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“Excuse me, sir. I know it’s not my place—”
“It certainly isn’t.”
Nerves skate over my skin, but I’m not going to let anyone talk badly about her and that includes her father. “Lenore’s going to make you proud no matter what. Even if it isn’t what you want her to do. This scenario reminds me of your story about growing up. About how you did the seemingly impossible. She may not know what she’s going to do yet, but she’s more like you than you might think. She’s going to be someone, and she’s going to do it without your help.”
Mr. Robertson presses his lips together. I stay staring at him because I don’t know what else to do. Soon, though, a soft touch caresses my arm, and I peek over at a gorgeous face, eyes rimmed with tears.
“Come on,” she states, pulling on my arm.
I let her take me away, but over my shoulder, I call out, “Thanks for dinner. It was nice to meet you.”
She tugs even harder, and when we’re out of the room, I wrap my arm around her shoulders, kissing her temple.
“I think that went well.”
She chuckles, wiping the tears from her eyes. “Only you, Zaiah James. Only you.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Len
The drive home passes,and I can’t stop staring at Zaiah. No one has ever spoken up for me to my dad. No one.
I place my hand on his leg, and he slides his fingers through mine, squeezing while he steers with his other hand. I didn’t think anyone held hands like this anymore. So connected that they have to take up every available space, even the in-between.
Zaiah is like that, though. He likes the parts of me that others don’t. The parts that don’t glow all the time. The parts that aren’t perfect. The parts that I hid away because I wasn’t sure I was good enough.
“So, Zaiah?”
“Hmm?”
His brow furrows like he’s engrossed in some twisted riddle, but as the silence stretches, he peers over at me.
“Since you’re my puckable dating coach…”
A smile peels his lips apart. “Yeah?”
“What should I do if I really like a guy?”
His Adam’s apple bobs. “You should tell him. Sometimes guys can be thick in the skull.”
“And how do I do that? Seduce him when I’m drunk?”
The laugh that escapes him makes my body vibrate with a giggle. He peeks over. “You could do that.”
More like did do that.“Do I tell him my deepest, darkest secrets?”
He squeezes my hand. “Yes.”
“Do I invite him to a hockey game I don’t even want to go to?”
A small grin ghosts his lips. “You could, especially if he’s loved hockey since he was a little kid.”
I tap my chin like I’m really thinking about something. “What if he adds me to his family group chat and kisses me in front of a whole arena of people?”
“Then he’s a goner for you, sweetie.”
My heart does funny things, stopping and starting in a strange cadence. My brain, however, keeps telling me that this is too good to be true. That Zaiah would never talk to me this way, and that I must be in some sort of daydream. “That’s good to know,” I say softly.