I leaned back in the booth, offended. “I wasnotthe one who ratted you guys out. I never said a word, I’ll have you know. I should’ve ratted you out though, considering I’m positiveyouwere the one who rattedmeout for skipping school and going to the mall. I got grounded for a month for that.”
“I never ratted you out,” he said, offended that I had accused him.
“Who else would it have been? I know you saw me leave school that day with my friends. No one else saw us leave.”
“That you know of,” he said. “Scout’s honor, I never ratted you out.”
I crossed my arms, trying to decide if he was telling the truth or not.
“Damn. You’re telling me I held a grudge for almost a decade for no reason?”
“Where’s the Molly McKinley I know? If you really thought I ratted you out, why didn’t you confront me about it back then? You’ve literally never held back once in your life.”
“Good point. I should’ve beat you up for ratting me out, which would’ve been for nothing if what you’re saying is true. Either way, it would’ve made for a good story.”
I sat there for a minute longer. “If you didn’t rat me out, then who did?”
“My guess is Jace. He was standing right there with me when I watched you leave school that day.”
“That little shit.”
Chapter 18 – Liam
I sat there for another hour, watching Molly’s eyes practically roll to the back of her head every time she took a bite of her banana split. She kept offering me a bite, but I turned her down. The girl was growing an entire baby in her belly—she needed the nutrition more than I did. As nutritional as a banana splitcouldbe.
Molly took her final bite, slowly pulling the spoon from her mouth, savoring every last bit.
“That was absolutely delicious, and I want six more,” she said, setting the spoon down. “Just kidding. I feel like I’d pop like a balloon. But seriously, thank you so much for bringing me out for ice cream, Liam. That was really sweet.”
I tipped my head toward her. “Of course.”
“Now what?” she asked, eyeing me curiously.
“What do you mean?”
“The night’s still young. What other trouble do you think the two of us could manage to get ourselves into?” she said, smiling. “Youarethe town sheriff. It’s not like I’m getting arrested tonight.”
“Molly,” I said, giving her a stern look. “Why do you always insist on breaking the rules?”
“Because rules are meant to be broken, Liam. “What’s life without a little fun? A little excitement?” She shifted in her seat, sitting up straighter. “Something that gets your blood flowing, your heart racing. Do you want to die knowing you never did anything fun? Never took chances?”
“Last time I did something wild and broke the rules, I ended up becoming your baby daddy.”
She laughed and pulled her phone out of the purse sitting next to her in the booth.
I watched as she typed into the on-screen keyboard. “What are you doing?”
“Changing your name in my phone toBaby Daddy.”
I mirrored her, pulling up her contact in my phone.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“Changing yours toBaby Momma.”
She giggled, shaking her head, her cheeks rounding as she laughed. “In all seriousness, I’m not ready to go home. Will you show me what sunset chasing is like?”
I glanced out the window to our right. The sun was starting to dip in the sky. If we left now, I could take Molly to one of Jace’s and my old spots. She’d still have plenty of time to watch the sunset.
