Page 101 of Grin and Bear It

I froze for a second, feeling my cheeks heat needlessly, forcing me to turn around, look closer at the boys. We didn’t look anything alike, couldn’t, because there was no blood connection between us, but… Part of me felt way too pleased by that comment, even if I knew that she was just laying on the bullshit for a customer.

I paid the woman and we walked out of the shop, up to the wall that separated the beach from the footpath, watching the sunlight refract off the waves as they rose and then crashed into the sand.

“So what’s going on with Uncle Cole?”

I didn’t look at them directly. Teenage boys were like unbroken horses, powerful but easily spooked.

“Nothing, we—”

“You didn’t want to be in the car with him, got me to pick you up for a reason.” I glanced their way briefly, saw they had paused mid lick of their ice cream. “So what’s going on?”

“Nothing,” Knox replied.

“We didn’t want—”

Maddox stopped himself, looking at his brother guiltily.

“Fuck, you never keep your mouth shut,” Knox growled.

“Or he was just answering my question honestly,” I countered. “That’s what families do, don’t they?” I turned to face them, keeping my gaze neutral, my tone even. “And isn’t that what we are?”

Maddox stared at Knox, as if willing him to make the right choice, but he wouldn’t say anything, not until Knox did. The boy nodded finally, his mouth thinning. He took a big bite of his ice cream, wincing at the sudden rush of cold, I bet, but when he turned to face me, he did so as a man.

“Uncle Cole took Ms Jennings to school today.”

“OK.”

I knew that already, the news of what had gone down last night finally filtering through our group chat some time mid-morning.

“And he drove up onto the footpath of the school with that big car of his and dropped Miss off.”

Be careful, Mom’s voice said inside my head right then.Be real careful.

“And?” I prompted gently.

Maddox worked methodically at eating his ice cream, but his eyes were open and staring, making me wonder what he was thinking.

“And then when all the kids were losing their shit at the car, and Miss being in there with some guy, he…” Knox squared his shoulders. “He kissed her. No little peck either, or I don’t think. I didn’t look because urk!” He mimicked vomiting. “But everyone else… They all…”

“They know your teacher is having some kind of relationship with one of your uncles,” I finished for him.

“Yeah.”

The two of them watched me like a pair of wild animals caught in the headlights, staring and not sure where to jump.

“And if you got in that damn car, people would see you and Miss Jennings and Cole and make assumptions.”

“They already are.” Everyone focussed on Maddox, which had him flushing. “People talk. They always fucking talk and now it’s about her and him and… No one used to give us shit about Mum and the dads. People were cool, but now…”

“Now we’re getting questions. Is she with him and all of you? Is she living in our house? Is she our new mum?” Knox’s eyes flashed and his jaw muscle tightened as he said those words. “Our guys have been shutting people down—”

“But kids talk.” I nodded then, crunching the last of my cone, then wiping the trails of melted ice cream from my hands before tossing the napkin in the nearby bin. “They always fucking talk.”

I’d been relieved to find out the school community had got behind the boys when they returned to school. Nash was just starting to tune out when the boys started going back to class, probably because he figured that the boys would be OK with their close knit friendship group to lean on, not realising they needed all of it, their buddies, him and us. But right when they got their uncle back, they got an added complication in the form of our true mate.

“The way I look at it is like this. You had a relationship of sorts with Miss Jennings. She was your teacher, you were her students. But now that’s changed.” They watched me closely, finishing off their ice creams mutely. “In a way. Our relationship is shifting with her on a daily basis and you know why. That’s the way it always works when you find your true mate and you’ll be the same when it happens to you.”

The boys snorted their disgust at that idea, making me smile.

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