“Everything okay?” Wes rushed over to them.
“They called you too?” Ked asked. “Geesh.”
“I didn’t pick up when they called,” Assa explained. “They left a message and probably just kept going down the list.”
“Man, I’m sorry,” Ked said to Wes. “It’s only a bloody nose. No big deal.” He pulled the cloth away from his face. It still looked swollen, but at least it had stopped bleeding.
“No harm done,” Wes said. “I appreciate the excuse to procrastinate on paperwork.” He squeezed Ked’s shoulder. “Sure you’re okay, bud?”
“He thinks his nose is fine,” Assa said. “Although it’s probably about to grow a little after the whopper he just told the school admin in there.”
“Huh?” Wes scratched his brow.
“Ked—” Assa turned to the teen and made a waving motion with his hand as if to say,do you want to tell him or should I?
“What?” Ked asked. He looked at Wes. “The guy asked how we were related, so I told him Assa was one of Papa’s partners.”
Wes’s eyes widened.
“It gets better,” Assa interjected. “He also said that you and Valentin are his partners too.”
“Why would you say that?” Wes asked.
“Why wouldn’t I say it?” Ked countered. “You’re basically his partners in every way that counts, just like Zinn is. And I think of Ryde as my brother, the same as Lachie.”
Assa and Wes shared a look. Assa knew they were both thinking about the one important way in which the Pashuks were decidedlynotpartners with Calder and Zinn—at least not partners in the sense that everyone assumed when they heard that label being used. Like the admin had.
But Ked wasn’t finished.
“I think it kind of proves my point that you’re both standing here hyperventilating at my high school because I got an itsy-bitsy, teeny-weeny boo-boo on my face.”
Assa smiled. He loved Ked’s theatrics. He also loved hearing how Ked thought of Ryde as his brother.
What he did not love was that Ked’s official school record now stated that the five men were partners.
Then again, if Ked was in trouble, Assa wanted to be called. Because he would drop everything if Ked, Jordie, or Lachie needed him, the same as he would for Ryde. He supposed that as long as their family knew the truth, it didn’t make a difference what the school thought.
Wes shook his head. “Ked, you realize that when you tell people we’re partners, they assume…certain things. Things that aren’t happening.”
Ked snorted. “You’re talking about sex?”
Assa opened his mouth and closed it again, clicking his teeth. This was going to be a very interesting conversation when they had to explain it to Calder later.
“Did your papa tell you he asked me to talk to your brother? Is that what this is about?” Wes asked.
“He did, and Jordie said it was cool talking to you. And Valentin. But that’s what I mean. I know we live in different houses, but we’re one family, right? I don’t want to think about the sex part—obviously, ew—but we just seem an awful lot like the McGinns. Jordie thinks so too.”
“Okay, it’s true we’re close-knit like the McGinns, but they do share one house,” Wes reasoned.
Kedpffted. “Ryde has a bedroom in both houses. Lachie is at your place so much we keep his portable crib there. You came to career day at my high school and talked about the university. At your house, I’m totally comfortable opening the fridge and grabbing a soda.”
“We want you to feel at home there,” Assa said.
“And I do. That’s what I’m saying. I’m good having you pick me up at school. I like that everyone came to my play. I likethat Wes actually enjoys watching games with me. And I like that when Jordie needed advice about Kino, he asked Wes and Valentin, not Papa or Zinn.”
Wes cleared his throat. “Ked, I can’t explain how happy it makes me to hear you say that. I wanted to be a father my whole life, so having you, Jordie, and Lachie as bonus kids is…well, it’s a dream come true. But as far as being partners with your papa and Zinn—” He coughed again “The sex stuff does matter.”
“Not to me.”
