Page 41 of Homecoming

“You’re supposed to be pissed when I’m late. Be a normal boss, would you?”

“Why would I get pissed at my most productive, effective employee? The one who keeps the wheels from coming off the bus every day? I don’t care if you’re late.”

“Don’t say that! I’ll take advantage of you.”

His Adam’s apple bobbed in his throat as he swallowed hard.

Renata instantly regretted her choice of words, since it seemed he might enjoy that.

“You, um, you wouldn’t do that.”

“Yes, I would, Myles. Quit acting like I’m not capable of bad things.”

“What bad things are you capable of?”

“The same things as anyone else. If my boss tells me he doesn’t care that I’m late, it might become a habit.”

“No, it won’t.”

“You can also quit acting like you know me so well, because you don’t.”

“Yes, I do.”

“Shut up and go to work.”

“I have a favor to ask of you, but I’m kind of scared of you right now.”

Renata bared her teeth at him.

The jerk laughed.

“What favor?”

“You can say no if you want to. In fact, I wouldn’t blame you if you did.”

“Spit it out, Myles. I have shit to do and so do you.”

“My, um… My cousin is getting married next month, and the RSVP deadline is coming up. I’m under tremendous pressure to bring a date. In fact, it’d be good to have a date, so I won’t have to answer questions about why I’m not dating anyone… And, um, I thought if you weren’t doing anything, you might, you know…”

Renata stared at him, shocked to realize he was asking her out in an awkward, bumbling, roundabout sort of way.

“Will you be my plus-one to this wedding, so I can enjoy it without being hassled by large groups of aunts and uncles, who won’t be happy until we’re all married with four kids each?”

Both families were woven into the fabric of the area. Everyone knew his mother was one of fourteen and his father one of eleven. Myles had sixty-two first cousins. She knew that because one of them, Ellery, was her friend. It was hard to find anyone who wasn’t connected to one of them in some way or another.

“Renata?”

She’d zoned out on him while he waited, twisting in the wind, for her to reply to his invitation to attend his cousin’s wedding. Ellery had told her that their cousin Nathan’s wedding would be an extravaganza, with the entire family invited.

“Yes, Myles?” Why did her mouth feel so dry, while the palms of her hands were sweaty? Neither of those things ever happened to her.

He grimaced. “Are you trying to torment me by any chance?”

“Why would I do that?”

“I, um, I don’t know, but it’d be nice if you’d just say, ‘Yes, Myles, I’ll go to the wedding with you,’ or ‘No, thank you, Myles, I can’t make it.’”

“IfI said yes, and that’s a very bigif, it’d be a one-time thing as a favor. Nothing more. Am I clear?”

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