I glare at the side of her head and will her to stop talking. The Morgans can take the banter. I’ve grown up on it. But I don’t need them knowing what I get up to after dark.
She snickers to herself, and I give her a kick.
“Ow!” she snaps.
“Not nice being the butt of the joke, is it, Nina love.” John smiles warmly over at me, always defending me.
“Dad, please, will you save the butt puns for Tuesdays only!”
“Oh my god, you didn’t.” I choke, trying to swallow around my mouthful of food.
“I did.” She chuckles.
Maggie and John laugh along with us with no clue as to why. Their joy is simple and comes from us. I want that one day.
“Come on, girls, let’s not get nasty.” Maggie smiles, placing her cutlery on her plate. “Elliot left some cake this morning. Who wants some? Freya is an incredible baker.”
“Ell was here this morning?” I frown, looking at Lucy, who takes a large gulp of water.
“He dropped Lucy home.” Maggie stands, patting down her apron before excusing herself from the table.
“Of course he did.” I bring my eyes to Lucy.
“Shut up,” she huffs, shovelling in morefood.
“You had a sleepover?” I turn in my seat and make myself comfortable. “You didn’t mention it.”
“Must’ve slipped my mind.” She doesn’t look at me.
“I bet it did. You stayed at his?”
“I think I will retire to the sofa for this conversation,” John says, leaving us at the table alone.
Lucy sits quiet, flipping her fork absentmindedly.
“I have all da?—”
“Nothing happened,” she interrupts.
I recoil. “Nothing?”
“Nope, nothing, nada.”
“Why?”
She bites her lip, looking over at me. “I have no idea.” She smiles sadly. “But for the first time ever, I think I wanted something to happen. It felt like the most natural thing in the world, and I’m pretty sure he felt it too.”
“Well shit.” I sit back in my chair, my shoulders dropping.
“Uh-huh.”
One thing I didn’t anticipate with my new job was getting there, which is why I’m out of breath jogging up Joey’s apartment building steps.
I knock on the door once, then walk in.
“Joe?”
“Yo!” he calls out, poking his head out of the kitchen. “What are you doing here?”
