Page 77 of Until Nalia
“You are, but it’s okay.” I shrug. “My point is, if you fail, you can just take it again.”
“Okay,” she laughs, then looks at her mom, “I’ll go Friday.”
“Good.” Kristy smiles at her, then me, and mouths thanks.
Nodding, I ask her without thinking, “Do you want to stay for dinner? We’re having baked ziti.”
“And pizzookie for dessert,” Billie adds.
“Oh.” She looks to Logan, who is standing next to me, and starts to shake her head.
“Please, Mom,” Cooper says, holding up his hands that are pressed together.
“Umm.” She looks at me. “Are you sure?”
“Of course,” I tell her, and she studies me for a long moment before nodding.
“I’d love that, thanks, I just need to run out to my car and get my bag since I left it on the passenger seat.”
“I’ll go with you,” Cooper tells her, then asks Zuri, “Do you want to come?”
“Sure.” She gets up and leaves the kitchen with the two of them. As I hear the front door open Billie gets off her stool staring at her phone.
“Cat’s almost here, I’m going to go out and meet her.”
“Sure,” Logan says.
Alone in the kitchen with Logan I start to add the ground beef and Italian sausage into the pan for the sauce and he steps up behind me wrapping his arms around my middle.
“Thanks, baby.”
“I didn’t do anything.”
“You think you didn’t, but you did.” He touches his mouth to my neck, which sends a tingle down my spine. “How did I get so fucking lucky?”
I don’t have time to reply before the front door opens again, but I’m thinking the same thing as the kitchen once more fills with people.
Twenty-Two
LOGAN
“Love you, Gigi, love you, Dad, see you Sunday,” Coop says over his shoulder while running out of the dugout to join his mom and sister, who are walking ahead of him down the path to the parking lot.
“Love you, too,” I yell after him, then shout, “Slow down,” when he stumbles over his own feet.
“It’s okay, I’m okay,” he shouts back, righting himself before looking back with a wide grin.
“That boy.” Mom laughs, taking a seat on the bench in the dugout. “I’m surprised Nalia didn’t show up with Zuri for the game today.”
“Zuri has a soccer game at noon, so it would have been cutting it close for them to show up to Coop’s game.”
“Are you going to go watch her play?”
“I’m gonna head over there after I get done here.” I toss the last of the baseballs into the bucket that got knocked over by one of the boys when they were leaving the dugout after the game.
“You two have been spending a lot of time together.”
“Yep,” I agree, feeling her stare at the side of my face.
