I waited in front of the main window in my house, looking out to the street and waiting for Hunter and Holden to get there. Any other weekend, I would have been mad at the thought of heading back to school and giving up my Saturday, but as long as the two of them were there, I had no problem at all heading back in.

Besides, a member of the staff had to oversee the detention they’d given Hunter for the little stunt he’d pulled during the week. I still couldn’t believe someone like Hunter could do something like that, but then I’d found out Jason Mann was involved, and it all slotted into place. Jason was a bit of a rebel, not much bothering to let the rules get to him wherever he could, and he was popular for it. I was surprised when I heard the two of them were spending time together, but I supposed it was sort of sweet too. They were bonding, even if what they were bonding over was painting their names on the back of the school’s janitorial shed.

Holden was making the right choice by sending him back to the school to clean it up, though. It was exactly the sort of thing that would keep him from doing it again without going overboard. I had no idea how Jason’s parents were dealing with it, but they seemed content to give him a longer rope than he should ever have. They were probably talking up their son’s latest modern art installation, knowing them, instead of teaching him that people weren’t going to be so impressed with this play once he got a little older and grew out of his cute little chubby cheeks and cheeky smile.

I saw Holden’s car pulling up the driveway and headed outside to meet them. It was a cool day, colder than I’d expected, and I wrapped my coat tightly around myself as I slipped into the front seat next to Holden.

“How’s it going?” I asked, fighting the urge to lean over and give him a kiss to greet him hello. We weren’t quite there yet, and Hunter certainly wasn’t. The last thing I wanted was to make this day any more uncomfortable than it already was for him.

“Tiring.” Holden glanced in the mirror at Hunter. “Had a little trouble getting this one out of bed to take care of his mess this morning.”

“I feel you.” I flashed a smile at Hunter. It was a little weird for me, given that I was his teacher, but this also felt like a date with his dad. We hadn’t seen each other since the weekend before when I’d slept over and we’d gone out together afterward. I’d missed him more than I should, especially because he’d been busy with work and sorting out everything with Hunter and hadn’t had much time to keep in touch.

We headed over to the school, and I went to grab the paint can and painting supplies that the janitor had left out for Hunter to use over the weekend. I handed them to him, pointed him in the direction of the shed, and planted my hands on my hips.

“Off you go!” I told him, waving my hands, and he trudged over to take care of his graffiti. There was hardly anything, really, a few tiny smudges of paint, but I wanted to see him deal with it anyway. The only way to stop this kind of thing from happening again was to nip it in the bud early, before he got it in his mind that it was worth doing.

Holden and I took a seat on the small bench at the other end of the playground, and we kept an eye on Hunter while he worked. Holden slung his arm casually along the back of the seat, and I found myself shifting back against it, wanting to feel the weight of him near to me. I had missed him so much, not only talking to him but his presence, being near him, feeling his softness and his warmth coming off him in waves.

“What do you know about this Jason kid?” Holden asked as Hunter began to paint. “Hunter says that was the boy he did this with.”

“Yeah, Jason’s all right,” I said. “Popular. Bit of a troublemaker but nothing bad, just a kid who probably gets encouraged in everything he’s ever thought of at home.”

“Popular?” Holden raised his eyebrows.

“Yeah, he’s always got his little crew around him.”

“And now Hunter’s part of that?” He grinned. I could see how excited he was at the mere thought. I supposed it was a big deal, once I thought about it. Only a few months ago, I never would have known Hunter to do anything like this, let alone doing it with one of the most popular kids in his class.

“Well, if this doesn’t do it, nothing will,” I replied, gesturing to the cleaning operation taking place in front of us.

“That’s good to hear.” Holden leaned back and grinned, stretching his arm over his head before he let it come to rest behind my shoulders once more. I shot him a look out of the corner of my eye and raised my eyebrows.

“You’re totally pleased about this, aren’t you?”

“Well, we met because you said he wasn’t making any friends,” he replied. We were far enough away that Hunter couldn’t hear us, and I let out a laugh.

“Okay, but this wasn’t precisely what I had in mind.” I waved my hand in the direction of Hunter and the paint smears on the walls, which were rapidly disappearing under the busy hand of his paintbrush.

“Yeah, but it’s something, isn’t it?” Holden pointed out. “Look, I know it sounds weird, but he seems like he’s had such a hard time finding people he connects with. Then you come along, and he gets on so well with you, and then the after-school clubs, and now this…”

As he trailed off, I could see him getting a little misty-eyed.

“Look at you, getting all soppy.” I nudged him.

“This is my son we’re talking about,” he pointed out. “I think if I’m allowed to get a little soppy over anything, it should be him.”

“Fair point.” I grinned. “And I guess you’re right. He’s been doing well on the social front the last few months, better than he has in the whole time I’ve known him, at least.”

“I think it’s going to get better,” Holden replied. “Him getting involved in silly boy stuff like this—it’s good news, I think, in the long term.”

“If not for our weekend plans.”

“I can live with it if you can,” he shot back, and he briefly traced his fingers across my neck. I shivered, and it had nothing to do with the cold that time around.

“I’m sure I’ll find a way to push through.” I sighed like this was all some deep struggle I could barely handle, and I was doing some great noble task by going through with it.

“I appreciate the effort,” Holden grinned. “And I’ll have to find a way to pay you back later.”

“Mmm.” I shivered on the spot again and gave him a look. “Maybe save this till later, huh? Don’t want us getting into trouble for inappropriate conduct on school grounds.”

“It’d be totally worth it,” he protested, but then he shrugged and held his hands away from me to show he wasn’t putting the moves on me. “But whatever you think is best.”

We turned back to watching Hunter, who was moving in small, careful strokes to make sure he’d covered every inch of the painted words he and Jason had left behind. I smiled as he turned to us expectantly, pointing to the bare wall.

“Is it done?” he asked, and I got to my feet to take a look. Inspecting the wall closely, I made sure every drop of the paint they’d put there was invisible, and only the new application was noticeable on top of it.

I nodded. “Looks good to me. We’ll let this dry and then see if it needs another coat of paint, all right?”

“All right.” Hunter nodded and just looked glad it was all over. I waved Holden across to us, disappointed by how quickly this had all been over and done with. We barely got to spend any time together, and no doubt Holden would want to take Hunter home so as not to prolong his punishment.

“Looks good, son.” He nodded to the wall proudly. I grinned. It was good to see a parent who cared about their kid learning the difference between right and wrong, but at the same time, I loved seeing one who supported and complimented everything their child worked on too. It was the perfect balance, the balance Holden seemed to have no trouble finding when it came to Hunter.

“What now?” I asked, raising my eyebrows at Holden, and he grinned at me.

“I was thinking,” he began, flicking his tongue over his lips as though he was about to make a huge announcement. “Ice cream?”

“Little cold for that, isn’t it?” I pointed out, and he shook his head.

“Not if we get it with hot fudge sauce, right, Hunter?” he asked, and Hunter’s face brightened.

“Yeah!” he agreed, and they both turned to me expectantly. I planted my hands on my hips and stared them down for a moment. If I kept going along with all these spontaneous trips, I was going to end up blowing my nonexistent diet and not being able to fit into that beautiful dress I’d bought for our first date all those weeks ago. But as I looked at their faces, I knew it was worth it. Totally worth it.

“Let’s get out of here.” I waved my hand toward the parking lot of the school, and within a few minutes, we’d dropped all the painting supplies off inside and were on our way down to the ice cream shop Holden had taken me to the first evening we’d spent together.

“Have you been here before?” Hunter asked, and I glanced at Holden. I had no idea whether he’d told the boy about our first date or the details of it or where he’d taken me. I shrugged.

“Once,” I replied vaguely. “But I don’t remember much about it.”

“No?” Holden remarked, stealing a pointed glance at me.

“No, I was pretty distracted,” I replied, flashing him the briefest smile to make sure Hunter wouldn’t catch on to what we were actually exchanging.

“Hmm, what’s distracting about an ice cream shop?” Holden shook his head. “Can’t imagine what you might have been focused on.”

Before he could tease me any further, we pulled to a halt outside the shop, and Hunter scrambled out to race inside. There was a cold breeze coming in from the water, and Holden wrapped an arm around me as we walked into the shop. I knew we should have played it a little more cool and casual than that, but Hunter wasn’t looking our way, and it had been a whole week since we’d seen one another. I think we were allowed to steal these little moments where we could.

We ordered our ice cream and all squeezed into a booth that looked over the sea beyond us. I snuggled close to Holden, pretending it was the cramped size of the booth but enjoying the feel of his body next to mine.

“Now that I’ve done the painting…” Hunter took a deep breath, suddenly glancing up between the two of us, as though we were the arbiters of whether or not he would ever have fun again.

“Yes?” Holden prompted him, and Hunter looked down at his ice cream, placed his spoon down next to it, and then spoke quickly like he was worried he might run out of nerve if he lingered on it too much.

“Jason invited me to his house tomorrow evening,” he blurted. “Can I go?”

Holden glanced over at me, clearly checking in as silently as he could as to whether this was a good idea. Jason’s parents were a little lax, but he was a good kid if a bit of a kooky one. Him inviting Hunter around to his place was a big deal, and I nodded briefly, letting Holden know it would be a good idea to let his son go out on this occasion.

“As long as his parents can pick you up and bring you back, that’s fine,” Holden replied. “Do you want to call him when you get back so the two of you can work out the details?”

“Sounds great.” Hunter nodded, beaming. “Thanks, Dad.”

“No problem.” Holden watched Hunter slip from his seat and dart off to find more sprinkles for his ice cream, and then he turned to me with a smile. “Gives us a chance to spend the evening in together, huh?”

“I guess it does,” I agreed, happy his mind had gone to the same place mine had. I was so looking forward to a whole evening, just the two of us, without having to worry about babysitters or what was to come the morning after. Before I could lose the nerve, I leaned over and planted a brief kiss on his mouth, stealing it fast enough that I was sure Hunter hadn’t caught me. Holden closed his eyes for a moment as if savoring the taste of me on his mouth.

“Can’t wait.” He grinned as Hunter turned to join us back at the table.

“What are you talking about?” Hunter asked curiously, and Holden shook his head.

“Boring adult stuff.” He waved his hand. “But we’ll try to keep it interesting now that you’re back.”

Under the table, his hand slid onto my leg, and I grinned knowing that tomorrow night was going to be a hell of a lot of fun.