“As you might expect, she did. She thinks you’re safe for a good time, but that’s about it. But can you blame her?”
“No, I can’t. And it doesn’t matter to me what she thinks, as long as what she says doesn’t get in your head and make you second-guess everything. I only care what you think.”
“I’m a big girl with a mind of my own. Believe it or not, I tried to defend you.”
“Aspyn Dumont defending Troy Serrano. What’s gotten into the water in Meadowbrook? I never thought I’d see the day.”
“I guess good sex will mar one’s judgment.” She laughed.
“Whatever’s working, I’ll keep doing it.”
“You know what the worst part of today was?”
“What?” I smiled, finally feeling my pulse come down.
“That you had to leave early, and we didn’t get to spend the remainder of the weekend together.”
“Well, if I’m on my best behavior, maybe I’ll get another weeknight dinner invitation.”
“I’ll have to figure out how to not make dinner a science experiment next time.”
• • •
The following Thursday evening, I was home alone in front of the television eating a dish of pasta, beans, and broccoli I’d thrown together. I hadn’t had a chance to see Aspyn this week after all. She’d mentioned she was having some issues with Kiki and that it was probably best if we waited until Friday to get together. Although I couldn’t be sure, I suspected part of it might have had something to do with that dance scheduled for Friday night at her school.
While Aspyn was busy dealing with life stuff, I took advantage of the free evenings to catch up on work and had dinner one night with Nonno. During the day today, he and I had gone to the mall since the weather was too crappy to do anything else. I always thought of Aspyn every time we went anywhere now, and it made me miss her company.
Just as I’d taken my dirty plate to the kitchen, my cell phone rang. I smiled when I saw her name pop up.
“How did you know I was thinking about you?” I asked when I answered.
“I didn’t. But that’s nice to know.”
“How’s everything going?”
She let out what sounded like a frustrated breath. “Not that great, actually.”
My stomach sank. “Are you okay?”
“It’s nothing bad. I didn’t mean to alarm you.”
Back in the living room, I sat down on the couch and kicked my feet up. “Talk to me. What’s going on?”
After a moment’s pause, she said, “Kiki is really upset that I haven’t changed my mind about the dance. I’m starting to doubt whether I’m making the right decision in not letting her go.”
“Let’s talk it through then. What’s the bottom line? Is it that you’re worried she’ll get the wrong idea if I go with her—get too attached to me or something? Or is there more to your apprehension?”
“It’s not only my apprehension about her expectations when it comes to you.” She paused. “That’s part of it. But also, if she shows up, isn’t it almost like…giving into bullying? I mean, what if you weren’t willing to take her and she had no one to go with? She would have dealt with it. I don’t want to teach her to have knee-jerk reactions every time someone is mean to her. She doesn’t need to prove anything to anyone by showing up just to make a point. At the same time, I can see why that would be empowering, so I’m not sure whether I’m blowing everything out of proportion.” She exhaled. “I’m just…tired.”
The frustration in her voice was palpable.
“I wish I could hug you right now,” I said.
She sighed.
“Okay. Wanna know what I think?”
“Yes,” she immediately said.
“It’s just one night. Not even that—just a couple of hours. It’s not worth you stressing out about. It would be one thing if she didn’t have anyone to go with, but she does. She has me. And I’m truly happy to take her.”
“She doesn’t even have a dress. I’d have to take her shopping right after school tomorrow. We won’t have much time.”
“You’ll find one. Take a deep breath. Everything’s gonna be fine.”
“Some days I don’t know if I’m cut out for this.”
“You’re always on the go, whether it’s work or taking care of her. You can’t even stop long enough to look at yourself and see that you’re doing a damn good job. As someone who didn’t have a mother growing up, I can assure you you’re badly needed in her life. You’re filling huge shoes, and I know you didn’t choose this role, but you’re doing the damn thing, Aspyn, and I’m proud of you.”
There was a bit of silence. “Now I’m the one who wishes she could hug you. Thank you for taking her, Troy. I owe you big time.”
“Even more of a reason to take her,” I teased.
• • •
Aspyn looked me up and down as she let me into her house on Friday night. “You look nice, Serrano.”
“Why, thank you, beautiful.”
She’d mentioned that the dress code wasn’t specified, so I’d decided on a dark blue collared shirt and black dress pants. I hoped I wasn’t underdressed, but I figured dressing down was safer than looking like a dork if I overdid it. I didn’t want to embarrass Kiki.
She looked down at what I held in my hand. “Oh my God. You bought her a corsage?” Aspyn covered her mouth.
“Don’t laugh. But yeah. I looked up what to do for a daddy-daughter dance on YouTube to make sure I wasn’t missing something. I’m clueless about what I’m getting into here. As an example, it hadn’t occurred to me that I might be actually dancing. Anyway, getting some sort of flower is a must, apparently. She can wear this one on her wrist, so it doesn’t have to ruin her dress.”
“That was really nice, thank you.”
“Don’t be too impressed. I have ulterior motives when it comes to her aunt.” I wrapped my hands around her back to pull her into a brief kiss. Then I looked around. “Where is Kiki anyway?”
“She’s taking her sweet time in there. I just helped her get her dress on, but she insisted on doing her own hair—wouldn’t let me touch it. I’m praying she doesn’t burn herself with the curling iron.”
“So, you ended up finding a dress okay?”
“Yeah. We actually found a really nice one on clearance.”
“Good. See? It all worked out.” I looked down at my phone. “We’d better get going, though.”
“Let me check on her.” Aspyn rushed down the hall.
I stood in the living room waiting, looking out the window at the streetlights.
When I turned around, Kiki was walking toward me slowly. She wore a light blue dress with a big skirt and looked freaking adorable.
I held my hands out. “Wow. Look at you. What a dress!”
Kiki spun around. “Thank you.”
“I’ve never seen you with your hair curly. It looks nice.”
Kiki had the same light, sandy-brown hair color as Aspyn. For some reason, I hadn’t noticed until now just how much they resembled each other.