“Oh. Wait a second now,” he says slowly. “You haven’t dated anyone since you met her, have you?”
“That’s not?—”
“Have you even been answering your DMs?” Owen asks.
“I don’t?—”
Liam bursts out laughing as he pulls a twenty-dollar bill out of his pants. “Oh man, he’s a goner.”
“I am not a goner,” I say, which comes out way too fast to be convincing. I’d argue the point more but I’m too busy watching Liam give that twenty bucks to Campbell. “Why do you have twenty dollars in your pants?”
“I bet your cousin that you wouldn’t fall for her at all,” Liam responds with a shrug.
“His loss, my financial gain.” Campbell grins, tucking the cash in his pants. Gross, mental note to not borrow money from those two because who knows what has sweated on it. “You’re done, buddy. You’re absolutely done.”
“Look at him,” Owen says. “The golden boy of Alexandria, brought down by a woman who sells plants.”
“I do not sell plants,” I snap, mishearing but realizing it too late. “She sells plants.”
Ty nods approvingly. “See? He knows the difference. It’s serious.”
They all laugh, skating loose and easy now, ribbing me the way guys only do when they’ve figured you out.
“Let the kid’s dad come,” Liam says. “You’re the guy she’s spending time with now. She’s seeing who you are, and what’s he got? A bad reputation and a trail of missed milestones.”
Campbell smirks. “Yeah. You’re not losing this one.”
I laugh with them, shaking my head, pretending my chest isn’t doing something complicated and terrifying and way too real.
But even as the noise and joking swirl around me, one truth stays sharp and steady in my mind. Jokes aside, Theo’s dad is still his dad.
He gets a seat in that box, because of me.
He gets a chance with his son, because of her.
And I’ve managed to volunteer myself right into a night where I might be fighting for more than just a win on the scoreboard.
CHAPTER 20
JULIETTE
Have you ever tried to will a bell to jingle? I have and it’s not easy. I’ve never wanted the bell over the door at Leaf & Letter to ring more than I do at this moment.
It doesn’t ding, but I keep glancing at it anyway, like if I watch it hard enough I can somehow control when it rings. Theo is buzzing around the front of the store with the jittery joy only a kid waiting to see his dad can have, while I pace the narrow aisle between the ferns and the succulents like a woman waiting to be called into a courtroom.
In the back, Vivian and Charlie sit at the little café table, pretending to look at a catalog and not at me.
“So,” Vivian says loudly, “I guess he’s invited to Theo’s birthday?”
“Wow.” Charlie peers over his glasses. “Good thing we’re both going to be there to witness that.”
“If we weren’t”—Vivian nods solemnly—“I’d want a livestream.”
Charlie lifts his hand for a high-five. “Right?”
They slap palms like a pair of evil villains about to plan how to take down the world. It’s enough having to see David today.
“Oh, look what time it is,” I pretend to check my watch. “Vivian, don’t you have your own store to run?”
