Page 43 of The Pushy Pixies Are Going Down
And now… maybe I could actually be a part of that, be a part of her life.
“That’s amazing, Mags. Really amazing.”
She sent me a small smile. “I really want my kids to know their Uncle Winter.”
My eyes watered, and I choked out, “Me too.”
She reached a hand across the table, holding it out in invitation, and I didn’t hesitate to hold onto her with my free hand for a few seconds.
When she released me, she asked, “Soooooo how did you two meet?”
I glanced at Miles with a watery smile, and he smiled back before saying, “We actually went to high school together. You, um, were a grade below us, right?”
She stared at him for a long moment before her eyes went wide. “Wait. Miles? As in emo kid Miles?”
I winced at that, but Miles snorted. “Yeah, that’s me.”
“Holy shit!” My sister stared at me with wide eyes. “You’re dating your high school crush!”
I laughed and nudged Miles, murmuring, “See? Told you I liked you back then.”
Miles looked down, all shy and cute, but he had a smile on his face.
We chatted for another hour before Maggie got up to use the bathroom, and as soon as she was out of earshot, Miles asked, “How’re you holding up?”
I nodded and leaned even harder into him—I still hadn’t let go of his hand, even though my palm was all sweaty. “I’m okay. Still… shocked, I think, but I’m… good. It’s really good to see her.”
He nodded. “I bet. If, um, if you want to see her again soon and maybe try to meet her fiancé, we could have a cookout at my house next weekend. We can ask Lyric to come over too.”
My heart melted into a pile of goo. Holy shit, he was the gentlest, most amazing, kind-hearted man I’d ever met. God, I really loved him, didn’t I?
But it was way too soon to tell him. I knew he was still waiting for me to leave, even though I swore I wouldn’t. It was going to take a lot more time to fully gain his trust, and I knew he wasn’t even close to hearing those words from me. He probably wouldn’t even believe me if I said them.
I smiled at him. “Are you sure you don’t mind?”
“Of course not. It’ll be good to use the grill one last time before it gets too cold out, and I… think it’ll be nice to spend time with them, to get to know your sister again, and to meet Nash—wait, did I say the right name?”
I laughed. “Yeah, you did.” I leaned in to press a soft, lingering kiss to his lips. “Thank you, sugar butt. For being here with me today and for letting me invite them over. I really appreciate it.”
Like I knew they would, his cheeks flamed, but he looked pleased. “I’m happy to do it.”
And the thing was, I knew he meant that.
So I kissed him again.
Magnolia came back to the table and smiled when she caught us snuggling and kissing, and I was relieved to see that she wasn’t homophobic. I’d had boyfriends when we were still talking, but Mom and Dad had always kind of just ignored me when I talked about them or about liking guys at all. They acted like I said nothing. It was gross. And I’d been afraid that their feelings about it could’ve transferred over to her the same way their feelings about me and my arrest had.
But luckily, she seemed happy for me.
It made me feel a little more confident about having her over.
Well, having her over to Miles’s house.
“Miles and I are having a little cookout next weekend, and we were wondering if you and Nash would like to come? I can text you the details so you can talk it over with him and let me know—”
“No,” she cut me off and winced. “Sorry. I mean, no, I don’t have to let you know. We’ll be there.”
“I haven’t even said what day it’ll be yet.”
