Bella kicks off her shoes and hands her coat to her mom. “Can I show Rigsby my room?”
“Just until we eat.” Kaci places Bella’s coat on the hook next to hers. Then she reaches forward for Rigsby’s coat and adds it on top of Bella’s. “When the pizza gets here, we are eating at thetable. Then it’s going to be time to wash up for bed. It’s been a long day.”
Kaci’s eyes follow the kids as they pad down the hall. Then she slowly turns to me, letting a quiet sigh slip from her lips. “Well.”
“So.” I rock back on my heels. Everything is happening so fast. I’m not quite sure what I’m even doing here. I get that she’s hungry, but she certainly didn’t need to invite us over.
“Come in. Can I get you something to drink?” She gestures toward the couch that’s only a few steps inside. It’s a tiny apartment—a TV, couch, and coffee table in the living room, and a small kitchen on the opposite wall. She crosses the room, taking a moment to fix the pillows on the couch as she passes, and continues to the fridge, opening the door. “I, ah, I have juice boxes, water, or I can make some coffee.”
I meander to the sofa, plopping down right as her gaze shifts back to mine. “Water is fine.”
“Sorry.” She grabs two bottles of water, shuts the door with a swing of her hip, and returns to the center of the room, passing a bottle to me. “I wasn’t planning on having company or I would have had something else to offer.”
“Water’s perfect.” I must have sat on a spring or something, because there’s a hard spot. I shimmy over, placing me more in the center of the couch.
“Good.” She slowly lowers herself onto the couch. Since I’m now in the middle, there’s only a slice of air between us.
I resist the urge to gulp. I’m not a gulper, so I have no idea where that came from. It’s like I have a comment ready to fly out of my mouth, and I’m trying hard to play it cool. The problem is, that she’s gazing at me in a new way—a way that makes me want to skip the talking stage and just reach over and steal a kiss.
Again.
She pushed me away last time, so of course, I’m not going to try that again.Probably not. But there must be a reason she invited me over.
After twisting the top of her bottle, she says, “We made it through the most insane day. I think we need to toast to our success.”
I chuckle, and I tap my bottle with hers. “Cheers to that. I couldn’t have done it without you.” She tips her bottle and drinks. I take a swig and set my bottle on the small coffee table and turn toward her. “So, nice place. How long have you lived here?”
“Too long.” She lets out a huff and places her drink down next to mine. “I’ve been here since Bella was a baby. I’m ready to move into something with more space as soon as I graduate in May. I’m in my last semester of classes, and then I will student teach next semester, and I’m done.”
“Bella’s seven.” I conclude since I know Rigsby’s age. “It’s just been you two all these years?”
Her face crinkles as if she’s holding back, and her only reply is, “Yep.”
“So, Bella’s dad…” I drop the question right after it’s out and quickly change the topic, “This is a great location.”
“It’s a fair question.” Her gaze deepens, and she pulls a leg underneath her as she leans back into the cushions. My mind enters a time warp—one where we are so comfortable sitting next to each other that I can casually reach over, grab her legs to rest on my lap, and lounge with her while we binge Netflix. I blink away the vision as she continues, “Chase and I co-parent but we’ve been broken up for years. He gets to see her every other weekend, but it’s always just been us.”
“Gotcha.”
“So, how are you enjoying being a parent?” A teasing gleam sparkles in the corner of her eye, and it does everything to put me at ease. I sink further into the couch.
“It’s been insanity. Clearly, I failed.” A loose chuckle slips from my throat, and I shake my head. “If it hadn’t been for you helping so I could work, I surely would have gotten fired. I don’t know how you do it.”
“You learn as you go.” Her beautiful eyes, a kaleidoscope of the clearest seas, glitter back at me. “I suppose you got scared off from having any of your own someday.”
My lips pull down as I don’t know how to answer her. Before today, it felt like it was always a far off someday, but I can’t tell her I’ve been imagining having a family with her randomly throughout the day. “I, ah, enjoy being the fun uncle. Someday I’d like a family. I’m mostly just focused on my career right now. The team’s off to a good start this year, and it’s a good time. If you want to come to a game sometime, let me know. I can get tickets for you and Bella.”
“Maybe.”
“Maybe what?”
Her fingers wrap around the back of her neck, and she holds her palm there for a beat, as if she’s deep in thought. “I guess maybe it depends why you are asking. Are you asking me out?”
Wow.
That’s seriously bold, but I get it. I kissed her. My lips slide into a smirk as I wonder how she can ask me that and keep a straight face.
“I mean.” I fill the beat of silence with a shoulder shrug and add a smoldering smile before saying, “Clearly, we have kissing chemistry.” I’ve never been put on the spot like this before, but it doesn’t make me want to step back. If anything, her flirting makes me want to banter on. “That was a good first kiss, wasn’t it?”
