Page 2 of Give Me Three

My lips trembled, tears threatening as the kind, older woman handed me the urn holding my wife’s ashes. Spencer reached over, grabbing it from me and clutching it to his chest. I rested my hand on his hair, scraping my blunt nails against his scalp in the way Penelope used to when he was sick or he was having a bad day.

But I knew it wasn’t the same. Her nails had always been manicured and pretty and were capable of soothing both me and Spencer to sleep when she did it. My nails were blunt, barely reaching the tips of my fingers, and my fingers were too thick to ever be like hers.

“Thank you,” I rasped.

“Of course.” She offered me a small, sympathetic smile. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

I just nodded. What was I supposed to say to that?

Turning, I led Spencer to the car. Once we were inside, we both just sat there. He stared down at the remains of his mother, and I stared out the windshield, feeling like my heart was shredding itself apart. But how was that possible when it’d already been ripped apart when she took her last breath?

“What do we do from here, Dad?” Spencer suddenly asked, his voice raw with pain.

I roughly cleared my throat and reached forward to start the car.

“I don’t know, kid,” I told him honestly. “But we’ll figure it out. I promise.”

CHAPTER 1

Jaxon

“Are you sure you don’t need help unpacking all of this?” Spencer asked. He was standing with his hands on his hips, staring at the mess of my new house, which was cluttered with boxes.

I glanced around, biting back a tired sigh. I never thought I’d be moving again. Spencer and I had discussed him moving back to Tennessee after college when we’d moved there. But then, in his senior year of high school, he fell in love with Ezra and Logan, and when Spencer and Ezra went to the University of Florida for college, Logan eventually followed. Their relationship was unconventional, and so many people considered it wrong, but it worked for them. And they were happy. That was all I gave a fuck about.

There was nothing for me in Tennessee, so when Spencer told me they had decided to live in Gainesville permanently, I’d packed up and moved there, too. Spencer was the only familyI had left. Moving to be near him had been one of the easiest decisions I’d made as a father.

“Nah,” I assured him. I narrowed my eyes at Logan as he stepped out of the kitchen with a bag of dill pickle flavored chips in his hand. Ezra snorted at the annoyed look on my face. Loganlovedpushing my buttons. I loved the kid like he was my own, but he could be a real asshole sometimes. “Seriously, kid?” I demanded.

He shrugged a bare shoulder at me revealed by his black tank top. “I was hungry. Moving all your shit was a lot.”

I sighed. “Whatever,” I muttered, choosing to ignore that it was literally my last fucking bag of chips.

Triumph lit up his eyes. Logan loved arguing with me. He was… a troublemaker, and while he’d calmed down a lot, no longer got into fights, and was emotionally settled for the most part, he still liked to pusheveryone’sbuttons he could. He’d gone through hell and back, and trauma had left its mark on him.

“It’s a lot of work, Jaxon,” Ezra told me, a frown pulling at his lips. “We can help.”

I shook my head. “It’ll keep me busy. I took two weeks off work to handle the move,” I reminded him.

Spencer sighed. “Alright. If you say so.” He looked at Ezra and Logan. “Are y’all ready to head out?” He snatched the bag of chips out of Logan’s hands and handed them to me. Logan huffed, playfully glaring at Spencer. I smirked and reached into the bag, pulling a chip out. When I plopped it into my mouth, grinning, Logan rolled his eyes.

“We need to get food on the way home, then,” Logan told Spencer. “Since you stole my food and all that.”

Ezra scoffed and wrapped an arm around Logan’s neck, pulling him in for a short kiss that Loganthankfullylet stay PG. That boy had a habit of turning even the smallest things into something dirty. It was one of his… gifts, I guessed. I knewa lotmore about my son and his sex life than Ieverwanted to because of Logan and his big mouth.

“You’ll be fine. Spencer took food out to cook, remember? You’ll be patient until then, won’t you?”

He sighed, but the soft smile he shot Spencer turned my son all… fuzzy. Christ. It was almost uncomfortable to witness.

“You three head on out,” I told them. “I’m going to crash on the couch for the night and then tackle all this tomorrow.”

Spencer hugged me, and immediately, I wrapped my arms around him, squeezing him to me. “Call one of us if you want help. Or even just company,” he told me.

“I will,” I promised as I released him from my hug.

The house fell into eerie silence once Logan’s new jeep disappeared down the quiet street. I frowned, rubbing at my chest. I thought I’d gotten used to the silence after Spencer left for college and Logan eventually moved out, leaving me home alone all day to just work and exist. But being in a new house again, this time without my son in town, just felt… wrong.

I knew I’d get used to it with time. But it still felt eerily strange.

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