Eventually.
Reed, meanwhile, had been typing furiously. “Mom already gave me the talk. I have all the supplies. Condom, lube, toys.”
I freed myself from Cynthia’s death grip and held up both hands. “I don’t want to know the details.”
A flurry of fingers against the iPad. “Prude.”
Cynthia snorted into her fist. I hit her with a glare, and she recaptured my arm and dragged me out the door.
“Careful,” I snapped, gesturing at my knee.
She grimaced and immediately slowed up. With her arm still firmly wrapped around mine—as if to prevent me from going back and physically stopping them from having sex—we carefully made our way down the stairs to the first floor of the barn.
“I’m so sorry,” she said, her voice dripping with snark as she steered me outside. “I forgot about the knee that you keep on ignoring.”
“Stop busting my balls about the knee, Cyn, and tell me exactly how long you’ve known they’ve been having sex.”
“Well, about six months ago, he approached me and said they were ready to be intimate with one another, and he wanted to know what to do.”
“Why didn’t he come to me? And why didn’t you tell me this was happening?”
She paused in the sunshine, putting a hand on her hip while arching her brow at me. “Gee. I can’t imagine why Reed didn’t feel comfortable coming to you about sex,” she said, imitating my supposed growly voice.
“It’s taken memonthsto get used to the fact that he wants to live in the apartment. How the hell am I supposed to be okay with him having sex?”
“He’s an adult, Kit,” she reminded me patiently. “He’s old enough to drink, and now he wants to have sex. And you need to stop acting like he can’t make this kind of decision on his own. Yes, his emotional regulation requires constant work on his part, but it doesn’t mean he doesn’t know what he’s doing. He was asmart boy who’s now become a smart man. It’s easy to forget that when you see his daily struggles. But this part is true, too.”
“Iknow.” I hung my head as we stepped onto the path between our houses. “I do know that. It’s just . . . who the hell gave him permission to grow up?”
“I agree; it’s rude,” she said, still teasing me. “Especially since you and I haven’t aged a day since his birth.”
“Damn skippy,” I said, smiling in spite of myself.
Cynthia bumped my shoulder as we continued walking. “So. You gonna tell me what’s going on, or do I hafta guess?”
I drew my chin back. “What do you mean? Pretty sure helping my son move into his first apartment was plenty.”
She shook her head. “This is a good day, Kit. A very good day. Our son is happy, he’s hitting milestones we never thought he’d ever be able to hit. He’s worked really hard to be as independent as possible, and he’s having sex right now. All in all, a banner moment for our combined families.”
She waited and I eventually—begrudgingly—nodded in agreement.
“Meanwhile, you look like somebody pissed in your Cheerios. And it’s not about the move or the fact that our son is sexually active. You’ve been a mess this entire week.”
I cursed under my breath. Cynthia and I got married right before Reed was born, which meant she knew me better than anyone else on the planet. And, knowing her as I did, I was well aware of the fact that she was not going to let this go.
“Kit?”
Fine.
She was probably a good person to talk to, come to think of it.
“Don’t look too much into this because . . . just don’t look into it too much, okay?”
“Okay . . .”
“I’m interested in someone.”
“Ooh, is this the mystery you were being coy about the other day?”
