Initiative (Suncoast Society #31)(64)

“Duh. A few months after he moved in.” He cocked his head. “Seriously? All his stuff is in your bathroom.”

Darryl had covered his face with his hand. “Shit,” he muttered.

“And you haven’t told your mother this?” Grant asked.

“No! It’s none of her business.”

“Then we all owe you an apology,” Grant said. “Can we sit down and talk to you without you getting any angrier at us?”

“Are you going to keep lying to me?”

“No,” Grant said. “We’ll tell you everything.”

Kyle warily eyed Susie but let the men steer him into the living room, where they got him seated in one of the easy chairs at the end of the couch.

Susie was completely off the playbook at this point, and so was Darryl. They both looked to Grant to take point.

Grant sat on the end of the coffee table, in front of Kyle, and appeared to compose his thoughts. “Yes,” he quietly said. “Your dad and I have been in a relationship.”

“But now you’re going to break up, aren’t you? And—”

“Shh,” Grant gently said. “Let me finish.”

Kyle sullenly glared at him but went quiet.

“Your dad and I have been in a relationship. As you noted, we had to keep it quiet. But what you don’t know is that we are both in a relationship with Susie, too.”

Kyle frowned. “What?”

“The three of us are…dating each other.”

“But Mom said Dad and Susie are getting married.”

“They…are. It’s complicated. But the three of us are still going to live together. There was a problem, and Susie had to do what she did today to keep your dad out of trouble.”

“Why?”

Susie wanted to tell this part. She felt she owed the boy that much. She reached out and touched Grant’s shoulder and he nodded.

“Remember how I told you my husband died?”

Kyle nodded.

“Remember how I told you his brother still worked at the dealership?”

“Yeah?”

“Well, yesterday, I bought him out to get him out of my life once and for all. His parents, my husband’s parents, didn’t like that. They came in this morning and threatened me, threatened your dad. They had…” She sighed. “They had pictures of me and your dad, and of me and Grant. We were in the pool together at my house. Pictures of us kissing.”

“Ew, they spied on you?”

“Exactly.”

“Creepy.”

“Yeah. Very creepy. My ex-father-in-law came in this morning and threatened to go to your dad’s boss and show him the pictures and tell him that I was dating both Grant and your dad, and to get him fired. So I had to think fast. I got a bunch of stuff ready and made it there first and told the reverend that the reason my father-in-law wanted to meet with him was to plan our wedding.”

He stared at her for a moment, then to Grant, and Darryl. “So you’re not getting married?”

“We are now,” Darryl muttered.

“It’s okay,” Grant said. “If your dad and I get married, he’ll definitely lose his job. If Susie and I get married now, Marcus Costello will try to get your dad fired.”

Kyle seemed to digest that. “Soo…you’re sort of like that Sister Wives show? Except…not?”

“Huh?” Susie asked.

“Guy has a bunch of wives,” Kyle said. “It’s a reality show. He’s only legally married to one of them. They’re…morons or something.”

Grant snorted. “Mormons?”

“Yeah, that.”

“No,” Grant said, “we’re not Mormons. We’re what’s called poly. I love your dad, and he loves me. We both love Susie, and she loves us. Unfortunately, in this country, there are legal restrictions on how many people you can marry at the same time. If any of this gets out, your dad will lose his job, I could lose my job, and your mom will most likely try to take visitation away from your dad.”

“Yeah,” Kyle said. “She would.” He stared at Susie for a long, uncomfortable moment. “So you really love both of them?”

She nodded. “I loved them when I was in high school. I mean, we didn’t do anything in high school. We were just friends. But we’re older now, and it seems we met again for a good reason. And yes, I wish I could marry both of them, but I was scared your dad was going to lose his job and you, so I had to think fast. I bought a ring, got a bunch of florist and bakery brochures, and made the reverend think we were there to talk about a wedding. I couldn’t let your dad lose custody of you or lose his job.”

Kyle seemed to digest that. “Well, what did the guy say when you told Dad’s boss that you were getting married? Your husband’s father?”

“He couldn’t say anything at that point. He would have looked creepy, as you said, for having pictures of me and your dad that he took in secret.”

Kyle slowly nodded. “You outsmarted him.”

“Yeah. Fortunately for me, not hard to do in this case.”

“So Dad won’t be moving out of Grant’s?”

“Well, we haven’t got that far yet,” Grant said. “If your question is will all three of us be living together, the answer is yes. I hate to ask this of you, but you can’t tell people the full truth. Not now, anyway. Once you’re eighteen and your mom can’t cause any trouble—”