When she finally manages it, Brooke comes marching inside like she lives here with me. I mean, I do happen to have a whole lot of her toys here, so she might as well. “Hello!” she shrieks and comes running over to me, but she stops in her tracks the second she notices Luan. “You again.”
“Hello,” Luan says a little awkwardly, gently pushing me off of him. Aw, he’s so adorable.
Brooke scrunches up her nose with a bright smile, then waves me down to her. Instantly, I kneel because I know if I don’t, this little kid will tell her dad I was being mean, and then I will have to listen to Miles lecture me on how not to be mean to a seven-year-old.
For a split second, Brooke looks up at Luan and then back at me. “Is he your friend, Uncle Grey?” Brooke asks, whispering so he wouldn’t hear. I bet he still can. “Or is he yourboyfriend?”
“What makes you think he’s my boyfriend?”
Brooke leans into me a little more, keeping her eyes strictly on Luan like she’s making sure he’s not listening. “Because he’s funny.”
I don’t exactly know when she got the chance to witness Luan being funny, but I’m not questioning her anymore at this point. I don’t think she remembers the ice rink with him.
“He is, huh?” I smile a little just thinking about it.
“Like Daddy, but funnier.”
“You think so?” Brooke nods. “But don’t tell your daddy you said that, Brookie. He’ll be heartbroken.” Knowing Miles, he would make a whole fuss about it. He might also force us to come over for Taco Sunday and make us take a poll on who’s funnier; him or Luan. Our friends would vote for Luan simply to annoy Miles.
“Does he make you happy, Uncle Grey? Like Memory makes Daddy happy?” Brooke asks, now laying her hands on my knees.
Knowing fully well that Luan can hear every single word we speak, I want to say no. I want to lie, but Brooke would look right through me and then she’d throw a fit. “He does.”
Her eyes narrow, her fingers play the piano on my knees. “So he is your boyfriend then?”
I shake my head. “No, we’re just friends.” For another few minutes.
Brooke’s eyebrows draw together as she looks from me to Luan and back. “But does he make your heartthump-thumpwhen you look at him?” She brings one hand to my chest, showing me whatthump-thumpis supposed to mean.
“Why?” I ask, now narrowing my eyes at her. “Does yours do that when you see Reece?” Reece is Colin’s younger brother. He’s about the same age as Brooke and they’re best friends. Now that Brooke’s a little older, she has a few more friends than whenever she was four years old, but back then, he was the only friend she had. They still meet up at least three times a week.
Brooke’s cheeks redden but she’s quick to shake her head, denying everything. “Don’t tell Daddy. He doesn’t allow me a boyfriend yet, okay? It’s our secret. And then I don’t tell Daddy you love Luan.”
I don’t love Luan. I mean, I do, but as of now, not the way she thinks I do. I love him as a friend, and I do want him to be more than just a friend, but that’s not quite the love she’s talking about. Though, to her, there probably isn’t much of a difference.
“You’re okay with that?”
Instantly, Brooke nods. “Sure. But if he hurts you, Uncle Grey, you tell me, okay?” She looks up at Luan again, sending him an adorable little death glare. It’s not that threatening coming from her. “If he does, I’ll ask Daddy if I can talk to Luan with all the bad words I know.”
Which shouldn’t be a lot, I hope.
Still, I laugh and pull Brooke in for a tight hug, planting a kiss to the top of her head. “You’d do that for me?”
“Of course,” she chirps. “But Daddy might not let me. Then you have to say the bad words for me, okay?”
Miles definitely wouldn’t let her use any of thosebadwords. Just a few weeks ago, Brooke called Eden adoodoo-headbecause he took Brooke’s Barbie. Miles almost had a heart attack.
Getting up from the floor, I pick Brooke up and sit her down on one of the bar stools next to Luan, winking at him when our eyes lock. He looks a bit pale with nerves.
“Now, tell me, what brought you here?” I ask Brooke. When I’m home, she usually stops by a couple of times a day just to say hello, never with a reason. Though it’s maybe seven-thirty in the morning, I don’t think she’s here for no reason at all.
“Daddy told me to tell you he’ll bring breakfast here in a bit.” Interesting. Miles calls me to come over every morning as soon as breakfast is done. “For you both.”
“Well, thank you for telling me.”
“You’re welcome.” Brooke scrunches up her nose once again, but then her face falls and she gasps in excitement. “Oh, Uncle Grey! Yesterday, Daddy and I were playing catch and then I fell. It didn’t even hurt, so I’m all good. But when I got up, do you know what happened?”
“What happened?”
