Page 11 of How to Prevent a Fumble

“When?”

“This morning. With all of this.”

“Why?”

“I know I get grumpy in the morning if I don’t have the coffee I like and well,” my heart starts to melt into a puddle on the ground, “I just thought, you know, you can be a little grumpyall the time. I just wanted to make sure you were a littlelessgrumpy.”

And just like that, it freezes once more.

“I am not grumpyall the time!”

His eyes grow round as he considers this, deciding—rightfully—that he doesn’t want to continue with the conversation. “Bottom line is I wasn’t sure what you liked with your coffee so I just got them all.”

I grunt, looking back at them one last time before grabbing the peppermint mocha creamer and pouring about a tablespoon of it into my cup.

“I didn’t take you for a peppermint mocha girl,” he mutters.

“Peppermint mocha year-round is the only way to go,” I tell him, leaning against the island as I take a sip. It’s bitter, but not in a way that makes it entirely unenjoyable. What matters is that it’s the perfect temperature, feeling like a warm blanket being wrapped around me.

“Let’s get down to business,” I start, cracking my neck. Elara will be up soon, and I want this conversation to be done before then.

“Let me hear it,” he says, rounding the island and taking a seat. He has his own cup of coffee, black, I notice, and takes a sip before looking me in the eyes.

“The very first rule. No girls here when we are. You need to either tell me when you’re going to have one over so we can be elsewhere, or you need to go to their place.”

He winces, like I knew he would. “Starting off strong, are we?”

I shake my head. “I’m not having my daughter around that.”

“Got it,” he says, nodding.

“Second, although I’d rather my brother not know, he’s going to know at some point. And I’m not telling Elara to lie to him. So if she decides to blurt something out like six year olds tend to do, we’re screwed. So we should probably tell him sooner rather than later.”

“Don’t think she would keep the secret?” he asks.

“No, I don’t teach her to lie to people she cares about, and I don’t teach her that adults can ask her to keep a secret. There are no secrets I can’t know, and Owen is important to both of us. I want her to trust him enough to tell him something if she needs to.”

He nods in understanding, his eyes twinkling in the morning sun.

“Finally, I don’t want to be mistreated simply because you know I need this job. If there’s a contract or something, I want my friend to look it over. She’s a lawyer. I want everything laid out so I don’t get screwed over.”

He looks me over, his eyes feeling heavy as they gaze seemingly right through me. “I understand,” he says simply, surprising me. From what I’ve heard, I’d think he’d put up more of a fight. “Is there anything else?”

“When you mentioned pay, how much are we talking?”

“I can finalize that with my people, but I can assure you it’s more than enough to pay for everything you need to, as well as set Elara and yourself up for the future.”

I freeze. “Leo, you don’t have to do that. I’d be fine with the pay of a normal job.”

“That’s why I’m not telling you right now.”

“Leo—”

He shakes his head.

“Next,” is all he says.

“What am I going to be responsible for?”

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