Page 17 of Old Habits

Will and I should not be talking to each other this way. I take a deep breath to try and cool my cheeks but it doesn’t stop me from talking.

“Sure.” I nod. “If you find yourself riding through the old neighborhood… you can swing by. I’d like that.”

“Good,” he says, his eyes locked on mine.

“Uncle Will.”

We tear our gazes away and turn to the tiny boy standing beside us, tugging lightly on Will’s sleeve.

“Hey, Andy.” Will greets him and rubs a hand through his shaggy, black hair. “What’s up?”

“Can we get this one?” he asks, holding up a play set larger than his head.

“No, buddy,” Will tells him. “If I buy you another one of these this close to your birthday, your mom will kill me.”

“Please!” He throws on a vicious pout; one so powerful it even weakens my resolve.

“Oh, come on, Uncle Will…” I tease him with a grin. “Just this once.”

He glares playfully at me and sighs. “Fine…” he takes the set from Andy, “but we have to keep it at my place, all right? We’ll put it together next week.”

“Okay!” Andy bounces with excitement and runs off toward the toy soldiers again.

Will shifts the box beneath his arm. “Thanks a lot.”

I flick the plastic name tag on my smock. “Just doing my job, sir.”

“Well, we should get going,” he says. “The kid can get a little moody if he doesn’t eat on schedule.”

“He and I have that in common.”

Will laughs again. “You haven’t changed at all.”

“So, I hear…” I shrug and gesture toward the front. “I’ll ring you guys up.”

Don’t trip on anything. Don’t trip on anything. Don’t—

I swerve around a candy display just off the aisle, keeping my head down low to try and breathe through the fire burning my cheeks.

We reach the counter and Will passes the box over to me. Every time I glance up, I catch him staring at my face instead of my hands or chest or anything else.

“Thirty twenty-five,” I say, prompting him to pull out his debit card.

“It really is nice to see you again, Jove,” he says, slowly handing it to me.

I bite my lip as I swipe. “You know, you’re the first person to say that to me I actually believe.”

Will’s smile lingers on his mouth for several seconds. He barely blinks. He just stands there, slowly inhaling and exhaling, as my hand hovers next to his with his card clenched between my fingertips.

“What are you doing tonight?” he asks.

“I’m here until seven,” I answer without thinking.

“Sara usually picks him up around then.” He pauses. “Do you want to grab a drink with me? Not a date, obviously, just to catch up.”

“Uhh…” My thoughts turn to mush in my head, leaving me to run on pure instinct alone. “Yeah. Sure.”

“I’ll pick you up at eight.”

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