“Welcome home,” Draco greeted.
“He doesn’t look like you,” Finn announced, making my brother laugh.
“Yeah, he does,” Jesse hissed. “Shut up, Finn.”
“Jesse,” Teddy mumbled, shooting them a look over her shoulder.
“My wife cooks for me every night,” Draco told Finn, patting his flat belly. “I’m a little bigger than Curt. Hey, I’m Draco.”
“Let ’em in the house first?” I chastised.
“Just thought I’d get it out of the way before—”
I stepped past him and took in the room in an instant, stopping so fast that Jesse ran into my back. “What the fuck?”
“Come in, come in,” Kara said, hurrying toward us. “Hi, I’m Kara! You must be Theodora.”
I heard them making introductions, but my attention was stuck on Dylan and hisgirlfriendstanding frozen in the livingroom. His girlfriend, who should’ve been a thousand miles away inMontana.
“I can explain,” Dylan said quickly.
“You’re out of your fuckin’ mind,” I barked. “Do her parents know she’s here?”
“Dad—”
“Asked you a question,” I said, cutting off what I knew would be some kind of excuse. I looked at Isla. “Your parents know you’re here?”
“I called them when we got here,” she confirmed softly.
“Fuck’s sake, Isla,” I said, shaking my head. “They’re gonna charge Dyl with fuckin’ kidnapping.”
“As of three days ago, I’m eighteen,” she replied, lifting her chin a little. “Legally an adult.”
“Oh, yeah? How’d that go over with Greg and Debbie?”
“They’re mad.”
“Yeah, I bet.”
“But there’s nothing they can do.”
“Jesus Christ,” I breathed in frustration. “Girl, you haven’t even graduated high school.”
“She can go to school with me,” Dylan said quickly. “We got it all figured out.”
“Oh, you got it all figured out?” I asked derisively. “You, Dylan, who’s seventeen fuckin’ years old, have it all figured out?”
“What’s going on?” Teddy asked, resting her hand on my back as she came up beside me.
It was the first time she’d touched me when I wasn’t touching her first, but I couldn’t even enjoy it because I was staring at my idiot son and his sweet but not-supposed-to-be-in-Oregon girlfriend.
“Deep breath, Curt,” Kara advised.
“She can stay with us,” Dylan said, his tone sliding from apologetic to stubborn. “We’ll finish high school together.”
I should’ve fucking known. When he’d brought up moving to Eugene a few months ago, I should’ve realized that it didn’t make any sense. He and Isla had been dating since their sophomore year. Two years was a lot when you were a teenager. Dylan wouldn’t have willingly left her. Plus, he’d barely questioned that I was going to Sacramento to bring a woman and her kids back to live with us. If I hadn’t been so fucking distracted, I would’ve clocked that red flag immediately.
“It’s late. Nothin’ we can do tonight,” Draco said, trying to defuse the situation. “Figure it out tomorrow, yeah?”
