“Hmm.”
“What does ‘hmm’ mean?”
“It means hmm.”
He cursed under his breath, colorful language that didn’t seem fitting coming out of such a sweet, small package.
“Your dad never washed your mouth out with soap?”
He snorted. “Fat chance when he’s in jail.”
That was one piece of information I hadn’t unearthed about him. “Do you ever visit him?”
“Why would I?”
“What’d he do?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
He leaned over and fiddled with the radio until a cheery song came on, one of those popular hip-hop songs I couldn’t relate to. I didn’t listen to music often, and when I did, it was to the soothing sound of jazz. Not what the hell kind of noise he was into. But he seemed happy, so I held my tongue.
When I pulled up in the driveway, Liam was waiting outside. Like me, he spent a lot of time with Kit, even when I wasn’t around. I knew for sure he’d stopped by during the last two days I’d kept my distance. Unlike me, Liam was proudly bisexual who had no trouble with whoever landed in his lap. He was far less picky about who he took home with him. I didn’t fuck random people, and it’d been long since I’d had a relationship. My job wasn’t exactly conducive to having a partner.
“I’m confused,” Liam said as I got out of the car. “Did his poor driving skill rub off on you? I thought he was supposed to learn from you and not the other way around.”
“He wrecked the car, asshole.” I was a second away from flashing him the finger. I walked around to the passenger’s side and opened the door for Kit. “Because I wanted us to get back here in one piece, I took over.”
“That’s it for me learning to drive, then, right?” Kit smoothed his hand down his sides, straightening the fabric.
“Wrong. Tomorrow we’ll be back on the road.”
“But I thought we all agreed I’m a horrible driver.”
“You’re learning. It’ll get better.”
“One can hope,” Liam said.
“You’re going to learn to drive properly, even if it kills me.”
His mouth fell open, and Liam chuckled as he slung an arm around Kit’s shoulders and pulled him toward the house. “That, it just might, my friend. Kit and I will find other things to do than mourn you.”
The way he tilted his head back and ogled the boy’s ass made his intentions clear. Yup, we were both due for another conversation about why we didn’t date baits, or sleep with them, for that matter.
At the door, Kit stopped and turned, and Liam’s arm fell away from his shoulders. A deep sense of satisfaction filled me.
“Aren’t you coming in?” Kit asked.
“Sorry, I can’t. Got something to take care of. Why? Did you need something?”
He turned to Liam. “Can I talk to Sully alone for a bit?”
“Sure.” Liam frowned but stepped into the house, closing the door behind him.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
Kit clutched his hands in front of him. “I was thinking… I saw my first paycheck this morning, and I want to take you out. For dinner. You know, thank you for believing I can do this.”
My heart skipped a beat, and ‘yes’ rose inside me. It wasn’t an answer he would ever hear.