Chapter 4 #3
“Nice, Dad,” Dylan complained. He was standing near the tailgate with Isla, who I was pretty sure hadn’t moved a single box in her entire life but was waiting patiently to get on my good side by helping.
Dylan’s girlfriend was sweet. I’d always liked her, and I thought she was good for my son, but she was a princess.
As the youngest in her family, she’d been pampered and spoiled since the moment she was born, and I figured it was lucky that instead of turning into a brat, she’d become the kind of kid that Dylan fell for as soon as he was old enough to date.
The kind of kid who’d run away from home…yeah, maybe she was more of a brat than I’d realized.
Fuck.
Teddy hopped down as Dylan lowered the tailgate.
The next twenty minutes were a hive of activity as we carried all of Teddy’s boxes into the house.
The ones that were labeled with Jesse’s and Finn’s names were carried up to their rooms, but the rest of the boxes we stacked against the wall in the living room.
Teddy’s name wasn’t anywhere, and without her opening them to check the contents, we weren’t sure what room they belonged in.
While everyone else was inside, Draco opened up the garage, and I went back out to set up the ramp Teddy brought with her. I released the tie-downs she’d used to keep the large toolbox steady and pulled on the toolbox, stopping almost immediately. I glanced at the house.
“What is it?” Draco asked, coming up the ramp.
“Feel this,” I muttered, gesturing to the toolbox.
He reached out and pulled it out from where it rested against the cab, then looked at me questioningly.
“Teddy loaded it.”
“What?”
“Teddy said she loaded it all herself.”
He looked at me and then back at the massive toolbox. “No shit?”
“How the fuck did she load it herself?” I asked, pulling it out a little further. The toolbox was on casters, but even with the wheels, the thing was heavy as fuck. I could load it myself, and so could Draco, but I had no clue how Teddy had.
“Careful,” Draco said with a huff as we moved it toward the tailgate. “If she can move this thing, that woman’s stronger than she looks.”
“You think?” I grunted as we braced ourselves behind it and slowly lowered it down the ramp. “Holy fuck.”
We wheeled it into the garage and set it up against the wall.
“Never know what someone’s capable of when they’re desperate,” Draco reminded me as we moved back out of the garage.
I nodded. I still didn’t understand how she could’ve done it. The thing easily weighed as much as a fridge.
“Your TV is newer,” Teddy was saying to Dylan when we walked back into the house. “So maybe we could put it upstairs—”
“In my room,” Finn announced excitedly.
“Yeah, right,” Jesse scoffed. “That’s not gonna happen. If anyone gets the TV, it’s me. I’m the oldest.”
“That’s not fair. I called it,” Finn argued.
“Neither of you is getting a TV in your room,” Teddy said, shutting it down. “We’ll put it in the bonus room.”
“That’s a cool painting,” Isla said suddenly, looking at the painting of…I actually had no idea what it was supposed to be. The colors were vivid, though, and it was pretty cool.
“Oh, thanks,” Teddy said with a smile. “Jesse did it.”
“Seriously?” Isla asked, turning to Jesse. “You painted that?”
“When I was twelve,” Jesse mumbled dismissively.
“We’re gonna take off,” Draco announced, wrapping his arm around Kara.
“I can come back tomorrow,” Kara told Teddy. “And help unpack, if you want?”
“Thanks,” Teddy replied. “It’s not much. I think we can manage.”
My brother and Kara said their goodbyes and left, but all I could think about was Teddy’s comment.
They really didn’t have much. In the back of the truck, it had looked like a lot, but once it was unloaded and was only taking up a tiny portion of the living room, the reality became clear.
The only piece of furniture they’d brought with them was an old twin-size bed frame.
The living room was silent once the front door closed behind Kara. Dylan had dropped into my recliner, and Isla sat on the arm. Teddy was looking down at the boxes, but her eyes were unfocused. Finn was busy looking at each of us like he was waiting for someone to speak, while Jesse fidgeted.
“I’m going to find my sleeping bag,” Jesse finally announced. “Come on, Finn. I’ll help you find yours.”
“Did you get my pillow?” he asked them as he turned and followed without complaint. It was clear that those were their roles. They argued, but Jesse was the leader, and Finn followed. They were more like another parent than a sibling.
“I carried it up first thing,” Jesse replied, ruffling Finn’s short hair as they started up the stairs.
“Dad,” Dylan called, making me turn back toward the living room.
“You’re sleepin’ in the recliner,” I told Dylan, cutting him off. “Isla can take your bed upstairs.”
“That’s stupid. We’ve been together—”
“Don’t give a flyin’ fuck what you were doin’ on your ride here. You two are not sharin’ a bed in my house.”
“Oh, so now you’re concerned if we’re sleepin’ together?
” he shot back. We’d had the condom discussion months after he and Isla started dating when I realized they were spending a whole lot of time driving around in Dylan’s truck.
I thought then, and I still thought now, that there wasn’t a whole lot I could do to stop them, and I wanted them to be smart about it.
But that sure as fuck didn’t mean that they’d be sleeping together in my boy’s bedroom.
“Were you under the impression that this was a discussion?” I asked curiously. “Because it isn’t. This ain’t a democracy. Isla, you’re in Dylan’s room. Dylan, you’re on the fuckin’ recliner or the floor down here.”
“This is bullshit,” Dylan mumbled.
“I’m gonna go help the kids,” Teddy said, not looking at anyone as she moved toward the stairs. I didn’t blame her for escaping. Hell, I didn’t even want to be part of the discussion.
Dylan scowled at Teddy’s back. “So you can have some random woman in your bed, but—”
“Dylan,” I barked, so fucking done with his shit. “Enough.”
“Stop, Dyl,” Isla murmured quietly as she stood up. “It’s fine. I’ll see you in the morning.”
“You’re goin’ up now?” he asked in disbelief.
“I’ll see you in the morning,” she repeated, scooting around me. “Night, Mr. Harrison.”
“Night, Isla.”
I watched Dylan until I couldn’t hear her on the stairs anymore.
“You fucked up,” I told him quietly.
“She’s—”
“Nope,” I cut him off. “You don’t get to talk right now. I’m talkin’ now. You fucked up, Dyl. Huge. That girl’s parents are probably outta their minds with worry.”
“She talked to them,” he replied defensively.
“Before she went?” I asked. His silence was answer enough. “Yeah, that’s what I fuckin’ thought. Jesus.”
“She called them when we got here.”