Especially not one that he couldn’t stop thinking about.
“She’s not a stand-in.I’m sure she’s bored, too.”
That seemed unlikely, and it was inappropriate.“I don’t think Annie would want to go with me anyway.”
Bella cocked her head to the side.“Why not?She sounded excited about it.She said her mom could watch the kids.”
He was going to have to spell it out for her.“She’s going to think,” he said slowly, “that I’m trying to take her on a date or something.”
A laugh burst out of Bella and she covered her mouth.“Yeah right!You’rewaytoo old for her.”
He snapped his head back, an astonished smile on his face.“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Aren’t you like, I don’t know, fifteen years older than Annie?Her kids are just babies, and your kid is almost an adult.”
Miles covered his mouth, laughing.“Hang on.Almost an adult?”
She drew herself up to her full height.“Indeed.”Bella bowed her head slightly.“I’m practically grown.”
He wasn’t going to address that any further.“Did you know people can have kids at different times in their lives?”
Bella paused, seemingly pondering this.
“I think she’s only three years younger than me,” Miles continued.
That was a lie.Heknewshe was three years younger than him, because he’d looked her up online and read about her job and accidentally stumbled on her old wedding registry with Roy.
Bella frowned.“Oh.She looks younger than you.”
“So not only have you insulted me,” Miles said, crossing his arms, “now you’re implying that I’m basically a grandpa.”
“But are you mad?”Bella asked.“I just really can’t believe they invited me and – ”
“Of course I’m not mad,” Miles said.“Please, go and have fun.Do you need a ride?”
She shook her head.“Um, no.Noah is coming to pick me up.”
The muscles in Miles’ back stiffened.
“Noah,” he repeated.
“Yeah, I think I’ve mentioned him before.He’s, like, part of this group, and he just got his license, so he said he’d pick me up.”
A boy.Anolderboy, who had just gotten his license?So he could barely drive?
There were a million things he wanted to say, but Miles was at a complete loss as to what therightthing to say was.
He took a deep breath.“Is this Noah a safe driver?”
A smile lit her face.“Yes, the safest!”
Miles didn’t care about the stargazing.The Annie bit had given him whiplash, but really, Bella wasn’t focused on that at all.She was trying to make him happy, which made him feel guilty, all while she wanted desperately to be included by these new friends.
And now, a boy had entered the picture.
Everything all at once, as they say.
Trying to keep his expression carefree and bright was like performing surgery on himself.Awake.An amputation, maybe.
