Page 104 of Everything After

I chuckled. “Kara lived in my apartment while I mentored there.”

Neil frowned and I could see he was puzzled. Kara glanced at Poppy, and I immediately sensed her unwillingness to expand on the explanation while the kids were around.

“Poppy, do you know how to use a Virtual Reality headset?

“Yeah, they’re so cool,” she said excitedly.

“Alright, if you go down the hall, second room on the right, there’s a couple of headsets there. Pick a game that Allie can do, and we’ll come get you for lunch in a bit.”

Poppy took Allie’s hand and they both headed inside. “Who is your favorite singer?” Allie asked Poppy on the way inside.

“Alfie Black,” Poppy replied, and I chuckled.

“Oh, Ariana Grande is mine,” she replied. Their chatter continued but I couldn’t hear what else was said before I heard the game room door click shut.

“Kara lived on campus, but she never attended college. It’s a long story but Kara was my best buddy, Gary’s girl. Gary was killed in action overseas and I’d promised before he was deployed that I would take care of Kara if anything happened. Obviously, had I known he was going to get himself killed, I’d never have agreed to taking care of such a handful.”

Kara smiled, leaned in and hugged me. “He’s my guardian angel.”

“You promised you’d never say that in public.”

“I’m not, we’re among friends, right?” she asked. She glanced toward Neil and gave him a flirty wink.

I chuckled. “Did you just hit on him? I thought you were sworn off men?” I asked, calling her out.

“I-I just said I wasn’t looking for a relationship right now.”

“Then your eyes are another part of that betraying body you need to get under control, because they just winked at him.”

Kara’s face flushed all the way down to her cleavage. “Did not,” she argued.

“Yeah, you winked at me,” Neil confirmed. “But it’s been a while since any girl has, so I’ll take it.”

“See,” I remarked, wagging a finger at her.

Neil chuckled. “Do you want me to tell him to stop ragging on you? I will, if you want me to. Even if it means my daughter needs to climb onto my back and I need to swim back to shore once he asks me to leave.”

“Ouch, I felt that spark,” I stated, grinning at the way they’d hit it off.

Kara swatted my arm hard, the sharp sound loud in the air. “Are you determined to embarrass me?”

I reached over and smoothed one side of her hair. “Sorry, I couldn’t resist teasing you. It’s been a while since I’d gotten a rise out of you. Funny how quickly that memory muscle kicked in though, right?”

“So this isn’t the first time he’s ragged on you?” Neil asked, as he ran a hand through his hair, then bit back a grin.

“He and Gary lived to mortify me, but it was never in malice. I gave as much as I took,” she admitted.

“Then I’ll do what I can to protect you from this wayward rock star and his slick, barbed tongue,” Neil promised.

“All this flirting and I bet my tongue’s not the only thing that’s slick right now,” I said, laughing.

Neil’s eyes narrowed as his brain caught up with what I’d insinuated, and his lips puckered inward in an attempt not to laugh. “You’re relentless,” he admonished.

“Maybe, but I bet I’m not wrong.”

Neil’s eyes darted to Kara, who immediately ducked her head, but I caught the slow smile she tried to hold back. “I’m just going to go see if the girls are okay,” she muttered, slowly backing away with her thumb hitched over her shoulder.

“Kara,” I called after her, and she stopped. “I figured you two would like each other, hence my introduction. One day you’ll thank me, and I’ll tell you both, ‘You’re welcome’.”