“Oh, I got a dog.”
She slaps my arm. “Knock it off, Miles.”
I chuckle as I cut another bite.
“Just some guy I met at the bar. Nothing serious.” Her eyes narrow. “It wasn’t.”
“You’re sure it wasn’t—”
“No,” I say quickly, cutting her off. “And I don’t want to hear his name, so don’t say it.”
“I wasn’t going to say it.”
Audrey is stuck on me going back to my ex, Derek. Not because she wants me to but because I did so many times before. But I’velearned my lesson. I’m done with assholes, and Derek wears the asshole crown. I won’t make that mistake again, certainly not with him. It took me a long time and a lot of nights crying myself to sleep to see how bad he was for me. Audrey worries, but she doesn’t need to. Derek is never going to be a problem for me again.
I take another bite, one that’s way too big for my mouth, but I shove it in anyway.
“Oh my God, you make the best pancakes,” I mumble through a full mouth.
“Tell me about him.”
I grin, chewing my food. “He’s a firefighter, and he’ssohot. Like… think of what a hot firefighter would look like, and that’s JJ.”
“JJ? Does that stand for something?”
“I’m sure it does, but he wouldn’t tell me what.”
“He wouldn’t tell you?” She frowns.
“Said he’d have to kill me.”
“So, this guy threatens to kill you, and you bring him home?” she asks, giving me anare you seriouslook.
“Audrey,” I groan.
She laughs.
“I’m all done, Mom,” Noah announces.
“You drink all your juice?”
“Yep,” he says, grabbing his mug and tipping it upside down. A few drops fall out, but otherwise it’s empty.
“Good job. Go get dressed,” she tells him.
He scurries off to get ready for the day.
“You know I’m working today, right?” she says, getting up to bring Noah’s dishes and her empty coffee mug to the sink.
“You know you worry too much,right?” I counter.
“I’m just making sure someone will be with Noah.”
“We share a calendar, Audrey. I know when you’re working.”
I get up, sliding my dishes into the sink and yanking on her ponytail.
“Knock it off, Miles,” she scolds, swatting at me.
