Chapter Five #3
She laughed, wished them well, and disappeared into the crowd.
Sawyer stood silently throughout the encounter, but now he turned wide, worried eyes toward Robbie. “I didn’t think—Robbie, what if people guess—”
Robbie swooped in and hugged his kid. Finn couldn’t hear what Robbie whispered to Sawyer, but his shoulders dropped from his ears, and he nodded and pulled out of Robbie’s arms.
“Right.” Robbie clapped his hands, drawing gazes away from Sawyer’s quick swipe at his eyes. “Where to next?”
“Time for food, I think. Any preferences?”
They wandered away from the main crowds and headed for a café. But just as they settled into the booth and decided on their orders, Sawyer suddenly said, “Oh, look, Imogen! There’s a fishtank. Let’s go take a look.”
Imogen blinked at her friend. Sawyer lifted his eyebrows. “Oh, yeah, right, we should go do that.”
They stood up and hurried away, not-so-subtly leaving Finn alone with Robbie.
It occurred to him that the two teens had been not uncurious about Finn and Robbie’s budding friendship, and one of them had, without Robbie’s knowledge, signed him up for a TV show that his friend’s stepbrother worked on.
Suddenly Finn remembered that Imogen had commented more than once that he’d probably like Sawyer’s uncle. He’d figured it was in response to Sawyer’s changed living situation—that Imogen had been noting their obvious shared values. Now, though….
Robbie snickered. “Frankly I’m impressed we managed to get him to sit still long enough to order. Not sure how eating is going to go.”
“Been wound up?”
“A spinning top all day.”
“Well, at least you know he’ll sleep well tonight.”
Robbie laughed. “God, bringing me back to the days when I’d steal him for overnight visits during my off season. He’d run around pell-mell all day and then sleep like the dead for twelve hours. Of course, so did I.” Then, as if to prove his point, he yawned.
Finn smirked into his water. “Tuckered out from your first Pride?”
“Not sure which was more exhausting, the sun or watching him.”
“He clearly enjoyed himself.”
“Good. He deserved a good day.”
Finn knocked their shoulders together. “Hey. You’re doing great with him. He’s clearly happy. And he’s confident and well-adjusted. He’s sporting his colours at Pride.”
“Yeah.” He smiled softly. “Thanks. I try, but it’s not like I know what I’m doing, you know? It’s not like I’ve got a decent role model.”
Finn fiddled with his fork. “Not trying to emulate your parents?”
Robbie snorted. “Hardly. They, uh, wanted a girl. They had a boy—Sawyer’s dad—and then me. And my arrival was a disappointment. Ruined the set.”
“Gross.” Finn couldn’t imagine caring.
“It gets worse. Sawyer was born and they were ecstatic.”
Without meaning to, Finn glanced over at the kids, who were apparently still engrossed. “Shit. Have they not been supportive?”
“They’re basically a walking PSA of what not to do when your trans grandkid comes out.” He pulled a wry smile. “I guess they are kind of helpful for parenting. I just do the opposite of whatever I think they’d do.”
“Well, if Sawyer is proof of you bumbling round in the dark, I’d like to see what you do when you’re knowledgeable.”
Robbie knocked his shoulder back against Finn’s. “There’s plenty of clips of me stopping pucks on YouTube,” he joked.
“That sounds like work,” Finn joked back.
“Ouch!” Robbie grabbed at his chest. “Can’t even be bothered to pull out his phone. I see how it is.”
Finn shrugged and sipped his water. “Sawyer’s a good kid. Be proud.”
“Your view might be biased.”
“Why? Because he’s my sister’s bestie?”
“Nah, Sawyer thinks a lot of you. Not that he’d say it, but I suspect you get his best behaviour.”
Finn cocked his head. “Why?”
“You’ve never deadnamed him.”
“What?”
“He likes you because you’ve never deadnamed him.”
Finn blushed. “Oh, well, uh, there’s a simple explanation for that.” Robbie cocked an eyebrow. God, this was embarrassing. “Well, when I re-met him earlier this year, after he switched schools, I couldn’t remember his deadname. I felt horrible.”
“Finn.” Robbie chuckled. “He says you make a point of using his name every time you see him. ‘In, like, a super gender-affirming way, Robs.’” He used air quotes.
Heat filled Finn’s cheeks even further. “I didn’t want to forget again.”
That set Robbie off—he burst into laughter.
Finn was wondering if he should let Robbie in on his suspicions about Sawyer and Imogen’s not-so-masterful plan, but something stopped him.
If he did, he’d know for sure how Robbie felt about the idea, and it was nice to flirt without the expectations.
Besides, Sawyer and Imogen still thought they were being subtle—it wasn’t like they were going to lock Robbie and Finn in a closet together.
And if they did, Finn’s Swiss Army knife had a screwdriver on it, so they’d be fine.
He decided to let it lie. Sawyer and Imogen were still watching the fishtank when their food arrived, and had to be bodily dragged back to the table to eat before it got cold; the way they wolfed down the food and then ditched again left Finn with little doubt as to their intentions.
No fourteen-year-old was that excited about a fishtank.
Robbie didn’t seem to think it was weird, though, or maybe Sawyer’s baseline level of weird just had him thrown off the scent.
Or maybe, Finn reflected when the server returned to the table with Robbie’s credit card, he’d just taken advantage of Finn’s distraction to pay the bill.
“Sneaky,” Finn commented as Robbie put his card back into his wallet. It would be polite to protest, but also expected and, Finn suspected, pointless. Robbie had played almost twenty years of professional sport. He could afford to take Finn and his sister out to dinner.
Besides, this gave Finn the perfect opportunity. “Thanks. I’ll get it next time.”
Robbie paused, his cheeks flushed. Just for a second, Finn thought his eyes flicked to Finn’s mouth.
But then he shook his head and said, “Deal.”
The next seven weeks were going to be interesting.