“What exactly are you doing down there, young man?” Mrs. Oxford asked me, apparently nonplussed by that revelation. Maybe she already knew about me.
“Just visiting,” I croaked.
“So what was with the iron-pumping?”
Conrad turned a kind of pink shade, his lips twisting. He was definitely trying not to laugh now.
“I…” I couldn’t exactly explain that.
“Mrs. Oxford is Henry’s babysitter,” Archie explained helpfully.
“And where’s Ellie?” the woman asked.
“Right here.”
The familiar feminine voice made me groan audibly. I might as well toss myself off the stoop right now. It was tempting. Instead, I dropped my gaze down to see Ellie standing in her open doorway.
The sight of her sent a little tornado of nerves through my guts, just like I knew it would. She was wearing navy shorts and a cream-colored tank top. Both clung distractingly to her every curve. Her curls were damp, like she’d just stepped outof the shower. Luckily, Henry was sitting on her hip. The sight of him was enough to distract me momentarily from the way I always seemed to react around his mom.
“How long have you guys been standing there?” I asked.
“I just opened the door,” Ellie said.
I would have been reassured, except her eyes darted up to a small glass dome under the peak of her stoop’s overhang. A camera. Of fucking course.
I closed my eyes. “But you saw the whole thing.”
“Heard it too.”
There was laughter in her voice. But it didn’t feel mean. That was something. “Come on,” she said, taking pity on me. “See you guys,” she said to the crowd outside. Then she stepped aside, holding the door for me.
Ellie’s eyes were still alight with laughter as I passed, which made my embarrassment worth it. “So, the living areas are all upstairs, and the bedrooms are down here. The kids’ are on the left, mine’s on the right.”
For some reason, hearing Ellie reference her bedroom had a heat crawling up my chest. Her eyes flipped to mine, as if she could sense it.
I’d reacquainted myself the other day with how pretty her eyes were. Big and brown, with thick dark lashes that fanned over her cheeks as she blinked. They narrowed as she inspected me.
I looked over at Henry so I’d stop staring. He had his fist in his mouth. Was that normal? He was making pretty cute sounds, so I assumed it was.
“Hey, dude,” I said to him.
Ellie pinched her lips between her teeth. I think she was trying not to laugh.
“Sorry. I don’t really know how to talk to babies. My sister does this goo-goo ga-ga stuff, but that just feels weird. Isit weird?”
“There’s a chance you might be overthinking this,” Ellie said gently.
“I do that sometimes,” I confessed.
She smiled, something flashing in her expression. Did she do that too? I wanted to ask her. I wanted, actually, to shake off the awkwardness that hung on us like a wet blanket. But I just couldn’t relax. I wanted this to go well, and if I relaxed, I’d fuck it up again.
“I think you’re doing it again,” she said softly.
“Fuck. I mean, shit. I mean—” I groaned.
This time she did laugh. “Sam. It’s okay.”
My shoulders loosened. She was being so nice. She didn’t have to be. Also, I loved the way she said my name. I wanted her to say it again.
