Tempted - First & Forever Stories

“Yeah, but I’m too dumb for college,” I muttered. “I barely made it through high school.”

“Don’t say that,” Josh said. “Who we are and what we do in high school isn’t an indicator of anything. I got average grades because I was bored out of my mind and always had my nose in a book. Now that I’m studying filmmaking, I’m getting straight-A’s. You just need to find what interests you.”

I asked Darwin, “What are you studying again? I know you told me, but I couldn’t quite wrap my head around it.”

“I’ve changed my major a few times. I love science and want to study everything, so it’s been really hard to narrow it down. Right now, I have a biochemistry and biophysics double major, but I’ve been thinking about medical school, so I might shift my focus again.” His eyes lit up while he was talking.

Josh beamed with pride. “Basically, Darwin’s brilliant and is going to change the world. Then I’ll make the documentary of his life story.”

“I think you’re both amazing,” I said.

Nana got up and told us, “All three of you are amazing. Now, let’s go have some cake.”

We returned to the kitchen, and Josh made some coffee while Darwin served up the dessert. I had to ask. “What made you decide to make a yule log, Nana?”

She shrugged her skinny shoulders, then hopped up onto one of the barstools around her kitchen island and said, “I like them, so I don’t see why I should wait until Christmastime.” She had a point.

A few moments later, her husband Ollie got home. He was accompanied by Nana’s grandson Dante, who was loaded down with shopping bags. Ollie asked, “Did we miss the dick delivery?”

“Sadly, yes,” Josh told him, “but we got the whole thing on film. It went off without a hitch.”

“Of course it did,” Ollie said with a grin, as he adjusted his thick glasses. “You kids are brilliant.”

Dante was a big, scary guy who allegedly had ties to organized crime, or so I’d heard. He was a total softie when it came to his little grandma though, and as he piled the shopping bags on the counter, he told her, “We got everything you wanted for Sunday dinner, Nana.”

Ollie added, “We had to go to three different stores to find the right kind of tomatoes. I insisted, because I knew it mattered to you, hot stuff.”

Nana patted his cheek and gave him a look of pure adoration. “You’re a peach,” she said. Then she turned to me and asked, “Can you stay for dinner, Seth?”

“I’m sorry, I have plans tonight.” I was actually meeting a new client for dinner. “Can I take a raincheck?”

“Of course, sweetie pie,” she said. “The door’s always open, so just show up whenever you can.” I loved the way she treated me like part of her family.

After cake and coffee and some lively conversation, I said goodbye to my friends and got a Lyft to take me home. Since I still had some time before I had to get ready for my “date,” I asked the driver to drop me off in Golden Gate Park, which was just a few blocks from my house. Then I sat on a bench, turned my face toward the sun, and got lost in my thoughts for a while.

Dinner with this new client was gnawing at me. In the emails we’d exchanged, he’d told me he was into BDSM, and I just wasn’t sure about that. The money was great though, so I’d agreed to meet him for dinner and discuss it face-to-face. I kept reminding myself it was okay to say no to whatever he ended up proposing, so I didn’t have anything to worry about.

After a while, my thoughts shifted to that earlier conversation with my friends about college. Going back to school had been an idea in the back of my mind for a long time, and listening to Josh and Darwin talking about college brought it to the surface again. It was something I thought I wanted, but I also believed there was a good chance I’d end up failing at it and wasting my time and money.

I needed to start thinking long-term though, because my current job was always meant to be temporary. I’d wanted a way to make good money quickly, so I could get my own apartment and stand on my own two feet. It was a means to an end. Even though I didn’t dislike it, I also wanted more for myself, and that meant making a plan for my future.

“Hey.” I flinched at a gentle touch on my shoulder, then looked up into Eden’s warm, dark eyes. It took me a moment to remember I was on a bench in the park.

Eden had obviously been out for a run. There was a light sheen of sweat on his skin, and he was dressed in running tights and a tank top with a light jacket tied around his waist. He sat down beside me and said, “You were a million miles away.”