Eloise: Stop worrying about what he might find wrong with you, and just be yourself and enjoy spending time together.
Easy for her to say. I’m not sure if I’m more concerned he’s going to dislike me or love Wyatt, but the anxiety is rising to uncomfortable levels in my body.
Eloise: It’s easy for me to say, but I also know you, Tori. You’re a great person and a great mom. Stop worrying about what one guy thinks of you and just have fun.
Well. When she puts it like that I feel kinda foolish for letting it get to me.
Tori: Yes, mom. I’ll do my best.
Eloise: Fear is healthy. But getting so caught up over what might happen that you don’t enjoy the now isn’t cool. You’ve got this.
I hate when she brings the best friend logic.
Raffi comes back into the room before I can shoot off a reply to Ellie Bellie. I’ll catch up with her after our day out. Maybe Mom can watch Wyatt so I can take her out for hot chocolate to make up for being a whiny bitch.
Wyatt is snuggled against Raffi’s chest, already wearing a coat and shoes. What voodoo did Raffi work on our kid to get him to agree to not only one of those things, but both?
A pang of something strikes my chest, but I don’t have time to analyze it.
“Good bagel?”
I take a huge, unsexy bite. A string of cheese lands causally on my chin and Raffi plucks it from my skin and feeds it to me.
“Me, mama! I’m hungry.”
I hand my number one guy the rest of my bagel before cracking another one out of the bag.
“Am I driving?” I ask.
Raffi shakes his head. “I borrowed Apollo’s SUV again. I got this.”
The relief that unfurls in my neck muscles is palpable. I fucking hate driving. If I could get around without ever having to drive again, I would.
“Why didn’t you bring your own car?”
Pretty sure he told me once that he has his dad’s old car.
“It’s a piece of shi—silliness. I don’t want to drive you around in something that could easily break down on the side of the highway. Apollo insisted.”
The rumors around the de la Peña family are persistent. There isn’t a day that goes by when one of them isn’t the butt of college gossip. But the more I get to know them, and know of them, the more it’s clear they’re just really good people.
“He sounds like a nice guy.”
“Best captain I’ve ever played under. They’re a tight group of brothers, but they never make the rest of us feel like we aren’t part of the family too, you know?”
I shove the rest of my bagel in my mouth then we pick up the thirty five bags that come with having a small child. Wyatt doesn’t want Raffi to put him down while he eats, so the two of them walk to the car munching on breakfast.
The resemblance between them is almost comical. The way they look at each other, their mannerisms. Wyatt’s already working his dad’s lopsided smile like he knows it’s going to get him places.
“You got everything?” Mom stands at the door while we load the car.
“I think so. Do you need us to bring anything back?”
She shakes her head. “Just have fun, okay? Oh! Do you have your camera?”
Shit. Almost forgot. I pause before I run back inside, but Raffi gives me a reassuring smile. “It’s all good. I can watch him for thirty seconds.”
He’s trying to comfort me, but instead makes me feel like an idiot. I don’t truly believe anything sinister is going to happen in the time it takes me to get my camera, but I can’t help the tug in my gut. It’s there damn near every time I leave my kid.
