“I don’t see what was childlike about that. Personally, I thought it was quite mature,” she defended. “I didn’t raise my voice once.”
I gave her a look that she ignored. Claire turned her attention back to the people dancing near the DJ.
“Claire and maturity.” A familiar voice behind me sent my stomach spiraling. “I would have never guessed the two could exist in the same universe.”
She tried to frown but couldn’t. “You’re one to talk.”
Leo chuckled and moved into my view. I had to focus hard on keeping my expression disinterested when I laid eyes on him. It’d been months since I’d seen him in the flesh. At Christmas, to be exact. A day where he also, surprise, surprise, didn’t say more than a few words to me before disappearing somewhere with Nate.
Leo bent down to give Claire a hug. I watched him, taking in the slight changes of his body. He looked larger around the arms. His hair was cut shorter than it’d ever been. The simple black tee, paired with his dark jeans, should have just been an outfit. But on him, it made me sweat just a little more in this summer heat.
“When did you get back in town?” Claire asked as he pulled away.
“About a few hours ago.” He looked around the party. “Nate texted, said I should stop by for a plate.”
“I don’t know about all that other food.” Claire waved her hand dismissively. “Because I’ve been gorging on pie. Which is a recipe I’m convinced Kira stole from heaven itself. So get some while you can before I finish it.”
“I’ll have to try some, then.” Leo chuckled and didn’t have an excuse to avoid looking at me anymore.
I did my best to keep eye contact, trying to make sure things didn’t seem awkward on my end.
“Hey, Kira.” His greeting sounded like something he did every day. Like I was the barista at his favorite coffee shop and he was placing his usual order.
“Hey.” My voice sounded strained. A few kids ran by screaming, briefly distracting Leo. Claire shot me a ‘what’s wrong with you?’ look. And I returned it with a ‘I have no idea what you’re referring to’ shrug.
Instead of moving on to find my brother, like I would have expected him to do, Leo came to my side of the table and sat in the empty chair beside me.
Claire cleared her throat and said, “I’m going to be right back. I gotta see what’s taking Fran so long with my slice.”
I frowned harder than I’d ever done in my life. “I thought you said your feet hurt.”
“Sometimes walking helps.” She got out of her seat.
“That makes no sense,” I called after her as she hurried off.
Neither of us said anything at first. Leo rested his elbows on the table with his hands clasped together. I let out a sigh, trying to think of ways to get my brother over here without obviously texting him. Or how to get Fran to ask me to dance again. I’d embarrass myself in front of everyone if I didn’t have to sit next to Leo for another minute.
“You look nice,” he said after letting the awkwardness have a nice, long simmer.
I could feel his eyes on me, but I didn’t look up. Instead, I gazed down at the old band tee I’d thrown on with some shorts and a pair of black flip-flops. Nice? Yeah, right.
“Thanks,” I mumbled.
He scratched his jaw, clearly as unsure as I was. “How’s your summer been so far?”
“Today’s the first day,” I said, simply.
“Right. Yeah, that… I knew that.” He started tapping his fingers on the plastic table.
I tilted my head, listening to the rhythm and trying to make sense of his lingering. “Are you okay?”
He met my gaze. “Yeah. Definitely. I’m good. Are you?”
I laughed a little. “I’m fine.”
“Good.” He nodded and resumed his tapping.
“It’s just… you seem nervous.” I gestured at his hands. “All the tapping.”
