Page 41 of The Virgin
“Both of those are my job, Jonah. To feed you and protect you.”
“I’m twenty-seven.”
“You’re still my kid. All I want is for you to be happy and healthy.”
“Well… I’m healthy, and I’m working on the whole happy thing.”
His dad pondered that for a moment, then nodded before repeating his line from earlier, “I suppose that will have to do.”
“Hey, I’m stopping by Spencer’s after. Can Taylor whip something up for him?”
“Sure thing. Any preference?”
“One of those breakfast burritos?”
His dad pushed himself to his feet and clapped him on the shoulder on the way by. “I’ll be back in a second.”
Jonah scoped out the restaurant. Sometimes the nostalgia choked him when he sat in this booth. He’d studied here in high school. He’d worked here too. So many of his memories were tied up in this place. The diner was almost like a family member.
Across the diner, Jonah made eye contact with a familiar face. Internally he groaned, but outwardly he smiled. Only to be polite, but Grant stood and made his way over to Jonah. His nephew stayed where he was, but offered Jonah a smile and a wave, which Jonah was happy to return.
“Good morning, Jonah.”
“Grant. What brings you by? Does Tyler need tutoring? I still have summer spots available.”
“No, he’s all caught up and excelling, actually. Thanks to you.” Grant tucked his thumbs into his pockets and rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet. He wasn’t an unattractive man, but there wasn’t anything about him that Jonah found appealing enough to say yes to going on a date. It was a shame that Grant didn’t seem to know how to take no for an answer. Jonah could hear the question before Grant asked it. He knew it was coming. It always did.
“I was thinking, if you’re free next weekend, I have tickets to this concert. It’s a string quartet that covers rock songs.”
“I—” Jonah started to refuse.
“You should come with us.” Tyler suddenly appeared, all bright-eyed and excited. He was a good kid who had been dealt a shitty hand in life. Grant was doing his best to help him adjust to all the changes he’d gone through.
“Go where?” Jonah’s dad appeared and slid into his seat. “Nice to see you, Grant. Hey, Tyler.”
“Uncle Grant has tickets to a concert. We’re taking Mr. B,”Tyler said, using Jonah’s teacher name.
“Well, that sounds like of fun.” Jonah’s dad said, his approval like a nail in Jonah’s coffin.
“Jonah loves music.” Another nail. “Isn’t that right, Jonah?”
“I do, but?—”
“Great. We’ll pick you up at seven on Saturday.”
If it was just Grant, Jonah would’ve said no, but Tyler looked at him with big, expectant eyes. The kid didn’t get excited about much of anything, and though it might be a cheap, manipulative trick, Jonah found himself unwilling to say no outright.
“I might have a previous engagement. Can I check in with you later?”Jonah wanted to throw up. The sugar from the pancake syrup and grease from the bacon were a bad combination with being backed into a corner. Worse, Jonah couldn’t find it in him to refuse Grant. Not because of Grant, but because Grant’s nephew had suffered through many disappointments in his life. Jonah couldn’t fix them all, but he was fond of Tyler and didn’t want to let him down.
“I still have your number from tutoring. I’ll call you later.” Jonah wanted nothing more than to get the fuck out of that diner and away from the kid with the sad backstory and the innocent doe eyes.
Taylor appeared with a breakfast burrito all wrapped up to go, and Jonah sprang to his feet, eager to flee the situation. “I have to run. Thanks for breakfast, Dad. And the invite, Grant. We’ll talk soon.”
Jonah hightailed it out of there, his heart a wild, frightened animal thrashing against his ribs the whole way home. Disappointment nearly crushed him when he saw Spencer’s vehicle was gone. Jonah checked his text messages and, sure enough, Spencer had to help Greta with an emergency.
Jonah leaned forward, rested his forehead on the steering wheel, and let out a deep breath. He’d dodged a bullet only to be hit with a cannonball. And not for the first time, Jonah questioned the sanity of his decision to start something with Spencer in the first place.
Jonah tapped out a message to Spencer, asking him to call the minute he was free.
