Page 87 of The Step Don't

“I thought that was you,” she says, offering a hug.

Now that I’ve gotten a good look at her, she does look familiar, but I still can’t place her.

“What are you doing in Peachtree Springs?” Colin asks.

“We’re visiting Andy for the day. He figured we could come here. How’s your mom doing?”

Oh, she’s a friend of his mom’s; that’s why he tensed up.

“She’s good. Busy right now. But it’s been too long. Since she moved to North Carolina, we barely see each other anymore.”

Now that she’s been talking for a bit, I realize I do know her. She’s dyed her hair blonder, but I’ve seen her at Steve’s birthday parties.

Her gaze shifts to me. “Oh,” she says, taken aback. “I don’t know why, but I didn’t recognize you right away, Ash. I thought you might have been…” She hesitates. “One of Colin’s friends.”

She seems flustered, which given what we were doing when she showed up, isn’t a huge surprise.

Glancing between us, she says, “It’s so good seeing you both. I should search for Andy and his dad. Tell your mom I said hi, will you?”

“Of course.”

After she heads off, we continue a few yards, stepping into the line for the food truck,surely both of us considering the implications of our run-in with a friend of his mom’s.

“Well…something like that was bound to happen,” Colin says.

“I’m sorry. It does feel like we’ve been in our own little bubble. I probably should have said something about holding hands in public.”

Colin glares at me. “What?”

“I just want you to do this at your own pace. You shouldn’t have to be out before you’re comfortable.”

He moves closer. “Ash, I’m very comfortable letting the world know how I feel about you. And it’s about time we talked to our parents about us…unless you don’t want to talk to them about it.”

“It’s not a conversation I want to have with them,” I confess, “but I knew that’s where this was all leading.”

He smirks. “It will be a weird conversation.”

“You think they’ll wonder about those sleepovers we had when we were teenagers?”

Colin laughs. “Probably.”

It’s finally our turn in line, so we order wings and a funnel cake. As I grab extra napkins, Colin says, “That whole interaction made me realize that we do need to have a serious conversation.”

A serious conversation?

When I turn to him, his expression is so intense, it’s making me nervous.

“If I’m holding your hand, Ash, you don’t pull yours away. That’s gonna be a big Step Don’t from now on.”

And he’s got me laughing again. “Yeah, that’s a good Step Don’t.”

“Also, no hogging the funnel cake.” He grabs for it, but I pull it out of his reach.

“Now you’re pushing it.”

We share a smile and another kiss.

“Mmm,” I say. “Well, maybe it’s good that we ran into Mrs. Raeger. Guess it’s time to have this conversation. Now everyone will know I’m yours and you’re mine.”

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