Chuckling, I stand and dust off the seat of my pants. “More than enough. I really didn’t mean for you to put on a whole show just for me.”
Shrugging, she messes with her equipment some more before clearing out the cash in her case and putting away herviolin. “It wasn’t just for you. Look—I made a little money too!” She counts through what’s in her case, wrinkling her nose. “Not a ton, but hey, it’s something. How much did you put in to start with? Thanks for that, by the way. Since I hadn’t planned on doing this when I left the house, I didn’t have the few dollars I usually put in. I know you put in a couple fives—which is extremely generous from my experience—but how many ones did you set me up with?”
I give her a funny look. “Uh, I’m not sure.”
She scoffs. “Uh-huh. Seriously, Jason. How much?” Expectantly, she looks up at me from her spot in the grass next to her case, the money resting in her lap.
“I don’t want it back, Hailey.”
Narrowing her eyes, she studies me again, then sighs. “Okay. Thank you.” Standing, she brushes herself off. “Can we stop at a store? I’m low on groceries, and with this, I can buy a few things.”
“Of course. I’m planning on taking you to dinner first, though. You do realize that, right?”
She gives me another look like she’s weighing my words, then shrugs and bends to collect her things. Once again, I take the stand and binder of music—which she barely used, playing mostly from memory—while she carries her violin case and the wad of cash in her hands.
At her sound of frustration, I stop to find her peering at the grass. “What happened?”
She lets out another adorable growl. “Someone gave me some change, and I dropped half of it. I can see one of the quarters, but …”
Setting down the stand bag, I step closer. Peering at the grass between her shoes, I catch the telltale glint of the late evening sun on silver, and bend to scoop it up, finding two other coinsnext to it. I pocket them, then scoop up the stand again. “Got ‘em.”
“Hey!” she protests. “Those are mine!” Then she snorts. “Well, I guess that can be your tip for helping me out. And a down payment for paying you back for the tow.”
Rolling my eyes, I shake my head, the coins jingling in my pocket. “A—I’m not going to keep them. But you don’t seem to have pockets, so they can live in mine for now. And B—you don’t need to pay me back for the tow. Or anything else, for that matter.”
She’s silent, and I glance back over my shoulder. She’s still keeping pace a couple of steps behind me, but her gaze is puzzled, like she still can’t figure out why I’m doing all this. “It’s really not a big deal,” I say softly.
That has her brows winging up. “Maybe not to you,” she says, her tone matching mine. “But to me it’s huge. This is … it all feels like too much, Jason. What’s next, are you gonna buy me a car?”
I shrug. “Maybe.”
She snorts, looks at me, realizes I’m not joking, then snorts again. “You really are too much,” she mutters. But she doesn’t sound upset about it.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Hailey
I’m not entirelysure what to make of Jason’s insistence on paying for everything for me. And hinting that he’d buy me a car?
It’s too much. It just is. I get that he has some kind of guilt about losing track of me when he promised Hunter he’d look out for me, but … a car? Can’t he see that’s way over the top?
I have to admit that I’m enjoying spending this time with him. And not just because he’s a connection to Hunter. If anything, that would make me more likely to shy away from him, though I have to admit that it’s nice to be around someone who isn’t scared to say his name. After over a decade of enforced silence about my brother, it’s a relief to not have that, even if I’m not ready or able to take advantage of being able to talk about him.
It’s been so long that I’m not sure I know how anymore. I’m so used to editing out any mention of him—around my parents because they never wanted the reminder and around friends because I didn’t want to get into it. But Jason already knows.He was there. I don’t have to explain anything or dredge up the horrible memories. And for that, I’ll let him take me out to dinner one last time.
He mentioned he’s scheduled to leave tomorrow, so I assume this is the last I’ll see of him. Though, maybe we could talk for real after this, not just well-wishes on major holidays. Maybe I could see him if he’s in the area for a game … He mentioned his parents go to his games in Chicago and St. Paul. Maybe I could tag along sometime? That might be fun.
Lost as I am in my own thoughts, I don’t notice that Jason is as quiet as I am until after we’ve ordered our dinners and we’re just sitting across the table and staring at each other. Leaning my chin on my hand, I raise my eyebrows. “So.”
“So,” he echoes, straightening his spine. That’s … an unexpected reaction.
My brows pull together. “Is everything okay?”
He takes a gulp of his water, but he tips the glass too far, and water dribbles down his chin. Nodding as he swallows, he scrambles for his napkin, wiping at his face and shirt, and I cover my mouth to try to contain my giggles. I don’t know why he’s so flustered, but it’s kind of hilarious.
He was always so cool and smooth—at least to preteen me. Even the last couple of days, he’s seemed pretty in control of himself. Watching him fumble and spill and … wait. Is he blushing?
“Oh my god, you’re blushing!” I exclaim before I can stop myself, then clap my hand over my mouth when he glares at me, but I can’t stop laughing.
