I bit my lip. “A little. When he gives me his half smile. Or when he’s being good with Micah. Or when we’re running and he gets all focused and intense...” I trailed off, realizing how much I’d just admitted.
“Girl, you arespa-rung!” Tamika declared.
“I am not sprung. I’m just... aware.”
“Aware that you want to climb that man like a tree!” Jada stuck her tongue out.
“That’s not what I said.”
“It’s what you meant though.”
“You need to do something about this,” Jordan said. “Life’s too short to wonder what if.”
“Like what? Walk up to him and say ‘hey, want to help me break my multi-yeardry spell?’”
“Why not?” Tamika shrugged.
“Because that’s insane. He probably doesn’t even think of me like that.”
I heard Micah’s voice calling out, “Thanks, Mr. Julian. Mom’s in her office!”
My blood turned to ice. I heard heavy footsteps in my living room, and my phone was still very much on speaker with my sisters’ faces grinning back at me.
“I gotta go!” I blurted, clicking the hang-up button just as Jada shouted fast: “Remember what we said aboutstretching!”
The screen went black.
I walked out of my office and Julian was standing right there, holding what looked like Micah’s football gloves.
“Hi,” he said, voice easy. “Brought these by. Micah left them in my car.”
I made a small sound. It was not a word. My heart was hammering so hard I was sure he could hear it. I cleared my throat. “Oh. Thanks for bringing them by.”
He stared at me I thought I caught the faintest hint of amusement in his eyes. “Your sisters?” he asked, nodding at the tablet in my hand.
“Uh, yeah. They were just... we were just… catching up.”
“That’s nice.”
The casual way he said it made me wonder how much he’d heard, but his expression gave nothing away.
“Well,” he said, handing the gloves to me, “I should let you get back to dinner. Smells good in here.”
“Thanks,” I managed. Any other day I would have invited him to stay for dinner. But I needed him out of my house before I disintegrated in front of him from sheer mortification. I followed him to the door.
He paused. “Don’t forget practice is canceled tomorrow.”
“Okay. Thank you.”
After the front door closed behind him, I stood there with my face burning.
“Micah!” I called.
“Yeah, Mom?”
“When did you let Julian in?”
“I don’t know.”
