“Now you’re going to offer up the sweets?” Decker snapped.
“Not for you. Not after the whole crush BS earlier,” she snapped back.
“I knew you were listening!”
“Hard not to when you’re screaming in my ear.” She turned to Miles. “All not true, by the way. That kiss story was complete crap if you ask me.”
“Ask me then. You’ll get a completely different story,” Decker said to Miles.
“I don’t know, Uncle Deck. It looked pretty sketch to me. Like it was all staged.”
“What?” Decker said at the same time Poppy punched a fist in the air and said, “Told ya!”
Decker found himself rolling his eyes. “You watch the show?”
“My frat brothers and I gather at the house every night and watch it.”
“Seriously?” Poppy asked, her voice alive with excitement.
“Can we get back to why you broke in here and nearly got yourself killed?” Decker asked.
“Honest, I didn’t mean to scare you.” Miles kicked the grass. “But can I crash here?”
“Isn’t there a dorm room with your name on it?”
Miles ran a nervous hand through his hair. “I sorta took a gap semester.”
“Does your dad know that?”
“The only guy I call Dad is the shithead who bailed when I was five. As for the guy who raised me? I call him Brian.” There was no venom in his voice, just acceptance. But it was news to Decker.
Decker wondered if it hurt Brian that the kid he’d raised like his own didn’t want to call him Dad. Why didn’t he know the answers to these questions? Even more concerning why now, after all these years, was he only now wondering about these things?
“DoesBrianknow?”
“I told him I wanted to take some time to figure out if I want to design homes or build them,” the kid said, skirting the question.
He chuckled because he knew Brian was going to flip his lid when he found out. No wonder the kid showed up here.
“Are you going to tell Brian?” Decker asked.
“Doesn’t matter if I do or not. I’m an adult,” Miles said.
“Great to hear that. Because adults know how to adult and that means facing the music and calling Brian.”
Miles looked as if he were going to puke. “Can’t you?”
“No way, kid. You’re old enough to make this life decision, you’re old enough to make a call. Adult. Remember?” He put his hand on the kid’s shoulder. “Now make the call.”
“Only if you promise me I can stay.”
“You want to stay?” Decker was stunned. “And do what?”
Miles gave a shy shrug. “Learn from you. I’m tired of studying how to build homes. I want to get my hands dirty and learn from you. Just like your grandpa taught you how to be a finisher. That’s what I want to do.”
“What about Brian?”
“He’s a great general contractor, but he’s a big picture guy. I want to build things that say something.”
