Decker will think less of me if I tell him about the kiss, so I keep it to myself. First, for going behind Callie’s back, and second, it’s embarrassing. I’m sure none of them have ever had a girl kiss them and literally run away.
“She’s a family friend of yours. I’d be doing the same thing.”
“Yeah, but I want to make sure my intentions are honorable,” I say.
I don’t know why it’s important to me. I don’t want Leighton to ever think I was doing all this just to sleep with her. It’d make me yet another man who has failed her, and I can’t stomach the idea of that.
“You can still want someone even if you’re helping them. If you feel like your intentions are honorable, then I’d say they are,” he says.
“Yeah, I guess.”
I lean back in the chair and think about it. When Callie first called to tell me what was going on, I wanted to get to the house to see how Leighton was holding up. Sure, I care about Leighton, but I’m not expecting any payback or even trying to get her in bed. Once she gets herself in a good routine and Callie comes back to town, I’ll step back, and we’ll move on like we used to, occasionally seeing each other. The thought of it hurts my chest though.
I look over at where Monroe’s legs swing under the chair, back and forth, and she smiles. God, she looks so happy. It was totally worth the hassle of getting here.
Decker isn’t one for conversation right now it seems, so I go to Monroe and lean over her to see her nails. “What color did you end up picking?”
“Purple, pink, and blue—three colors.”
I can see the nail tech doing every other nail a different color. “That’s pretty cool.”
“I know! Can we put diamonds on?” Her eyes are so big and expectant.
“Diamonds?”
“They’re rhinestones,” the tech says.
Then I see the little container of jewels sitting off to the side. “Yeah, anything you want.”
“Can I get nail art?” Monroe asks.
“Sure.”
“I love daisies, can you do daisies with the diamonds?” Monroe tells the woman exactly what she wants.
The woman nods, looks up at me, looks back down, then peeks up at me again. If she recognizes me, she doesn’t say anything.
I’m not a guy who flashes around the fact that I’m a professional baseball player. I’ll leave that to Easton.
By the time we’re done at the nail salon, Easton and Lincoln have the same nails, and Monroe is skipping along the sidewalk as though she’s hopping over clouds in the sky. She keeps putting her hands in the sunlight to stare at them. Her happiness is kind of contagious.
“All right, where are we going for dinner?” Easton asks. “I’m starving.”
I thought for sure he and Decker would be making some excuse to leave by now. Having them here for my first time alone with the kids has been comforting though. Since they’re opposites of one another, it evens things out. I mean, sure, I can throw a ball with Lincoln, but how do I manage Lincoln and Monroe at the same time?
It’s kind of nice to have reinforcements. Hopefully this is how Leighton feels when I’m around.
“What does everyone want?” I ask.
“I haven’t cooked out in ages,” Decker says.
“Yeah, let’s cook out,” Easton agrees.
“Grocery store it is.”
We stop at the grocery store on the walk back to the house and pick up some meat, hot dogs, buns, and Decker adds a couple of premade salads to the mix. When Monroe picks up a package of cookies, Decker and Easton turn into the Bickersons.
“Is she supposed to have that much sugar?” Decker looks at me, and I shrug.
