’ve been thinking maybe we should do it here. Summer next year?”
Jamie beams and leans over to kiss me on the cheek. “I love it!”
“Summer next year?” Edward asks, his bushy gray brows up near his hairline. “I could be dead by then.”
“Not if you eat what we tell you to and don’t sneak chips and sandwiches all the bloody time,” Sara growls.
22
Owen
* * *
It takes a moment after waking for me to realize I’m