Page 41 of The Grumpy Vet
"So, we'll be fine with your dad. Besides, he's not going to stay forever, I assume, so it's only for a little while that we're going to have to make some…adjustments."
"Yeah." I chew down my lower lip. "I guess you're right."
Dario's argument is solid, and I want to believe him, but I'm still in shock. Just mentioning Dad casually in a conversation when the three of us are talking is enough to throw me for a loop. Being face-to-face with him in Linus's house with the taste of Linus's cum still lingering in my mouth is enough to send me spiralling.
Which I'm going to try super hard not to do. The stakes are just as high for Linus as they are for me, and I need to get my shit together because the last thing I want to do is ruin their decades-long friendship.
"Penny for your thoughts," Dario says as I pull into the driveway.
"I'm just thinking about how to best handle this situation." I kill the engine and turn to face Dario. "Dad cannot find out about this."
"I know."
"Whatever it takes, we have to make sure he doesn't."
"I agree." Then, in an attempt to lighten the mood, Dario sticks out his pinky finger and wiggles it in front of me. "To doing whatever it takes."
I hook mine around his and repeat, "To doing whatever it takes."
"Can we talk for a second, son?"
"Uh, sure. Gimme a sec," I reply to Dad who's standing in the doorway of the laundry.
I finish folding the last of my clothes and follow him into the kitchen. He's been in Scuttlebutt for almost a week now, and it's been great hanging out together. I miss him a lot, and I've been worried about him since Fiona called things off. Shewas nice, and I got on really well with her, but as he explained, they wanted different things. She's super career focused, while he wants to buy a camper van and do a lap of Australia. It was an amicable breakup, but it still sucks that a great guy like him is single again. When I joked over beers at the pub a few days ago that he should widen his horizons and date a dude, he chuckled and said, "Maybe I should."
He's going back to Blowend tomorrow. Linus, Dario, and I have all done a stellar job of acting normal and not raising any suspicions. Training sessions have just been me and Dario, and due to our work schedules, we've only all hung out together twice. We're on the brink of pulling it off. Dad doesn't suspect a thing. Which is a massive relief, but also…a little sad?
He and I are close. Always have been since Mum up and left one day when I was seven. She hooked up with some guy from high school, and that was it. She and Dad weren't married, but they were living together, and hello, they had a kid. But none of that mattered to her, so it's been me and him ever since.
He's not just my dad, he's also my best friend. We have a great relationship, and I've always been able to share everything with him. I came out to him when I was twelve. He was with me during my embarrassing Justin Bieber crush era. He supported me as I see-sawed between Team Edward and Team Jacob—I finally settled on Team Jacob because abs. I even told him about the first time I had sex and how it didn't feel as great as I thought it would.
Through it all, he's been my biggest backer, my unconditional support system, a complete judgement-free zone.
But this?
Telling him what Linus, Dario, and I have been doing would be pushing it too far. This breaks so many conventions, and as cool and accepting and open-minded as Dad is, I know he'dstruggle to accept his best mate and his son doing the stuff we've been doing.
It's a line too far.
A line we've crossed so many times, and I feel awful that a part of me wants Dad to hurry up and leave so we can go back and keep crossing it as soon as he's gone.
At the same time, I feel terrible keeping a secret from him, even one like this that could possibly upset him and ruin his friendship with Linus.
"What's up?" I ask, plonking down beside him on the couch.
"I want to tell you something I've observed during my time here."
My heart stutters with nerves behind my ribcage. "Um. Okay. What's that?"
"I could be way off, but I doubt it. Even though my own love life is in shambles at the moment, I can spot someone in love from a mile away."
Forget stuttering, my heartstops. Like, it's about to take a beat but goes,Nah, I'ma skip this one. "Wh-what are you saying?"
"Dario," he replies in that all-knowing Dad voice he gets sometimes.
I scrunch up my nose. "Dario?"
"He's in love with you."
