Page 36 of Instant Bond

“If you would just let go and trust me, I could get you used to it very quickly,” he murmured, before pulling me in for another kiss. I believed him. But something in me was just… Afraid. I wasn’t sure why. It wasn’t like I’d been treated badly by guys in my past or anything. No relationship baggage to speak of. My only abuser was life itself.

“I’m trying,” I said honestly, when I needed to take a break to breathe anyway. “I’m really-”

A set of three staccato raps sounded from my front door. Slowly, I turned to face it, my stomach dropping into my guts.

“It’ll be okay,” Karter reminded me. His voice steeled me a bit, so I scrambled off his lap and headed to the door. When I opened it, I was faced with a professional-looking woman in a fancy suit. She was middle-aged, with a severe expression on her face, and her long braids of hair were tied back into a dark ponytail. She had a briefcase in one hand, and a clipboard held to her chest in the other.

“Are you Cameron Taylor?” She asked.

“Yeah,” I answered.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Taylor. My name is Kanae Jackson. I’ve been assigned the task of investigating your son’s case report.”

“Already?” I blurted out. That was probably a bad thing. I didn’t want her to think I needed time to hide all the dead bodies or whatever they would be checking for.

She gave me a curt nod before speaking. “I’ll need to come inside, if that’s okay.”

“Oh. Um, sure,” I backed up from the door and waved her in. “Whatever you need.”

She explained some basic stuff like about how a report had been filed, and how she had already looked into my background and Ty’s health records. She told me that if her investigation uncovered anything they considered to be threatening to his health, he would be removed from the home.

“Tytan Taylor’s safety is my top priority,” she went on. “Is he here?”

“His bus will be here in about fifteen minutes,” I answered, slightly numb with nerves.

“That’s fine. I’d like to start with looking around your home, if I may?”

“Um, yeah, I guess so. His room’s over here,” I said, hurrying over to it and opening the door. I winced a little, wishing I’d made him clean his room any time recently. But even when I did, he’d just mess it up again within a day. But at least it was only cluttered with books and toys and nothing gross like trash or food.

“That’s fine, thank you. I’ll let you know if I have any questions.” She walked in, taking notes on her clipboard. I knew if I didn’t walk away I’d just hover over her, nervously rambling, so I forced myself back to the couch, where Karter had been watching us like a hawk.

“His name is Tytan?” Karter asked in a hushed voice, giving me an odd look.

“I named him when I was sixteen,” I reminded him, mildly embarrassed. I was glad Ty was popular with the other kids and would probably not be made fun of for having an edgy teenager’s idea of a cool name. “You have a problem with that?”

“No, I just assumed his name was Tyler.”

“You thought his name was Tyler Taylor?” I asked, wrinkling my nose in disgust. “Gross.”

“I… Didn’t put it together with your last name, I suppose,” he admitted. “Tytan is great,” he added quickly. “It’s very unique.”

“Thank you.” I knew he’d probably only said it not to hurt my feelings. But there was no way anyone could ever think Tyler was cooler than Tytan.

After a few minutes, Kanae emerged from his room. “I’ll be looking around the other rooms in the house now, Mr. Taylor. And may I ask who you are?” She asked, turning to Karter.

“I’m Karter Morrison,” he answered, firmly meeting her eyes.

“And you’re a friend of Mr. Taylor?”

He hesitated, glancing back over to me. “Uh, we’re…”

“Lovers?” She asked, looking up from her clipboard. She didn’t have a judgmental tone in her voice, but I still felt myself blushing.

“Um, yeah, basically,” I answered.

“Do you normally bring your lovers around Ty?”

“No!” I snapped it out. “Never. They haven’t even met yet,” I added. “I never do that!” I probably sounded insane, but being accused of that made me feel so defensive.

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