AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I jerk away and look up at him. “You think he’s having sex with her?” Sweet Gregory? Let’s just forget the fact that he’s sixteen.
“He might not be now, and he might actually listen and not for a while, but he’s sixteen and she’s already got him twisted up. I’m not about about to risk him forgetting what I’ve drilled into him ever since we first talked about it. He hasn’t told me whether he’s had sex yet, but I don’t know if he would or not.”
“Dad!” We turn around to find a red-faced and very embarrassed Gregory behind us. “Seriously? You can’t talk about my sex life with Jamie!”
“Your sex life?” Kayla says with a gasp as she rounds a rack of clothes.
“Oh god. Kill me now.” He turns and storms out of the store.
“I better go talk to him. We’ll be out front.” Brent kisses me quickly before walking outside to find Gregory.
“What was that about? Is Gregory really having sex?” Kayla asks me, worried.
“Brent doesn’t think so. He was just saying he wanted to have a talk with him since he has a girlfriend and Gregory overhead him mentioning how Gregory hadn’t told him whether he’s had sex or not and he didn’t know if he would. Did y’all find anything?” I ask to change the subject.
“We bought souvenirs at the totem pole park, so we just browsed,” Logan answers.
“Yeah, but we should wait a few minutes before going outside to give Dad enough time to talk to Gregory,” Kayla says.
We walk around the store a few more times and finally go outside. Brent and Gregory sit next to one another in rocking chairs. They stand when they see us. Gregory still doesn’t seem to be in a good mood, but nothing is said as Brent takes my hand and we walk to the gangway to get back on the ship.
Once we’re all checked in, I hand my bag to Brent and grab Gregory’s arm before he can scurry off. For some reason, I feel bad for him. He turns to me and waits.
“I want some ice cream and I know you know where it is. Do you want to show me the way and get some with me?”
He glances at Brent suspiciously, but says, “Ah, sure. Ice cream sounds good.”
We leave everyone behind as Gregory leads me to one of the upper decks. We both get chocolate ice cream on a cone. I convince Gregory to sit down at a nearby table with me.
“I’m sorry if you were embarrassed earlier.”
As soon as the words are out of my mouth, his face turns red. “You don’t have to apologize, Jamie. Dad and I have everything settled.”
“You still look upset, though, and since you have my back, I thought I should have yours too.”
Gregory’s eyebrows shoot up as if this surprises him. “Thanks.”
My h
ope that he’d say more fizzles out the longer we sit there, enjoy our ice cream, and Gregory says nothing. Eventually, I say, “So, there’s nothing you want to talk about?”
Gregory cocks his head to the side. “You’d just go back and tell my dad. I like you, Jamie, but I’m not stupid.”
“I wouldn’t if you didn’t want me to and if what you told me wasn’t serious, so I wouldn’t feel obligated to tell him. I promise.”
He doesn’t believe me in the least. It’s written all over his skeptical face. There and in his, “Uh-huh.”
“Why don’t you try me? If I tell Brent, then you know you can’t trust me. You know if you tell someone, you’ll feel better with it off your chest and you can go back to enjoying the trip.”
Gregory waits until we’ve finished our ice creams to nod. “Fine. But if I find out you told him, you’ll have to watch your own back.”
“I promise the only thing I’ll do is use my knowledge to help your dad figure out what to do without telling him anything, if he seems to need help, that is.”
He sighs. “This is going to come back and bite me in the ass.”
“Thanks for your faith,” I snap back, not really meaning to be so snappy. “Get on with it already.”
“Fine. I think it’s weird for Dad to talk to you about whether I’m having sex or not.” I nod, understanding that. “But I can get over it as long as I don’t hear it. What pisses me off is that he thinks I’d be careless. I’ve heard both him and Mom talk about how hard it was on them to have Kayla young and they were older than I am. Not to mention, look at what it did to their marriage. I’m not stupid enough to have sex without protection and it makes me mad that he thinks I would be. Whether I’m crazy over a girl or not, I can still think.” Gregory takes a deep breath and leans back in his seat, looking defeated. “It’s not fun to realize Dad doesn’t trust you.”
