I catch the look Mom shoots him, but the furrow between his brow smooths, and it’s the only indication he saw it.
“What’s with the third degree?” I ask, mirroring his head tilt. Dad only has himself to blame for my stubbornness.
“Chris, it’s fine. Let her go,” Mom says, the corners of her mouth tugging at a smile.
“Penelope, she has time to answer a few questions.”
“You’re being overprotective.” Her arms are crossed over her chest, and Dad sighs.
“Thanks,Maman.” I’m practically running when I go around the table to kiss her cheek briefly while she laughs.
“Wait,” Dad calls, halting me in my spot as I grab my keys off the hook next to the garage door.
Shit, I was so close.“Yeah?”
“Will Hunter be there?”
Despite the way my dad reacted when Henry and Mirabelle started dating three years ago, his reaction to me and Hunter dating was tame. I think he’d been trying to prepare himself for a while that I might end up with one of them, so it wasn’t too much of a surprise after the initial shock.
“Probably. I mean, he does live there.” I resist the urge to roll my eyes because it’s annoying he’s pretending like his real question isn’t whether Hunter’s going to be there, but if Bailey is. “Marley’s still in town, and I could call Mirabelle to see if she’ll be there. To answer the question you’re not asking, yes, Bailey’s there too.”
“That’s not what I was getting at,” Dad tries to protest, and Mom rolls her eyes.
“You’re not fooling anyone.”
“You’ve known Bailey his entire life, Dad.”
Dad sighs, and I hate how he’s doubting Bailey. “Yes, but we don’t know him anymore, or what he’s been through the last couple of years. Just be careful, okay?”
I can’t really blame him for thinking it. Still, I wish he knew that Bailey’s still the boy they knew.
I bite back every sarcastic comment threatening to slip from me, choosing to salute him instead. “Got it,” I say, and the look on his face still has me moving a little bit quicker to escape while I have the chance.
The Walkers only live fifteen minutes away, but it’s long enough for me to get in my head about being in the same room as Bailey again. It’d help if I could forget about kissing him three years ago as easily as he did.
I’ve replayed the moment in his room more times than I care to admit because it makes me feel like shit every time I do. We did nothing wrong, but then the little devil on my shoulder likes to remind me how easy it would have been to lean up and kiss him.
My stomach twists into knots by the time I type in my code at their gate, but Hunter’s truck is missing from the driveway.Shit.I hope Marley and JJ are okay with being the buffer between me and Bailey.
Nope, I’m not going to be weird today. This is about seeing how Javi’s appointment went, and there’s no reason to make it weird because nothing happened.
Fuck, what if the appointment didn’t go well? Should I have stopped somewhere on my way to get cookies just in case? I feel like it’s a bad idea to even be thinking about it not going well, but I’m afraid it’d be the final breaking point for Bailey.
A knock on the window causes my heart to leap out of my chest, scaring the living daylights out of me as I scream. I turn sharply to see who knocked, but my elbow hits the center of the steering wheel, and the horn honks, making me jump again.
Bailey is doubled over laughing, and I scoff as I climb out of the car. For fuck’s sake. “I can’t believe you’relaughing about scaring me,” I say, crossing my arms over my chest.
His smile is wide, and I can’t remember the last time I heard B laugh so unrestrained.It’s nice.
“I was coming to ask how long you were going to sit in the car, but I didn’t think you’d scream and honk the horn.”
“I didn’t honk the horn on purpose,” I point out, feeling my cheeks flush. “I was trying to decide if I should get some ice cream, but now I think you owe me some.”
Bailey shrugs, turning toward the house. “I could go for some ice cream, and I bet Javi would have fun too.”
I guess I’m not technically being alone with him if Javi’s coming with, right?
“Do you think JJ and Marley would want ice cream too?”
