Gunner came running over. “Jesus, Josh. Are you okay? What’s wrong? Are you hurting anywhere? Can you not breathe, dude?”
“Matt, stay in the truck buddy, Jeff said.
“Jesus H. Christ, Josh, stop swearing in front of Matt. Ari’s gonna chew my ass out!” He ran his hand through his hair, obviously frustrated.
“Really, motherfucker? I’m having a moment of sheer panic right now, and that’s what you’re worried about?” I asked.
Jeff shrugged his shoulder. “Hey, I can’t help it if you don’t remember how Ari is about this kind of shit,” he said with a shit-eating grin.
Gunner punched Jeff in the arm and turned back toward me. “Josh, what’s wrong?”
I shook my head to clear my thoughts. I looked back and forth between Jeff and Gunner. “I, um…I just, um…I just had a thought, and, um…”
“Good god, son, spit that shit out. I want to get in some fishing at some point today,” Jeff said as he leaned up against the truck.
“It’s just…I heard you laughing with Matt, and then I thought about the two of y’all being dads, and how much I love that kid in the backseat, and I don’t even know him, and then I thought…I thought…”
Gunner was smiling from ear to ear.
“Why the fuck are you smiling at me like that?” I asked.
“You thought what, Josh?” Gunner asked.
I took a deep breath. “I thought it would be nice to have kids with Heather. ” Bending over, I put my hands on my knees, taking more deep breaths. Oh. My. God. I said it out loud!
Jeff pushed off the truck and smiled as Gunner did a fucking fist pump in the air.
“Yes!” Gunner came over and put his arm around my neck, pulling me closer to him.
“You, my friend, are on your way back. Come on, let’s go catch some fish. ” He turned and walked back to the truck, giving Jeff a high five on the way.
What in the hell just happened?
I looked down at Matt. He seemed like he was in pure heaven. Jeff had said the feel of t
he boat on the water made Matt feel calm. It had been a great afternoon so far. We talked about everything from fishing to the girls to trucks to my stupid-ass birthday party tomorrow.
“Why do you like girls?” Matt busted out.
We all just looked at each other.
“Jeff?” Gunner and I both said at the same time.
Jeff snapped his head over to both of us as his mouth fell open. “Why the fuck do I have to be the one to handle this one?”
Gunner let out a laugh. “Dude, you’re his big brother. ” He winked at Matt.
I glanced down at Matthew, and it almost seemed like the little guy knew exactly what he was doing.
“What the fuck? Josh, you handle this one. Matt, you want your best buddy Josh to answer that one, don’t you?” Jeff said.
Matthew shrugged his shoulders and looked at me. “What the fuck, Josh? Why do you like girls?”
I tried. I tried really hard, but I couldn’t hold it in. I started laughing. I laughed my ass off. Then, Gunner started laughing, and before I knew it, the three of us were laughing so hard we each had tears rolling down our faces.
It didn’t help that Matt was now saying, “Holy shit,” and “Ah, mudderfucker,” over and over again.
Just then, Matt’s line started moving.