Going Full Throttle

Chapter 4

"Aunty! Aunty! Scotty has a boat!"

I looked up from the old pictures Twyla had pulled out and rolled my eyes. "Is that what he told you?"

Finn skidded to a stop in front of the kitchen island, and I cringed as his dirty runners left marks on the shiny white marble. "Yeah! He said I could drive!"

That made me smile. Getting to drive the boat was a rite of passage in our families. I could still remember how excited I was the first time my dad beckoned me over to sit on his lap behind the wheel. Scotty had been allowed the summer before, and I thought my turn would never come.

"That's so cool, Kid." I put down the pictures and moved around the island to crouch in front of Finn. "But that is not Scotty's boat. It's Beau's. He was just pulling your leg."

I laughed at Finn's indignant face. He'd have to learn how to roll with Scotty's brand of humour eventually.

"Do I still get to dwive it, though?" he perked up.

I made a show of humming and hawing over my answer, getting a kick out of Finn's jittery feet as he waited. "You can drive the boat..." I said slowly, "if you give me the world's biggest monster hug ever."

Before I could brace myself fully, his small body shot forward and knocked me backward. I hissed as my head snapped on the cool tiles, but Finn's enthusiastic wiggling as he squeezed my neck distracted me. Laughing, I hugged him back, rocking myself back and forth to make him giggle.

"Nope! Sorry, this isn't a monster hug." I teased.

His brows puckered as he lifted his face to glare at me. "Yes, it is! Look!" Finn crossed his eyes and wagged his tongue out of his mouth, clearly thinking this was a very scary face. Suddenly he shot forward and licked my face.

"See monsters eat humans!"

"Oh gross, Finn!" I wiped the back of my hand down my cheek and snuck my fingers into his ribs, getting payback in the form of tickles.

"Now I'm the tickle monster," I grunted in my best ridiculously deep monster voice.

A snicker caught my attention, and I sat up quickly, bringing Finn with me. Scotty, Twyla, and Beau all stood at the entrance of the kitchen, watching us. Scotty's face was red as though he'd been holding his breath. I assumed he'd been trying not to laugh at my embarrassing monster skills. Twyla and Beau were laughing quietly at us too, but a shadow of sadness sank in their eyes that I chose to ignore.

They moved into the kitchen, Beau and Twyla going behind the island to start dinner and Scotty going to the table. My eyes widened slightly when I noticed Tyler stood in the doorway as well. A small smirk lit up his face, telling me he'd heard it all too.

Just fricken great.

"Okay, bud—up you get." I patted Finn's back to move so I could stand up.

His hands tightened behind my neck. "Nope, I'm not stopping till I can dwive."

"Fine, stay there then," I said partially just to have the last word, but also because I loved the rare moments he actually wanted to snuggle into me. When I had just been "Aunty" I got hugs and love all of the time. Now that I was "Aunty/Guardian" the hugs were much fewer and farther between.

I gripped his body with one hand and used the other to push myself up. I got my butt a few inches off the ground before gravity pulled me back down.

A hand shot down in front of my face, and I looked up to see Tyler standing in front of us. His smirk was gone and in its place was a polite smile. It wasn't a smile I necessarily trusted, but regardless I accepted his help.