I choke on a laugh while Evan finally lets his out properly against the back of my shoulder.
“No,” he says, voice still calm. “I don’t.”
Elle looks between us, her little brows pulling together. “Why are you now?”
Evan doesn’t move away. He doesn’t drop his arms as though we’ve been caught doing something wrong. His thumb simply strokes once over the back of my hand, steadier than ever.
“Because I like having Penny close,” he says. “She's special to me.”
It’s honest without being too much. And somehow, that makes it hit harder, because he hasn't reached for a convenient label we haven't discussed yet.
She thinks about that, then looks at me. “Is he special to you, too?”
“Yeah,” I say softly. “He is.”
“And you'll still make pancakes?”
A laugh slips out of me before I can stop it. “Of course.”
“If she wants to,” Evan adds.
Elle looks immediately offended by the uncertainty. “She wants to.”
I nod in agreement. “I do.”
Evan’s arm tightens around me just a little. “But nothing changes for you, bug. I’m still Dad. Penny’s still Penny. And you can ask me anything you want, okay?”
“Okay.” She considers that, then looks back at the lake. “Can she still skip stones with us?”
“That's the plan.” His mouth brushes faintly against my hair before he eases out from behind me. “Come do skips, bug.”
Elle turns back to consider us for a moment longer, but then she skips off, waving a pebble in the air.
“Okay, but Penny needs a good pebble to skip, too!”
“So, uhh…” I glance at Evan, now stretching to his feet. “Was that an official invitation?”
His eyes flick to mine as I push myself up too. “To skip rocks?”
“Sure. Yes. To skip rocks. And do lake breaths.” I lift one shoulder. “To being your… something.”
The corner of his mouth shifts, but he doesn’t let the joke carry us too far. “I didn’t mean to put words around anything we haven’t talked about.”
My teasing softens before I can stop it. “You didn't.”
“Okay.” His jaw shifts once. “Good.”
I look toward Elle, already crouched by the water with Gus nosing hopefully at her sleeve. “You told her the truth without making it bigger than it needed to be.”
“Wanted to do right by both of you.” His gaze stays on me as he pauses in that careful, steady way that keeps undoing me. “Did you want a word?”
My throat tightens. “Do you?”
“Yeah,” he says quietly. “I do.”
My heart gives one stupid, hopeful kick. “Okay…”
“Girlfriend,” he says. “If that’s okay with you.”
