Page 115 of The Shots You Take

“I thought you guys liked Ethan,” Adam said. “I like Ethan.”

“Sorry. Mom saw him first,” Lucy said dryly.

Adam let out a surprised laugh. “Was that a joke?”

Lucy shrugged.

“For the record, I’m not into Ethan.”

“If you say so.” She smiled, and it was the first warm expression Adam had seen on her face since she’d arrived.

He smiled back and said, “Shut up.”

They both laughed, and it felt like dark clouds disappearing. Adam began to open the bags of Thai food and set the containers out on the island. Cole got plates from the cupboard without being asked, and then forks.

“Are you intoanyone?” Lucy asked casually a few minutes later.

Adam swallowed his mouthful of pad Thai and said, “What do you mean?”

“Like, are you dating or anything?”

He knew he was blushing and hoped it wasn’t obvious. “I don’t know. Maybe.”

Lucy’s eyes lit up. “Are you?”

“Ugh. Yuck,” Cole groaned, then quickly said, “That’s not because you’re gay. It’s because you’re my dad.”

“Noted,” Adam said. “And, yeah, we don’t have to talk about this.”

“But I want to,” Lucy insisted. “Do you have a boyfriend? You can tell us you know.”

“Thank you,” Adam said sincerely, “but I’m not really—I mean, I don’t know if ‘boyfriend’ is the right word…” He realized too late that this sounded like he was telling his teenage kids that he had a fuck buddy. “We’re taking it slow,” he amended. “It’s a long-distance kind of thing. Someone I reunited with recently.”

“I wonder where he lives,” Cole said sarcastically.

Adam pointed his fork at him. “Listen.” And when he couldn’t think of any way to finish that sentence, he said, “All right. Yes. He’s in Nova Scotia.”

“Dad,” Lucy said. “It’s obviously that Ryan guy.”

“Riley,” Adam corrected her, then cringed at himself. “Not that—okay. Yes.”

“Aw, you’re dating your old teammate,” Lucy cooed. “That’s cute. Love that for you.”

“Again, I don’t know that we’re ‘dating’ exactly. But I really like him.”

“Are you going to move to Nova Scotia?” Cole asked.

“The other guy could move here,” Lucy pointed out. “He’d probably move here, right?”

“Why would he move here?”

“Uh, because it’s Toronto and you’re rich? Is there even anything to do in…whatever his town is called?”

“Avery River. And yes, there’s lots to do. There are beaches, and there’s a farmers market. Riley does a lot of gardening. Um…”

Both kids stared blankly at him.

“It’s really beautiful there!” Adam insisted. “I’ll take you there sometime. You’ll see.”

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