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“Fuck no,” Hudson says, shaking his head. “I’m busy.”
“We’re all busy,” Keaton reminds him with a smirk. “No one is too busy if it’s the right girl.”
“I’mtoo busy for a woman,” Hudson clarifies.
“Same goes,” Liam agrees. “I’m at the firehouse more than I’m home. Plus, women think they want to date a firefighter because, let’s be honest, we’re hot as hell, but when the reality of long hours and dangerous work sets in, they split.”
I don’t say it in front of the others, but Liam catches my gaze and then quickly looks away, reading my mind.
He’s not interested in dating because he’s not overher.
And I can’t blame him for that. If something ever happened and I couldn’t be with London, I wouldn’t get over it easily, either.
“We leave on Thursday,” Hudson says, reminding us. “I have to get some shit together. I don’t own skis.”
“You don’t have to own skis,” I tell him. “You can rent them.”
“Nah, I should get some. It’ll give me a reason to go more often around here.”
“I thought you were too busy for extra shit,” Liam says.
Hudson shrugs. “Skis aren’t nearly as demanding as women.”
“How many daysare you going to be gone?”
I’m hanging out with Caleb while his mom finishes packing her things. We have to be at the airport in two hours, and we have to drop off Caleb at my parents’ house on the way. At least with the private jet, they won’t leave without us.
“I’m pretty sure your mom already talked to you about this, but we’re going to be gone for four days. We come back Sunday night. Do you want us to pick you up that night, no matter how late it is, or would it be okay if we get you Monday morning?”
Caleb looks surprised that he’s being given a choice, and then he purses his lips as he thinks it over.
“I think I want you to get me Sunday night so I can hear all about it.”
“Okay. I’ll call you that night to make sure you haven’t changed your mind.”
He nods thoughtfully.
“Caleb, I need to tell you, it’ssoimportant that you don’t try to pull something on my parents like you did on Quinn. Onanyone, actually. I’m trusting you to be respectful and to remember that you’re a guest in their home. Your mom and I can’t just hop in the car and get back super-fast if something were to happen like it did the other night. Of course, if there’s a true emergency, we’ll move heaven and earth to get to you, but you can’t cry wolf again.”
“Cry wolf?”
“Haven’t you heard the story of the boy who cried wolf?”
He shakes his head, his eyes wide and on mine, as I relay the story to him. “So, in the end, he lost his sheep and his own life because he’d lied so much in the past.”
“So, if I do it again, and if I lie and you come home, you won’t trust that if something bad reallydidhappen, that it was real and I could be in danger.”
“Exactly, kiddo. That’s exactly my point. So, we need to be able to trust that it won’t happen again. It’s really important.”
“I won’t.” He shakes his head slowly, finally understanding the gravity of the situation. “I won’t do it again. Honest. Even though I can’t go, I really do hope you have fun and like it a lot so you want to go back and take me with you.”
“That’s a good attitude. We’ll call it a scouting mission.”
“Yeah.” He sighs, rubbing his nose. “I guess it’s okay that you’re with my mom.”
“I’m glad you think so. Is it okay that I’m with you, too?”
That makes his lips tip up in a grin. “Yeah. You’re pretty okay.”
