I honestly can’t believe we’re having this much of an exchange. I’ll take it. As much as he wants to give, I’ll take it. But I also need to know what the connection is.
“So, you like her, huh?” When Duncan tilts his head to the side, I expound. “Georgie. You two seem to get along.”
He nods, pushing his bangs off his forehead, and shrugs. “I guess. She’s different. She didn’t treat me weird when I stole from her. She’s like, giving me a chance. You know?”
“I do know,” I respond, “and I’m glad that the two of you can talk. She’s special, isn’t she?”
Duncan lets his gaze flit around the room once more as he nods in agreement. He opens his mouth like he’s going to say more but then snaps it closed. I’d have to be a dolt to not see the exhaustion that washes over him suddenly. “You know what, I’m tired.”
“I bet you are. There’s been a lot going on the last few weeks.” I wait for him to walk away, but it’s Duncan’s turn to surprise me once more as he leans forward and wraps his arms around my middle, squeezing me tight.
“Good night, Levi.”
He races down the hallway, leaving me listening as he trots upstairs. I wait for the slam of his bedroom door. When all of these bedtime steps of his new nightly routine have been completed, I let out a breath of air and turn to find my mother and brother watching me with smug satisfaction.
“What?”
“He’s settling in,” Austin says as he gets up from his spot on the couch. He shakes his empty glass in the air. “Anybody want anything from the kitchen?”
“Hot tea for me,” Mom replies, keeping her eyes trained onme. She waits for Austin to leave the room before she pounces.
“That boy,” she says, wagging a finger in the air, “is very impressionable right now.”
“It’s about him, but it also isn’t.” I pull a chair closer to where she sits on the couch. “I don’t want to hurt him because of my choices, but this is one time when a choice is made in order to help.”
“We can keep the secret and protect him from the adult drama of it all, we just have to all be on the same page.” She looks at the puzzle pieces laid out on the coffee table in front of her, snatching one up and clicking it into place like she knew it was there the whole time. “I’m also worried about Georgie.”
“She’s fine; we talked and she’s okay to do this.” I sit back, rubbing my hands on my knees.
“Are you sure this is a good idea?”
“For Duncan? Yes, I do. I want to present the best possible case so I can keep him.” I feel tears springing to my eyes. Who knew I would feel this pent-up about this kid, but I am starting to really care about him. Plus, Tom wanted me to do this. Me and only me.
“I’m not talking about Duncan,” she murmurs, hazel eyes rising to meet mine. “I’m talking about Georgie.”
“What do you mean?”
“What I mean is, are you sure it’s a good idea for you to pretend to be engaged to the woman you’re secretly in love with?”
TEN
Georgie
I’ve never moved into an apartment unseen. But because I’m now on crutches, it’s the way things are going. First time for everything, right?
When I dropped my phone two days ago and it hit my foot, I’d gone to bed that night with it kind of hurting only to wake up around two in the morning with a searing pain shooting up my leg. It was the kind of intense pain that happens if you break something, only I knew I hadn’t broken anything…or at least I thought I hadn’t.
I made it through a very sleepless night and dragged myself to the local doctor the next morning. After an hour of examining me, taking a scan, and doing some reflex work, he could only figure that I’d managed to hit a nerve and irritate it, inflaming it. I was prescribed a few days on crutches, some aspirin, and rest. It’s not even a cool injury, like I can’t tell anyone I did it skateboarding. “I was trying to perfect my Crooked Grind, when all of a sudden…” No.
This is evidenced when Austin sees me as he arrives at my apartment building to pick me up and the first boxes of my things to go to thenew place.
“Okay, how did this happen again?” He shakes his head incredulously. “I mean, Levi told me, but I really want to hear it from you.”
Oh, these Porter boys and their humor. They should take it on the road.
“Save it for your podcast,” I grumble, tilting my head to the side.
“It’s on summer hiatus,” he says with a wink. He points at my foot. “Did your phone really do that?”
