Nova shuffled over to us and admired the picture on my phone. “He’s cute.”
“He’s a weird-looking dog, but I like him.”
“Do you have more pictures?” Skylar asked.
I showed them how to swipe to see more pictures of the dog. They got to one of Goldie and showed Nova.
“We know her,” Skylar said and nodded. “She’s our friend.”
“That’s my big sister,” I told them.
Lyric shook her head. “No, she’s smaller.”
Grinning, I stood up and focused on Nova. Though she smiled softly, I knew she was uneasy with my sudden appearance.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t wait until tomorrow,” I said and ran my hand through my hair. “But since I first saw you, I’ve wanted to know you better. I held back because that made sense. But I’m not looking to be sensible anymore.”
“I’m always sensible.”
“Not really,” I said and fished out the paper from my pocket. “You gave me this because sensible is boring. You want more.”
“I do want more,” Nova mumbled. “But I’m not sure I can handle more.”
“You’ve survived worse than a biker thinking you’re gorgeous.”
Nova couldn’t hide how much she wanted me to want her. Her flushed cheeks and silly smile made me feel fucking great.
“I want to stick around for dinner if that’s okay,” I said, and she went still. “I can order something for us to eat.”
“I planned to make chicken.”
“You can save that for later,” I said before shrugging. “Or I could help you cook. Just be aware that I’m a bad cook and can’t be in charge of anything important.”
Nova glanced at the kitchen and then focused on her girls. They were whispering to each other about Beef Jerky.
“What would you like to order?” Nova asked.
“What do the girls like to eat?”
“We want buffalos,” Skylar said as if simply waiting for the question to be asked. “I like spice.”
“I don’t,” Lyric added and nearly crawled over her sister to get closer to me. “I like buffalos, but no spice.”
“I assume they’re talking wings, right?” I asked Nova, who smiled softly at how they were bouncing around. “I know a place that delivers. How much spice can you take, Skylar?”
The five-year-old responded immediately, “All of it.”
“Well, maybe we’ll keep it to medium spice,” I suggested. “Don’t you have school tomorrow? No way do you want to get the runs during recess.”
“The runs?” Skylar asked, while Lyric tilted her head with confusion.
“Pooping,” I said, and the girls howled with laughter. I shared Nova’s grin. “I thought girls would be tricky to talk to, but they love poop stuff just as much as boys do.”
“Um,” Nova mumbled, working up the courage to shuffle closer. “Are we still going out tomorrow?”
“Of course,” I said and brought up the restaurant’s site. “Well, unless you decide you need a break from me.”
Nova’s big blue eyes were so expressive. Right now, they hid nothing. I was hitting all the right notes. A break from me was the last thing she was craving.
