Page 19 of Under Water

“Whoa, hold on.” He takes a single step closer, but when I stiffen, he stops. “Rune, why the fuck would I think that?”

I try to run my fingers through my hair and dislodge the hair tie. Yanking it out, I wrap it around my wrist and shake out the knots as best as I can. “I feel like a pretty terrible father. I abandoned my kid to my aging parents, and the next thing you know, he’s face down in a fucking pond.”

Easton’s quiet for a moment, and then he shakes his head. “You were in this same job, Rune. Not just IT. You were in it. You know how quickly shit goes wrong. You’re not a bad parent because your kid wanted to feel a little bit independent and it went poorly.”

Pressing both hands over my face, I finally let myself feel the weight of the fear that has been sitting in my gut. “I want to let him do whatever he wants. And I’m terrified to let him do anything because the worst that can happen with him, sometimes, is the worst thing that can happen to any parent.”

“I get it.” When I look up at him, he shrugs. “Obviously, I don’t get it, but I can imagine the position you’re in. And Elio’s a cool dude.”

I snort, and he grins back at me, making my heart do a little flip. “Cool? He’s twelve.”

“He’s also a lot more patient than his dad, and he doesn’t hate my guts,” Easton points out. I want to tell him I don’t hate him, but I can’t seem to correct him in this moment. “He seems pretty nerdy, which I love, and he’s really into ducks, so basically he and I are like this.” He twists his first and middle fingers together.

I take a breath, then gather my hair up again when the feeling of it on the back of my neck starts to drive me up the wall. “What, ah…what happened? When you got on scene?”

“Oh. It…” Easton hesitates. “Do you really want to talk about this right now?”

I shrug. “It’s that, or I call my parents and lose my shit again. Or I go looking for Neal so I can pick a fight.”

Easton looks interested in that. “Well…”

“Please,” I whisper.

He bows his head a bit. “I bolted out of the truck like my ass was on fire. I think I was trying to get ahead of my panic.” He clears his throat. “The guy who pulled him out was trying to give him CPR, but he was doing it wrong. He was blowing all the air out of his nose.”

“Fuck,” I breathe out. “Fuck. If you hadn’t gotten there when you did⁠—”

He knows, just like I know, what that kind of oxygen deprivation can do to a child.

“It doesn’t matter. We were there. I took over until Ozzie got the BVM ready, but by the time he had it, Elio was breathing again. He puked up a pond full of water all over me, and then Lex got a mask on him and started pumping him full of oxygen.”

I let myself absorb all of that and do everything I can not to picture it. I don’t want to think of my son lifeless and blue. It’s probably going to haunt me at night, but for now, I can shut it down.

“How did you end up coming with him?”

Easton shrugs. “He asked me to. He was shit scared, and I didn’t want him to be alone.”

I roll my eyes up toward the stars and breathe in deeply. “I should have been there. I was out with Teddy and his cousin tonight⁠—”

“Like a date?” he asks sharply. When I look at him, he flushes. “Sorry, totally not my business. But, uh…”

“It wasn’t a date. His cousin’s a florist near the pharmacy. We were just grabbing mac and cheese.” I almost laugh, but I’m not feeling very amused. “Neal’s been a real asshole this week, and I thought it would be fine to take a moment for myself. I swear to god the universe is punishing me.”

“Maybe, but I don’t think it works that way,” Easton says. “Anyway, Elio is fine, and you’re here, and it looks like Neal fucked off for the night. Small wins, right?”

I don’t tell him that there might be more complications with Elio because I want to let him have this moment of peace. He earned it.

“Thanks, uh…for being there,” I manage to grunt out.

He laughs softly. “How hard was that to say?”

“Fuck off.”

His grin widens. “There’s the Rune I know and love.”

I also don’t tell him how those words gut me because the more he stands here, the more I start to realize my defenses are down. And the more I notice that what I’ve been calling a passing crush might be something more. Something deeper.

“Anyway, I think my car’s almost here. Catch you tomorrow?”