Page 117 of Forced Proximity
Or I had loved Tillie a lot before this weekend when we’d taken them to Broken Bow, Oklahoma, for the weekend.
“What’s with that face?” Finnian asked. “And bros before hos, Jack. And family above all others.”
Jack looked nervous and glanced over at me.
He didn’t know if Finnian knew, and Finnian wasn’t giving him a thing.
I knew what he was doing.
He was challenging his son to be a man and tell what he’d done wrong.
Jack didn’t surprise me when he admitted to Finnian what I’d caught them doing.
We’d meant to talk about it when we’d gotten home, but you know how it is when you get home from vacation. There was just too much laundry and shit to unpack to get to anything fast.
“Uh, yeah. So about that, Dad…” Jack drawled.
Finnian listened silently, his eyes on his son, and his face completely devoid of any emotion.
Only when Jack was done did he say, “And what lessons did we learn, Jack?”
“To not have sex with the door open,” Cort supplied, having listened to the entire thing while staying silent beside his father.
Jack glared at his brother.
“What?” Cort asked. “That’s entry-level stuff. At least try to hide it.”
The kid sure had a point.
“That I shouldn’t be having sex with my girlfriend,” Jack muttered.
“You can have sex with your girlfriend all you want,” Finnian said. “Just don’t do it when we’re around, and certainly don’t do it when you can get caught. We’re not dumb. We know how teenagers are. Also, just sayin’, but get creative and go do it in your truck. And for God’s sake, wear a condom. I don’t care if she’s on birth control. Do you know what kind of STDs you can get nowadays?”
“Yes, sir.” He looked green. “We remember the slideshow.”
I grinned.
Being a nurse had its perks.
I had plenty of books and articles that shared the dangers of unprotected sex.
They’d all gotten the lecture the moment that I felt they were old enough.
“Okay.” Finnian sighed. “What do you think the proper punishment should be?”
Jack looked resigned. “Grounding?”
“You got it.” Finnian straightened out of his lean against the counter. “A week. No phone.”
Jack gave his phone to Finnian with a grumble.
“Do you think your girlfriend’s mom is going to ask why she’s grounded from you for a week?” I batted my eyes at Jack.
“I sure the fuck hope not,” Finnian muttered. “Like I need some police officer on my ass because my son fucked his daughter.”
I giggled. “Guess we’re about to find out. That man isn’t stupid.”
“No,” Finnian groaned. “He’s not.”
