Liem
You didn’t tell me your dad was an artist
I glanced up at him, but he was talking quietly with Ari.
My dad is an artist.
Adair and Adeline returned, and I shoved my phone between my leg and the seat, the volume turned off.
Adeline took the open seat beside me, and Adair set his tray down in front of the seat beside her before coming to stand behind me and Dad. He slid a piece of cake between us on the table.
My heart skipped as I looked at it, but then I remembered that Dad asked him for it.
Adair returned to his seat without a word, meeting my eyes as he smiled warmly at me.
I looked away.
Hewasnice, and I didn’t know what it meant, orifit meant anything.
Adeline casually tapped my shoulder just like her brother had a few minutes before. “I’ll hold down the fort if you wanted to go get your lunch.”
This impromptu lunch party had gone from novel to overwhelming in a split second. Dad didn’t seem bothered, though, which was a relief. If he was okay, I would be too.
This time last year, we celebrated my twenty-fifth birthday with a big party at Dad’s. He burned chicken on the grill, and people came and went. Some of Dad’s friends hung around late into the night, talking and laughing so loud while sitting in camp chairs in the open garage that the neighbors complained.
All those faces had disappeared from our lives one by one after Dad’s diagnosis.
That was the kind of shit that made it hard to trust this, whatever this was. Which, to be fair, could be nothing. But it was enough of a reminder for me that I waved off Adeline’s offer with a mumbled excuse. Adair frowned, looking concerned as he tried to catch my eye, but I looked away again.
Only to find someone else looking at me across the table.
Cody’s hazel eyes held me captive, somehow feeling familiar to me even though this was definitely the first time we’d met in person.
Then, it hit me.
Cody’s eyes were almost the same as Adair’s, that unique mix of brown and green.
With no expression on his face whatsoever, Cody slid a small basket of French fries across the table.
Then he held up a packet of ketchup and pointedly raised his eyebrow.
I couldn’t help the twitching of my mouth as I shook my head.
He dropped the packet and raised the mustard instead.
Rolling my lips inward, I held back a laugh andnodded. He smirked as he tossed it toward me, landing it on top of the basket of fries.
Liem looked between us with a serene smile before leaning over and kissing Cody on the cheek.
To my surprise, Cody blushed.
I tore my eyes away, my stomach clenching at the love between them.
Everyone ate in relative silence, small conversations popping up between pairs here and there. I joined them while drawing a line of mustard on each of my fries.
Out of the corner of my eye, I clocked Adair watching me with a contemplative expression right before he and his sister stood up from the table in unison.
“We’re gonna go now so we have time to check on Pops,” she said with a bright smile. “Wouldn’t wanna be late getting back to it on our first official day. See you tonight?”
