I jerk backward. “It isn’t?”
He deadpans me. “No.”
Aunt Maddy laughs. “Oh my gosh, Jamie. You can be such an airhead sometimes. No wonder your schoolwork isn’t sticking in your brain.”
I throw my hands up at Maddy. “When was he ever here?”
“Plenty of times,” she answers.
“Not in ages,” Milo says, brushing it off. “We were a lot younger.”
“Oh,” is all I can manage to say. When Kai and I became friends, all I remember is hanging out with him. Everyone else around us became a blur.
“If anything,” Milo says, looking around, “it seems bigger than I remember. Maybe it’s newer furniture?”
“Yep,” Aunt Maddy says, nodding. “Grams had really bulky old-fashioned furniture. I upgraded them two years ago.”
Milo smiles at her. “It looks nice.”
She smiles back. “Thanks.” She then nods at me. “Where are your books? You have time to study before David gets here with the food.”
“I can’t do homework when I’m thinking about food,” I protest.
Maddy wags her finger at me. “Nuh-uh. No more excuses. You can’t skip your homework anymore. Don’t you want to get off the bench and play in soccer games?”
I slide my chair back and stand with a huff. “Fine.”
I drag myself to my bedroom, pull out my homework from my backpack, and trudge back to the kitchen.
“Did you want to continue on with your math homework?” Milo asks.
I put my extra homework from Mr. Pritchard on the table. “This is my extra math stuff. Do you mind taking a look at it?”
Milo smiles. “Sure thing.”
The extra sets are more complicated than the algebra we worked on before, but Milo has a way of breaking it down where it feels less daunting. His finger runs under each number or symbol as he talks it out. There are those perfect fingernails again. Man, he really doesn’t play sports, or rock climb, ordo anything fun with those hands. But maybe it’d be fun if those uncallused hands ran along my skin. Perhaps my arms, or my thigh.
“Earth to Jamie,” Aunt Maddy’s voice brings me out of my thoughts.
I jolt, the heat of embarrassment sizzling against my skin. “What?”
“Milo asked you a question,” she says.
“Oh… Sorry, what was it?”
Milo gives me a disappointed look, and then re-explains what he’d just said. This time I’ll use all my willpower to listen to him. You know, he does have a really nice cadence to his voice. It’s calm and reassuring. Oh my gosh, he really does care if I get this stuff. Kai just motormouths his way through conversations, and it never bothers him if everyone else checks out. Alternatively, the way Milo glances up and pauses, he leaves room for me to voice my concerns.
I use a gap in between two of his sentences to suggest what he might say next.
A happy grin sweeps across his face as he taps against a number. “Yes. That’s exactly it, Jamie.”
“Oh my gosh, baby,” Aunt Maddy cheers, landing behind me and rubbing my shoulders. “Well done. To be honest, I was having trouble following along.”
“Thanks,” I say softly. “It’s the way Milo explains it. Umm, thanks, Milo.”
He chews his lip, nervously holding onto his smile. “No problem.”
Aunt Maddy cheers, moving back to the counter. “Woo. Props to me for setting this up.”
