“Just a few more minutes.” She unleashed her doe eyes on me. I laughed, shook my head, and plopped down next to her. Silas folded his long legs up, giving me ample room. Anna started up again, telling Silas everything. “JV didn’t win a single game last year, so Brooklyn and I are pretty sure we’ll make the team.”
“How’s your serve coming?” Silas asked, folding his arms across his chest, his biceps popping. I looked away.
Anna glanced at me for help.
I bit my lip and answered for her, “We might need to workon that.” For Christmas I’d bought her a net she could keep up at my house. Since then, she’d spent hours trying to get the ball over with very little luck. And I’d spent hours trying to figure out exactly what she was doing wrong.
She groaned and bounced her forehead on the bed. “I can’t get the timing right.”
He cocked an eyebrow. “You sure it’s not your skinny chicken arms?” He squeezed her nonexistent muscles. Jenny had handed me a three-page list of instructions when we picked up Anna’s things. One of the items on Jenny’s list was:Make sure she eats at least 2000 calories a day. She’s too skinny. We have to get some weight on her.Anna had lost weight this year, with Sophie being sick. It was stressful watching your mother die.
Anna glared at Silas, which only made him grin. And I realized his smile was kind of dazzling. I don’t know if he’d gained extra confidence along with those muscles over the years, but he was different than I remembered. He had those smile lines around his mouth some people have, like a set of parenthesis. His teeth had always been perfectly straight, no braces needed, but I’d never appreciated them before. And he had a really strong jawline, but in the best way.
Huh. I tilted my head.
His gaze skittered to me, his forehead furrowed. It took me a second to realize I’d been caught. I forced my eyes away, my face hot.
I smacked Anna’s foot. “C’mon. Time for bed.”
“Can I sleep in here?” she asked.
She’d slept in my bed leading up to her mom's passing. And Silas’s floor every night since, according to Jenny. I really didn’t want to let her make that a habit.
Gratefully, Silas helped me out. “You’ll sleep better in your own space.”
She hesitated.
“I’m not going anywhere.” He promised. “I’ll be right here when you wake up.” Then he opened his arms for a hug. She flung herself into his embrace. He wrapped her up tight, his forearms flexing around her.
Once she had her light off, I headed to the kitchen to study Jenny’s pamphlet of instructions.
-Don’t let her get away without brushing her teeth twice a day. She’ll try to weasel out of the nighttime brushing, but that’s when the cavities are formed.
-She needs more protein. And Reese’s don’t count! She’ll live off of them if you let her. Bo buys her one every day on the way home from school, no matter how many times I tell him not to. I don’t even want to know how many cavities she’ll have at her six-month checkup. Just another reason for the nighttime brushing.
Silas walked in. “Do you have any ibuprofen?”
“Of course.” I walked over to the cabinet by the sink and pulled out a bottle, pouring the pills into my hand. While I filled a glass of water, Silas scanned the list.
I offered him the glass and pills and he set the list back down. He tossed the pills into his mouth and gulped until the glass was empty. Then he pointed to the fridge. “Is it okay if I grab something?”
I tipped my head. “Don’t ever ask me that again. You don’t need permission. For the next three months, this is your house too. What’s mine is yours.”
He held his hands up. “Got it.” He opened the fridge and peered inside.
I went back to Jenny’s list.
-She can’t have her phone in her room at night. I don’t know why Sophie even got her that thing. She’s too young.
-For the love, please don’t let her use all that ridiculous Gen Z slang. I need Google Translate just to have a conversation with her.
-And try to get her to cut back on time spent with Brooklyn. They are so silly together. I think that’s where she’s getting all those ridiculous terms like “slaps” and “yeet” and “Gucci.”
I got Jenny’s frustration. Half the time, I didn’t know what those two were talking about. I wasn’t going to break up their friendship because of it. Their conversations were down-right hilarious, even if I didn’t always understand them. But they were committed to each other and loyal to a fault. Very reminiscent of Sophie and me at that age. Anna needed that right now.
Silas leaned against the counter a couple of feet away, Squirting a tube of bubble gum yogurt into his mouth. It was a snack I kept around for Anna.
His gaze narrowed. “You don’t have to do any of that.”
