CHAPTER ONE
Lex
“How long is the movie, auntie?”
“Auntie Lex, I want more popcorn!”
“Can I have a sip of your drink?”
“Where’s my candy?”
The rapid questions came at me and my nephew’s adorable face lit up with excitement. He was too cute to get annoyed with.
“Shh, Dylan. We have to be quiet in the movie theater, remember?”
Okay so maybe taking my 5-year-old nephew, Dylan, to a movie wasn’t such a great idea.
My sister Millie ensured me he would be fine, that he’d sit still, and be engrossed in the movie. So far, it was anything but.
A tall man sitting beside us turned his head, shooting me with a glaring look over the top of Dylan’s head.Ugh. Now we’re annoying the guy next to us.
I smiled in return, but he already went back to the movie.
“Auntie!” Dylan whispered. At least he was quiet this time.
“Yes, sweetie?”
“Can I hold the popcorn?”
“Let’s hold it together.” I placed the tub of buttery goodness between us and settled into my seat. Dylan seemed to do the same.
The action-comedy movie, a family friendly one of course, had finally started after all the previews.
I smiled at Dylan, happily eating his popcorn and watching the movie on the big screen in front of him. I loved spending time with the little guy and often took him places. Spoiling him was my favorite thing to do. My sister Millie had a tough go of it when she got pregnant with Dylan. Her fiancée wanted nothing to do with the baby. He claimed he wasn’t ready for children yet. He wanted time with his wife before children took over their life. But Millie refused to abort the baby, so he called off the engagement. It devastated Millie. She really thought Ryan was the one. But we stuck by her as a family and helped her throughout her pregnancy. She moved back into our parents’ place, and my dad had quite a few words for Ryan.
And when Dylan was born nine months later, we helped raise him, as my sister went back to school for nursing. At the time, I was finishing up my degree in journalism, and when I scored a great paying freelance job, I had a lot of time for Dylan. Now, my sister worked as a nurse at the local hospital and moved into her own place. I was proud of her. And she was a great role model and mom for her son.
Scooping a few handfuls of popcorn in my mouth, the salty, buttery corn tantalized my tastebuds. Nothing beat movie popcorn, but it made me thirsty. I let go of the popcorn bucket to pick up my drink and the next thing I knew, popcorn flew through the air, all over Dylan, me, the floor, and, of course, the guy next to Dylan.Shit.
“Seriously?” the guy in front of us said and my cheeks burned.
“I’m so sorry!” I handed him napkins, but he shook his head as he brushed the popcorn off his shirt and lap.
The man said nothing, and I quickly cleaned Dylan and me both as best I could, buttery oil all over my arms and hands.
“Dylan, you need to be careful, love. Now our popcorn is gone.” I said and looked down at the empty tub. When I looked back at my nephew’s face, his lip quivered and tears filled his eyes.
“No more popcorn?”
I couldn’t stare into those sweet eyes of his and not get him more popcorn. “Okay, but let’s go quick, so we don’t miss too much of the movie.” I whispered, before taking his hand in mine.
We scooted by the rest of the people in the row, the tall man once again shooting me a glaring look. Good thing he was a handsome fella or I might’ve shot him one.
After securing another bucket of popcorn, we shimmed back into our row. Dylan walked ahead of me, his small frame easily passing by others. I held onto the popcorn and carefully moved until my foot hit something hard and I lost my balance.
In a split second, I landed in the tall man’s lap, clutching onto the popcorn.
My limbs stiffened, my body frozen.
