“I overdressed?—”
“No, no.” My t-shirts and jeans felt inappropriate. At least I hadn’t worn a shirt with a hole in it. “You look… amazing.”
“I didn’t know what to wear.” I had spent all daythinking about where to take him. Nothing I came up with warranted a tie. The suspenders, however, he could wear those whenever I was around. “I should go change.”
I reached for his hand. “Don’t worry.” Holding his hand, I didn’t care what he wore. If he wanted to toss on some daisy dukes and a crop top, he’d still be the sexiest man in town. I’d spend the night staring at him and following his tie to his zipper, but that would happen no matter what he wore.
“Who is it?”
A rapid thumping came from inside the house. Simon stood aside, gesturing for me to come in. A tiny version of Simon flew down the stairs. I couldn’t help but look at Simon and then at his son. I suspected if I had seen his childhood photos, he and Lucas would be twins. The only difference was the circular glasses Lucas wore.
“Lucas, this is my friend Jason. He’s the owner of the comic book store.”
I noted the friend comment. I didn’t have time to focus on it as Lucas’s eyes lit up. When he gasped, I felt like the most important person in the world. People called me a geek or a nerd, but never had somebody looked at me with this much admiration.
“Your dad tells me you like comics.”
“He reads them to me. Do you have more? Do you own all the comics? What’s your favorite? I like the superheroes. I want to be a superhero when I grow up. Do you know any superheroes?”
The questions came out quickly. I couldn’t get in a word.Despite wearing his pajamas, he was anything but ready for bed. I pitied whatever babysitter had to wrangle this bundle of energy. Simon wrapped his arm around the boy’s shoulder, pulling him tight.
“I blame you for this.”
I dropped so we could speak eye-to-eye. “Think we can convince your dad to let you visit the comic store?”
Lucas tugged on his dad’s hand. There’d be no stopping the kid. “Can we? Pleeeeease.”
“I think we can manage that.”
Lucas gave a joyous squeal. “Which is your favorite?”
“I’m Team Sentinel all the way.”
Lucas shook his head, not caring for my answer. “Valiant has the cooler costume.”
“Itispretty cool.” I caught Simon smiling. It wasn’t my first time dealing with rambunctious kids. After giving a talk to a room full of third graders the day before vacation, Lucas didn’t scare me. “Now that you mention it, your dad kind of looks like Valiant. Think he might be a superhero?”
Lucas jumped back, looking at his dad. “Nah. He’s not a superhero. He’s just Dad.”
“I dunno. Seems pretty super to me.” I gave Simon a wink. “Did he tell you about the convention?”
Lucas stopped imagining his dad in a mask. That was one of us. His little head bobbled up and down. “Dad said people can dress up.”
I rose to my feet. “Absolutely. There’s a contest and everything. Think we can convince Dad to put on a superhero costume?” I’d pay money to see Simon in spandex.The fastest way into my pants was through my geeky heart. Him wearing a cape wouldn’t hurt.
I snorted when Simon’s face scrunched up. “Dad, can we? I can be Valiant. You can be Sentinel. We can fight crime together.”
I had opened Pandora’s box and there’d be no coming back. I’m sure I’d get a lecture for suggesting it. Thankfully, a knock at the door grabbed all our attention.
“Hi, Mr. Peterson.”
“Julie?” I had gone to school with Timmy, her older brother. I barely recognized her after all these years. “It’s been ages. You haven’t graduated yet?”
She had a bulging backpack clutched against her chest. “Senior year. If I don’t pass physics, it’ll be myfirstsenior year.” Mr. Valente. I remember his class well. If it weren’t for his pity, I would have never passed.
“Okay, lil buddy.” Simon swooped down, picking Lucas up. The strength in those arms made me shiver. “Julie’s going to watch you tonight. You’ve got an hour until bedtime. Are you going to behave?”
His head shook back and forth.
