“Save me a dance tonight?”
“I’d love to.”
I watch her walk away, already missing the flutter my heart makes when she talks to me. She leaves behind the faint smell of her perfume, and I breathe as deeply as I can.
After gripping the stair banister for a moment to regain composure, I head for the cowboys hovering around coolers filled with beer.
Cracking open a cold can, I move toward Red. He’s one of the only guys here who will understand what I’m going through.
“Shit, I got it bad for that girl.” My body falls rag-doll limp into a lawn chair.
Red clears his throat.
“Love. That’s what this is, I think. I love her. She’s making me lose my damn mind though.”
Red’s elbow drills into my rib cage, making me yelp. Shaking his head, he flattens himself against the seatback.
And I realize my big,epicfuckup.
Jonas slurps root beer through a swirly straw, staring wide-eyed in my direction.
“Oh, hey dude, didn’t see you there. That wasn’t too bad of a wedding, eh? I mean…as far as weddings go and all. The party’s gonna be better though—lots of pop, cake…”
“Are you talking about my mom?”
Red smacks the tops of his thighs and rises from his chair. “Well, I’m gonna go check on the baby.”
Traitor.
Now it’s Jonas and me and this empty black folding chair between us. There’s a ringing in my right ear, and the drum of my racing heart pounds throughout my skull. I tug at my earlobe, partially in an attempt to end the high-pitched tone and partially to make it seem as though I didn’t hear him.
“You were talking about Mom, weren’t you?”
“Well…um.” My hardened hand rubs at the back of my neck. “Would you be mad if I was?”
He shrugs, staring past me. “I kinda knew it already.”
“Oh yeah?” I raise an eyebrow. I’dloveto know exactly how he knew it.
“I’m almost eleven. I know what it looks like when a girl looks at a guy like she’s inluuurve.” I swear to God, he says the wordlovelike it’s the most embarrassing thing to leave his lips, complete with the matching annoyed eye roll and dramatic flick of his wrist. “That’s how my mom looks at you. And how you look at her.”
Okay, so maybe we weren’t as stealthy as we thought.
“How do I look at her?”
“Like that stupid emoji with the heart eyes.” He bats his eyelashes at me and makes ridiculous kissy lips. They loudly smack together. Of all the reactions Whit expected from Jonas when he found out about us, I don’t think she anticipated himmocking me.
I laugh. “Is that supposed to be me?”
“Yeah, bro.” He takes a long sip through his straw.
“Are you…okay with me having a crush on your mom? Maybe taking her on some dates?” I narrow my eyes, half-expecting this kid to suddenly get a stomachache on the spot.
He ponders it for a second. “Would that make you my stepdad?”
Jonas’s question carries a teasing undertone, but there’s something behind it. Hope. Comfort. Trust. It hits me square in the chest, knocking the wind from my lungs.
I don’t know what thecorrectway to handle that question is. But I know the answer.
