Page 41 of Bring me Back

I shot my eyebrow high. Daniel was smart, of course he knew I could use all that experience, but I was still surprised he thought of it and even more that he was talking with my dad about it.

“Why were you both talking about me?”

Dad shrugged. I didn’t push; it would’ve been easier to ask Daniel than dad. That small realization hit me like a ton of bricks.When did Daniel become someone so easy to talk to?

Like he was reading my mind, Dad asked. “Are you both getting close?”

“We work together.” I retrieved my drawing to work on it again.

The coffee finished brewing, neither of us got up to get it.

I decided to ask. “Is there any problem with that? Is he a bad person?”

Of course I knew he wasn’t a bad person, but I wanted to hear from Dad. I wanted to know what he thought of Daniel.

“No, of course not.”

“Ok, then.” I finished another part of the drawing while Dad moved and got us coffee. I mouthed a thank you when he placed the mug in front of me. I sipped with a content smile.

“I’m going to finish a few things upstairs,” I announced. “Lasagna for dinner?”

Dad nodded, and I stood up, heading for the stairs. When I turned my back, he spoke again. “You never had a boyfriend, did you, bug?”

I stopped in my tracks, turning around and controlling my frown. “No.”

Dad sighed, shaking his head and pinching the bridge of his nose. “God, I miss Cecilia. She’d know what to do.”

Ispent my days until the carnival organizing the costumes I got from Ms. Handall. I separated them into piles of style and age and then placed them in boxes for easy transport. Mostly, I had to eyeball what ages it would fit and then I tried to make labels to help Mrs. Carr and Daniel identify each collection. It was good to have them with me. Not just because I knew they were going to help the play, but because I felt good when I looked at my work.

From the oldest to the newest, I could see my skills evolving. I was proud of myself, I recognized. I wanted to show off my art at the carnival. I wanted people trying on my creations and taking pictures of it to bring it home.

My phone beeped with an incoming message, and I put a medieval dress aside to grab it.

Mrs. Carr:The committee is arriving in three days.

It took me a second to understand what it meant. I had almost forgotten about the committee who was supposed to come to the school to evaluate if our kids deserved a spot at theater camp.

The kids and Mrs. Carr hadn’t forgotten, though. They had been working non-stop to get everything ready for the committee’s arrival. The lines were repeated, the feelings were checked. And maybe I would’ve been more excited or even involved if I didn’t spend my days worrying about Daniel Miller.

Daniel was older, wiser and too good-looking for me. Every woman he came into contact with fell for him. All the students had a crush on him; all the mothers looked too long at the definition of his muscles perfectly visible through his shirt.

It worried me I was one of them. My own lingering looks, it was a silly crush.

I had a friend in Daniel. Probably the first real friend I ever had. I laughed when I was around him, and he never asked me to be different. Did I want to have a crush on my first friend ever? No. Did I want my first friend to be ruggedly handsome and almost fifteen years older? No. But I was grateful for Daniel anyway, crush or not. Ridiculous gawking or not. With that thought, I told my heart to relax when the next message came through:

Daniel:Are they ready?

I held the phone in my hands, uncertain what to do. I had nothing to add to the conversation and no qualms about leaving it unanswered but having access to Daniel’s phone number did something to me.

I scoffed. I was being silly. We joked around most days. He brought me to see Ms. Handall.Friendsstuff.

But he also said… I felt my cheeks warming.Old enough to spank you.

God, I rubbed my cheeks, hoping to make the red disappear. I hated being that shy, that inexperienced. I wanted to be the kind of girl who replied with something witty and sexy, but no. I said nothing, just blushed and looked at the window. Even as my ears warmed, even as my heart thumped. Even as I pressed my legs together, trying to ease the throbbing between them.

Old enough to spank you.

I squeezed my eyes shut, and the phone beeped again.

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