Page 46 of Somewhere We Belong

“Hello, Stellar.” I jumped off the horse, nodding at her.

Theo nodded at Stellar going straight to Sol.

“Teddy!” Sol yelled, launching herself at Theo.

“Hello, Sunflower,” he said, catching her.

“I’ve missed you guys,” she murmured, holding out her hand for me.

I reached for her, and she pushed herself off of Theo. She laughed as I caught her.

“We’ve missed you too, Sundae,” I said, giving her a nickname that felt right.

“I’m not ice cream.” She giggled as I put her down.

“So, what’s with the skirt on the pig?” I chuckled.

“Isn’t she gorgeous?!” Sol yelled.

I laughed, watching her run around with Hula Hoop.

“Come on, Sol, we have to get back for dinner.” Stellar held out her hand to Sol.

Sol pursed her lips like she was going to argue.

“I’ll give you an ice cream sandwich,” Stellar said quickly, as Atlas pulled up to the house.

“Ok!” Sol squealed, kissing Hula Hoop’s nose, running to Theo and I, giving us a hug.

“Bye, Sundae.” I hugged her tightly as Atlas exited his car.

“My momma and I are going to the strawberry festival in Monroe this weekend, you should come,” Sol said. “Oh, and my momma has a date tonight, she’s going to Amore with some guy!”

“The strawberry festival? That sounds like fun,” I said, thinking we might need to run into her there.

“Oh, and why did you give my mom a pack of dead batteries?” Sol scowled.

I was momentarily stunned as Theo looked at me with a cocked eyebrow.

“Uh, I bought them like that,” I muttered.

“That’s weird. Ok, bye!” she yelled.

She ran to Atlas, giving him a hug then running towards Stellar who had given her a high five before they walked away.

“Nova has a date?” Atlas growled.

“That seemed rehearsed,” Theo said, standing next to me.

“You think the babysitter told her to say it?” I rubbed my jaw. “That sounded like an invitation to crash her date.”

“You want to crash her date?” Atlas looked at me in disbelief.

“We need to talk,” I said, realizing we still needed to tell him.

Atlas looked between Theo and I, he cocked an eyebrow, impatiently.

“I kissed Nova.”

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