Page 24 of Don't Leave Me

“Oh, one thousand percent. But I don’t have moves like those,” she teases. “Are you going to let me in, or are we decorating cookies on the porch?”

“Welcome to my home, Soph.” I step aside and motion for her to enter the house. As soon as the door is shut, I take the bags from her hands and peek inside. “What’s all of this?”

“Things to use to decorate.”

“You didn’t have to do that, but thank you.”

“Of course I did. I want to win and if your supplies are lacking, I won't be able to do that.” She rolls her eyes.

“Dinner’s almost ready. You can come in the kitchen with me while Danny and Bree wash their hands.” I raise a brow in their direction and they quickly head to the bathroom to wash up.

After placing the bags on the counter, I take everything out and am surprised at how much Sophia bought. There are so many types of candy, sprinkles, gel food coloring, and piping bags.

“Where did you get all of this?”

“Well, I tried going to the grocery store and that place sucks. They don’t have any of the good stuff, so I drove a town or two over and found a cute store that has so much. I don’t remember what it’s called though.”

I abandon looking through the stuff and close the distance between us. Tugging her into my arms, I reach up and brush a strand of hair behind her ear.

“You’re amazing,” I whisper, staring into her captivating blue eyes. There are little flecks of gold in them that I never noticed before.

I'm just about to lean in and kiss her, when Bree comes running down the stairs. I only have a second before she’ll be in the kitchen. I take a step back so I don’t need to have another discussion about my dating life with a six-year-old and aim a sad smile in Sophia’s direction.

She looks disappointed, but she understands when Bree is tugging on the hem of her sweatshirt, making it fall off one shoulder.

“I’m Bree! Can we be friends?”

“Of course!” Sophia drops down to one knee so she’s almost the same height as my niece. “I'm Sophia and I’d love to be yourfriend.” She holds her arms open and my heart swells when Bree throws herself into Sophia’s arms. She hugs her as tightly as she can, grinning the entire time.

“Alright, Bree. Let go of the woman before you strangle her.” I hold a hand out to Sophia, helping her to her feet.

“Soph, you’ve obviously met Bree.” I motion to her.

“My new BFF,” Sophia adds with a grin.

“This is Danny.” I motion to my nephew standing awkwardly in the entrance of the kitchen. His cheeks are pink as he stares at her and I know he thinks she’s cute.

“It’s so nice to meet you, Danny. You’re so handsome and adorable.”

“Sophia, will you go out with me?” Danny flashes me a devilish grin. “See Uncle Peck, was that so difficult?”

“Um… No?” Sophia glances around in confusion.

“See and that’s exactly how she would’ve responded to me.” I laugh and shake my head. The kid thinks he has game and he doesn’t.

“Am I missing something?” Sophia frowns.

“Well, I asked Uncle Peck if you were his girlfriend and he said he wished. We asked him why he didn’t ask you out, and he said ‘you can't just ask out someone like her’.” Bree tries her hardest to imitate me, making everyone laugh.

“And I said sure you can, otherwise she’ll never date you.” Danny flashes her the biggest smile I’ve ever seen on the kid.

“You’re a smart one.” Sophia ruffles his hair. “You should always ask the girl out. If they say no, move on. But if they say yes, you’ll be happy. And they’ll probably say yes because you’re cute.” She winks, making Danny’s cheeks turn an even darker shade of red.

“Why don’t the two of you go set the table while I get everything ready?”

Danny and Bree run off to grab plates and everything else, while I pull the garlic bread out of the oven and place it on a trivet.

“What can I help with?” Sophia moves to my side.

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