The Veteran's Vow by Jill Lynn

Author:Jill Lynn
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2021-11-29T16:57:03+00:00

Chapter Ten

“I have a strange request.” It was Friday, and Behr was driving Fletcher home after a full week of MENtor camp.

The teen had to be exhausted from the busy days and the conversation with his mom last night. When Behr had left Ellery’s yesterday evening, Fletcher and Desiree had been sitting on the deck, their body language shouting that their conversation was heated and tense. Behr had gotten out of there quickly after his training session, and he hadn’t heard from Ellery since, so he didn’t know what had been decided about Desiree’s job offer. And asking Fletcher was off limits in Behr’s opinion. He was giving the kid the space he would want if their roles were reversed. All of that to say, Behr should really wait to ask Fletcher this on another occasion. But Behr’s family was already getting together tonight, so asking was worth a shot. Even if he expected to hear a resounding no from Fletcher.

“What is it?” Fletcher’s attention was a rare commodity, and it was directly on Behr at the moment.

“My parents...” Behr gripped the steering wheel tighter. “I’ve told them a little about you and Ellery. They’ve taken an interest in you, and...they’d like to meet you. I’m having dinner there tonight.”

Fletcher had been fidgeting with the hem of his athletic shorts, but his movements stilled.

“I’m not asking you to stay for dinner.” Behr rushed to explain. “I just wondered if you’d be willing to stop by their house on the way home and meet them. I’m sorry. I know it’s asking a lot. They’re just very persistent.” Persistent sounded better than pushy, but both descriptions fit. Though Behr knew his family’s intrusion came from a good place. Once they’d heard about Ellery’s nephew, his family had instantly begun praying for the teen. Even his sisters who didn’t live in town were involved in the teen’s story and rooting for him.

In the interest of full disclosure and due to the fact that Fletcher hadn’t refused yet, Behr continued. “It will be my parents and my sister plus her four kids. My brother-in-law is out of town for work.” His family had asked him to invite Ellery, too, but Behr wasn’t sure their worlds needed to collide on every level. Dropping by with Fletcher felt fine. But wrangling Ellery into this meet and greet seemed like his family was attempting to shove them from the friend zone into the something-more zone. Behr imagined his mom and sisters were fond of that second option and would settle for the first after a chunk of time. Much like he’d had to convince them Marina wasn’t his soul mate.

Fletcher still hadn’t responded. Not a huge surprise. “Don’t feel like you have to. It’s okay to say—”

“Sure. I’ll go.” The boy’s tone was smooth. No irritation. No upset.

“Really?” Behr clamped his tongue between his teeth. If Fletcher had agreed, why question it?

“Yeah.” Fletcher didn’t exactly sound ecstatic about the scenario, but Behr appreciated when people took his answer at face value, so he would do the same.

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