Page 29 of Promise Me Sunshine

“I never have any idea what you’re talking about.”

“It’s probably better that way.”

He straightens up from where he was leaning against the wall and squints at me. “Hey, whoa. Hold on.”

“What?”

“You look awful.”

He’s standing between me and the door, so I make an attempt to push past him. “Great. Thanks. You know, I was worried I was going to have a bad day, but with one simple sentence you’ve really turned things around for me.”

I reach up to ring Reese’s doorbell, but his fingers land firmly on my elbow. “Hold on,” he says in a low voice.

But before he can say anything else, Reese’s door flings open and there’s Reese and Ainsley.

“Lenny! Hi!” Reese’s eyes skate over and dim. “Miles.”

He drops his head in an infinitesimal nod. I internally add greetings to the list of things Miles and I need to work on together.

“Headed out?” I ask them, confused.

“I was just texting you,” Reese says, apology all over her face. “I’m such a dolt but I accidentally double-booked. Ainsley has a doctor’s appointment in half an hour but I forgot when I asked you to come in. We’re headed there right now.”

“Is she okay?” Miles cuts in, glancing back and forth between them, and I make another internal note. TalktoAinsley, notabouther.

“Just a yearly physical,” Ainsley answers for herself.

“Oh, okay,” I say. “No problem. Do you need me to come in later?”

“Well…” Reese says with a grimace. “We usually go to this special restaurant that’s down by her doctor’s office. Let’s just see each other tomorrow? You can pick her up from school for me? I’ll compensate you for today, obviously. I’m so sorry to cancel like this.” She’s jamming on the call button for the elevator until the doors slide open. They’re clearly very late.

“Good luck! I’ll see you tomorrow.” I wave at Ainsley. She waves back. I add another hand and wave both. She does both. I add a foot in the waving mix and, grinning, so does she. We both do identical hops, trying to wave the second foot as well, when the elevator doors slide closed and she disappears from view with a laugh.

“Well, I guess I’ll—”

Then I’m being steered toward the stairs by my shoulders. But we’re walking upward instead of downward.

“What are we doing?”

He points to an apartment door, the unit that’s directly above Reese and Ainsley’s. “My place.”

He swings us through the door and I stand just across the threshold, blinking around at everything. “And why am I at your place?”

“Lenny, you’re bleeding.”

“Huh?” Oh. I guess I tore my pants when I fell. And skinned my knee like a five-year-old. I didn’t even notice.

He makes it to the living room and turns to see that I’m still standing on his doormat.

“This is…not what I was expecting,” I admit, peering around at his apartment.

He looks around, hands on his hips. “What were you expecting?”

“Bachelor pad? I guess? Huge TV playing sports commentators in perpetuity? Maybe some kind of tacky art made out of empty whiskey bottles? A framed hockey jersey?”

He laughs and shakes his head at me, so I kick off my sneakers and take a cautious step into his apartment. It’s much smaller than Reese’s. Just a central room that combines the living room and kitchen all in one. I can see a few closed doors around the edges that must be the bathroom and a bedroom or two. The walls are painted a rich blue. Hisfurniture is all a matching set and looks squishy and warm. I can see from here that he has a full set of matching glasses on a shelf in the kitchen and, yup, that looks like matching multicolored plates and bowls as well.

An odd, disorienting feeling slips through me. This feels distinctly like…a family home. I realize I’ve been thinking of him as a bachelor, because he’s got a real Lone Ranger thing going on. But…

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