(Sean's POV)
It's been five days into Kyle's grounding and he's taking it well. He didn't complain about what his grounding entailed - doing chores, only being allowed on electronic devices while he was doing his homework and under supervision, a limited amount of time watching TV and not having a choice in what he watched and no going anywhere, except to school and back home.
I think he has taken his punishment very well - better than I would have, at his age. Maybe I'll give him a break? I opened the garage door.
"Hey, Kyle!" I called for him. "Can you c'mere?!"
"What is it?" he asked as he walked into the garage.
"Wanna help me change the oil on my truck?"
"Umm, I don't know anything about that kind of stuff."
"That's okay, I'll teach you. So, you wanna help?"
"Sure, why not," he answered, with a shrug of his shoulders. "It beats doing nothing," he mumbled as he walked over to my truck with me.
"This is why I really wanted you to come out here," I told him, after we were both under the truck, as I held out his phone to him. He looked a little shocked and a little unsure about how he should react to my gesture. "You've been taking your grounding better than thought you would, so I thought I'd let you have a little break. Don't tell Ivann about this," I said as I place the phone in his hand. "But you have to stay out here so that you don't get caught."
"Okay," he agreed, with that shocked look still on his face.
We were a few minutes into changing the oil on my truck before he did anything with his phone. Maybe he thought I was testing him, to see if he would go for it, just so that I could tack on more time to his grounding. At first, he just asked me if I would like to listen to some music, while we worked on the truck, and I said "yes," so he opened an app on his phone and played some music. Soon after, he got a text. He immediately looked at his phone, which was sitting on the garage floor between us, but he didn't make a move for it.
"Aren't you going to reply to that? At least, see who it's from?" I asked as I looked over at him. He looked at me, his expression still unsure of what my intentions were. "If you don't, I will," I told him, in a tone that said "I wasn't joking, but I would think it would be hilarious."
Slowly, he reached for the phone and picked it up. "It's from Nathan. He wants to know if I'm still grounded," he said as his eyes looked over the screen.
Nathan? Why does that name sound so familiar? The name rattled around inside my brain as I tried to place it to someone. That's right! It hit me. That's Mrs. Rivers oldest pup's name.
"So, what'd you tell him?" I asked after he replied.
"That I was and that you are letting me take a break from my grounding."
"So, how are things between you two?" I wasn't trying to pry, I was just curious. Besides, isn't that what good parents are supposed to do, ask their pups questions and see what's going on, good or bad, in their life?
"Kinda awkward... I-I don't really wanna talk about it," he said as he watched the phone screen go black.
"Okay," I told him and went back to unscrewing the bolts from the truck's oil pan.
"He kissed me..."
"Yeah, did you kiss him back?" I asked with a small grin.
"Yeah... and then I freaked out and pulled away from him," he admitted.
"Why'd you freak out? Was it your first kiss, with another male?" He was silent, he looked really uncomfortable about having this conversation, so I thought I'd tell him about my first time kissing another male - sort of like give and take, to get him more comfortable about talking about it. "My first kiss, with another male, was with Ivann. My heart was pumping so fast I thought it was going to explode, and then he slapped me," I told him, with a small chuckle.
