“A program.”
“For?” He felt out of touch with Evan lately, and he didn’t like it. His interest in computers was just one aspect of the distance that had crept between them. He’d decided last night that he was going to do whatever he could to spend time with Bella and explore his feelings for her, and now he made another commitment. He was going to study up on technology so he could at least understand the basics of the things Evan was interested in.
“There was another breakin last night.”
“I know.” Evan’s eyes remained trained on the computer screen.
“How do you know?”
Evan pointed to the computer. “That stuff’s public information. Wellfleet has a daily crime report that they publish.”
“And you read it?” Caden thought he knew his son pretty well, but he never would have guessed that he’d have an interest in a crime report. He wondered what else Evan was reading that he didn’t know about. He had parental controls on the computer to keep him off of porn sites, but he of all people knew there were other dangers lurking out there.
“Dad, you’re a cop. Haven’t you drilled safety into my head since I was, like, two?” Evan shook his head. “You always say that it’s the people who don’t pay attention to their surroundings that get themselves into trouble.”
“That can get hurt, actually,” he corrected him.
“Whatever. You know what I mean. Besides, what’s the big deal? Someone broke into a few cars and a cottage. They took a laptop and a couple bucks they had lying around.” Evan shrugged.
“What’s the big deal? Seriously, Ev?”
Evan sighed. “You know what I mean. It’s not like they killed someone, or they robbed them of everything they owned.”
Caden lowered himself to Evan’s bed and rubbed his temples with his finger and thumb. “Ev, you know how wrong that attitude is, don’t you?”
Evan shrugged.
“How is it that you can remember what I said about knowing your surroundings but not about respecting other people’s property?” Caden watched his son turn and face him. He might be running on hormones, but his face still held the soft qualities of a boy, and it was that softness that eased Caden’s worry.
“I remember. It’s not like I’m the one doing it, Dad. I’m going to study computers tonight. Remember?”
Caden smiled. “Yeah. I remember.”
Evan turned back to his computer. “I like Bella.”
“Yeah. She’s nice.”
“And hot.”
Caden raised his brows. Hot? His son was looking at women as hot?
“Yeah, she is pretty hot,” he admitted.
“Are you going out with her tonight?”
Evan asked it so casually that it took Caden by surprise.
“Why don’t you date, Dad? Is it really because of work and me?”
“You? Buddy, I don’t date because dating takes time, and in case you haven’t noticed, I don’t have much free time.”
“So make it.” Evan spun around in his chair again. “She’s obviously into you. She looked at you all night, and she did the whole hand-on-your-leg thing.”
“What do you know about the hand-on-the-leg thing?”
Evan laughed. “I’m almost fifteen, not in second grade. There are YouTube videos about picking up girls and taking hints.”
“There are?” And you’re watching them?
“Yeah. You should watch them. There’s this one guy, MasterDater—”
“MasterDater?”
“I know. It’s a stupid name, but he’s really smart. He goes over everything.” Evan waved his hand in the air. “How girls like eye contact, and they hate when you talk about yourself. And how if you aren’t interested in what they have to say, you shouldn’t even consider dating them, because girls love to talk. He says you have to smell good, too, or girls won’t like you.”
“Really? There are videos on that stuff?” Caden made another mental note to look up this MasterDater dude.
“Heck yeah. There are videos on anything and everything on YouTube.”
“Wait. Does he go over sex stuff, too?” Caden had had the talk with Evan when Evan was twelve. He’d come home from school one day talking about a boy who made out with a girl in the bathroom, and that spurred weeks of detailed conversations about sex and love and the importance of respecting women. Caden had expected to feel funny talking to Evan about those things, but Evan was a very practical kid, and he didn’t blush or act embarrassed. He wanted to understand it all, and it made for easy, open lines of communication.
“Nothing that you haven’t already told me about. He talks more about not pushing girls into stuff than the actual activity, if you know what I mean.”
Activity? That’s a great word. He was impressed with Evan’s attitude and pleased to hear that he was researching the more respectful parts of dating than the sexual side. He also wasn’t naive, and he knew that Evan could be cushioning the truth.
“Anyway, are you going out with her tonight?” Evan asked.
He’d hoped he’d avoided the question altogether. “Yeah, but it’s not a date.”
“Why not?”
Caden pushed to his feet and headed for the door. “I need to shower, and you need to get cleaned up, too. Remember to put on a clean shirt.”
“Yeah, yeah. I know. But you can’t avoid the question. Why isn’t it a date?”
He couldn’t explain something he didn’t understand himself.
“It’s complicated,” he said before heading to his room.
Chapter Seven
BELLA HEARD CADEN’S truck roll onto the crushed-shell driveway in front of her cottage. Her stomach did a little flip.
“Oh no. He’s early.” Bella turned away from Jenna and Amy and took a quick look in the mirror. She didn’t usually wear pink in public, and when she bought the pale-pink, strapless, crushed-cotton minidress on a whim one summer, she’d thought she’d wear it around the quad when she and the girls were hanging out. She had yet to wear it, even around the quad, but when they were searching for just the right outfit, this one spoke to her.
“Better that he comes early now than later,” Amy said with a devilish grin.
Jenna laughed. “Did our Ames really just say that?”
“There won’t be any coming later,” Bella said with a serious voice, though she wasn’t as confident as she sounded. Memories of their make-out session made her icy nerves turn white-hot.
“Yeah, right.” Jenna patted Bella’s butt.
Amy peered out of the bedroom window. “He’s gonna knock on the door,” she whispered. “Hi, Caden!” Amy waved out the window.
“Oh, hey, Amy.” Caden’s deep, sexy voice settled in Bella’s ears like a tease.
“Come on in.” Amy turned around with a wide smile. “Not-date time.” She pretended to clap her hands.
“You guys are sure I look okay?”
“Hold on.” Jenna disappeared into the bathroom and came out with Shalimar perfume. She spritzed it on Bella’s neck, then bent and shot it up her skirt.
“Really, Jen?”