“This is awkward,” the restaurant owner says, eyeing the table behind me.
I groan. “You could say that again.”
“I remember when you two started coming in here, what? A decade ago,” Kona muses, his tone light with nostalgia. “Now? You’re showing up at the same dinner spot, except she’s with someone new.”
I take the pizza box from him along with a few plates. “The irony is not lost on me.”
Kona smirks. “I’ll send some extra garlic knots over to the table.” Then, he’s gone, leaving me standing here like an idiot.
I don’t want to turn around. I don’t want to sit at that table and make nice with some guy who looks like he’s seconds away from staking a claim on Jules. But I do.
Because I love my son.
I squeeze behind Jules to get to the only open seat against the wall. The brush of my pants against her shoulder is completely unintentional. Mostly. But when her breath catches and her eyes flick to mine, it’s like she’s daring me to do it again.
I don’t.
Because I love my son.
“Dad got us half and half,” Tate tells Trey. “I like cheese, but he and Mom like Canadian bacon and pineapple.”
Trey nods, like he’s storing the information away for later.God, I hate this guy.
I slide a slice of cheese onto a ceramic plate and hand it to Tate, who takes a big bite before turning back to Trey.
“Did you know snakes sleep with their eyes open?” he asks.
Trey scratches the back of his neck, clearly thrown.Well, what’d you expect, dumbass? You’re the one who invited us to stay.
“I didn’t know that,” Trey replies.
“They don’t have eyelids,” Tate continues, launching into a full-on animal fact lecture.
Jules shifts beside me, clearly over it. When I glance at her, she’s looking at me like this has been the longest, most excruciating five minutes of her life.
For some reason, that makes me smile. I try to hide it, but she catches the way the corner of my mouth lifts, and her eyes narrow at me in playful warning.
“So,” Trey asks, still trying to keep up, “if they sleep with their eyes open, does that mean they can see everything going on around them while they’re asleep?”
Tate shrugs. “I don’t know. I’m not a snake.”
“Tate.” I raise an eyebrow.
“Sorry,” he mumbles before adding, “I’m not sure.”
I fight another grin, but Jules sees it anyway. And judging by the way she bites her lip, she’s fighting one too.
For the first time tonight, I don’t totally hate that we’re here.
Jules shifts again, her leg bumping into mine under the table.God, this table is small.There’s nowhere for our knees to go except against each other. I wait for her to pull away, to make space. She doesn’t.
She just lets it rest there.
I really should not have sat down.
But I did.
Because I really, really love my son.
