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“Behave,” I tell JJ, one last warning, before I make my way towards them, JJ hot on my heels with a snicker escaping him.
As if she senses my approach, Daria’s gaze meets mine and she shoots me a smile, the kind that stupidly trips up my heart. But shoving my eagerness aside, I look down at the little girl she’s with and grin. “Hey, Elaine. You look real pretty.”
She’s got her blonde hair in little braids and is wearing a cute dress, looking all sorts of excited. She’s never been a shy kid, I think, and it shows in her keen expression. “Thank you,” Elaine replies adorably.
My smile widens at that before I lift my gaze to her mother. My blood turns warm as I take in the burnt orange, flared slacks she’s wearing, a fitted black turtleneck tucked in. Gold hoops adorn her ears, her own blonde hair tied back in a slick, high ponytail. Those blue eyes, framed by long eyelashes, meet mine and I tell myself I can’t get turned on at a Goddamn birthday party for a little kid. But Daria’s full lips are pink and glossy, and I’m overwhelmed with the burning urge to kiss her.
Fuck.
“You find the place okay?” I ask her by way of greeting.
Her smile ticks up a little more. “Made it here, didn’t we?” she replies, earning a soft chuckle from me.
“Sure did,” I nod before gesturing to the blonde next to me. “You met Willow, and this is JJ.” To him, I introduce, “And these are Daria and Elaine.”
“Nice to meet you ladies,” JJ smiles charmingly at both Daria and her kid. Elaine waves at him, which JJ returns just as enthusiastically. To Elaine, he asks, “You ready to play games and eat cake?”
Elaine giggles and nods. “Yeah!”
“Me too,” JJ nods seriously, his eyes sparkling with mischief. Then he looks at Daria and his smile turns a little sly. “It’s nice to finally put a face to the name.”
Willow laughs. “I said the same thing.”
Daria smiles, her cheeks pinkening a little. “Yeah, same here,” she nods, her gaze meeting mine briefly.
The next few minutes are spent introducing her to Reed, who walks over because this is where Willow is, and then we find Leo and Lilah. When we get to them, Daria hands Elaine the gift bag and gives her an encouraging nod and smile, and Elaine steps up to Lilah and holds the bag out to her. “I’m Elaine. Happy birthday!”
Lilah’s face lights up, the rest of us watching as she takes the bag from Elaine. “Thanks,” she smiles, only a little shy. “Do you wanna make slime with me?”
Elaine glances up at Daria for permission, who simply nods with a smile. “Sure!” Elaine says to Lilah, and the two girls run off in the direction of the slime making station.
The whole interaction has a smile on my face, as well as Daria and Leo’s as they watch their daughters get situated at the station. Smugly, I say, “Told you they’d get along well.”
I watch as Daria and Leo exchange a look before facing me. She looks unimpressed as she states flatly, “They’re three, Caden.”
“Yeah, you’re not God for seeing this coming,” Leo pipes in, a teasing glint in his eyes.
Both of them are fighting smiles, I can tell, and I roll my eyes. “Fudge you both,” I respond, censoring my language around all of the giggling and screaming kids. Their laughter joins in. With a shake of my head, I turn towards the direction of the drink table and ask Daria, “You want a drink?”
She’s still laughing with Leo, the sound doing that familiar, jumpy thing to my pulse, and says to me, “I’ll come with you.”
The two of us leave the guys and head towards the table. On our way, I quietly ask her, “How’re you doing? Not freaking out yet?”
Daria scoffs with a roll of her eyes, throwing me a look. “I wasn’t freaking out about coming,” she protests just as quietly. Then, with a lift of her chin, she adds, “And, no. I’m not freaking out now, either. I’m fine. It’s just a party.”
“Mhm,” I hum, shooting her a smirk. When we reach the drinks table, I state knowingly, “You were definitely freaking out on the drive here, which is why you didn’t ride with me.” Daria opens her mouth to protest, but I just ask, “What do you want to drink?”
She narrows the cerulean eyes at me before saying, “Just a Coke.” I pour her a cup of it, feeling her gaze on me. “And, for your information, I wasn’t freaking out on the drive over, either.”
I turn to her, handing her the cup. “So why didn’t you want to ride with me?”
Taking the cup from me, Daria doesn’t break our gazes. Something flashes across her eyes, but it’s gone before I can decipher it. Over the noise of the party, I hear her let out a quiet breath before she mutters, “You know why.”
My jaw works. Yeah, I do know why. I know she wanted to drive by herself so we weren’t seen together in the same car. I know she was protecting herself and her daughter, and I don’t blame her a bit for it. Even still, my stomach tightens into a knot, because for the first time, Daria had felt like a secret when she said she would be coming here on her own.
And a part of me—the reasonable part that goes by my head—knows that all of this is ridiculous. That I’m thinking too much into it, trying to find meaning in something that is probably better left alone. But for as long as Daria and I have been doing whatever the hell it is we are doing, it has always just felt like something that’s ours. Not necessarily a secret, per se, but just something private. Today, though, it feels different, because now she’s around the rest of my friends, and they have met her, but they don’t know how close we really are.
That’s the choice she and I made, though. And I don’t regret it, because it’s the smart and right choice.
