He wiggled his eyebrows, and I rolled my eyes because I knew exactly what he was suggesting.
“Then you should clean your ears because I got home at ten.”
Enzo sucked in his cheeks and hugged his coffee closer before he said, “That’s still plenty of time forthingsto happen.”
I huffed.
“We had dinner. That’s it.” I groaned and closed my eyes, remembering the disappointment in Samir’s eyes when I stepped back before he could kiss me.
I didn’t know how I knew that he was thinking about it, but I just did. Even though I was out of practice with this whole dating thing.
“Seriously? That’s freaking boring. Come on, dude. Where is fun Cole?”
I sighed.
That was quite the question, wasn’t it? Where was the fun me? The obvious answer was that I’d buried him along with Sandra, but that would bring the mood down significantly, and I didn’t need to do that. Not in front of Ella.
“What did you expect?” I asked. “That we’d be playing ‘where’s the sausage’ from the word go?”
“Sauseege,” Ella cheered from her high chair, and Enzo chuckled.
“I don’t know, dude. I thought maybe you’d throw yourself back into the game instead of being sad.”
“Who told you I was sad? We had a great date,” I said.
Enzo nodded. “Sure. Sure.”
I shook my head and focused on my coffee, then the toaster that threw my slices of bread out, which I slathered in blueberry jam.
Had I been a terrible date? Had Samir expected something more to happen? Did it matter? Would I even be ready to do something even if Samir was?
The truth was I didn’t know why I’d stepped away last night. What I was afraid of. But I was afraid of something.
Enzo gave Ella a spoonful of oatmeal and then looked at the living room and sighed.
“What?” I asked.
“We still haven’t put a tree up,” he said. “Do you think you can go get one today?”
I glanced at the direction he was looking and grimaced.
“Why can’t you do it?”
“I have to go to work soon, and I’m working all day thanks to a certain owner deciding to step back.”
I glared at my friend.
“Are you serious? You guys forced me to step away.”
Enzo smirked, but I kept glaring.
“I know. I’m just messing with you. Anyway, tree? Today?”
I looked at my daughter, and she looked back at me with a smile full of oats.
“Tree shopping with my daughter? Yeah. Sounds fun,” I said.
I wiped her mouth and gave her another spoonful of the stuff when I noticed Enzo was staring.
