Page 70 of Press Your Luck

Initially, Naomi tried to put me next to Porter and then her on the other side of me, but I managed to switch it so she was next to Porter and I was on the other side of her. This way, I was able to rest my arm over the back of the seat and lean closer into her when I spoke to Porter or saw the animals outside. I wasn't being lecherous, at least not most of the time. I just wanted to be able to feel her warmth and inhale her sweet scent.

After the tour, we went to lunch at a place in the park. Porter talked a mile a minute as he reviewed everything we saw. Naomi sat and listened not just patiently, but with a rapt expression like she was genuinely interested in what he had to say, even though she was a witness to everything he was telling her. I watched, taking the three of us in, noting how none of this should work. I was so much older than Naomi. In fact, Naomi was closer in age to Porter than she was to me. And up until a couple of months ago, I didn't even know Porter existed. Even now, with things seemingly going better, I had no clue whether I was doing it right. No. This day shouldn't be working, and yet it was. It wasn't just working. It felt right, like each of us were part of a puzzle and all our pieces were snapped together.

"Can we get a souvenir now?" Porter said.

"We will soon."

"It's what you said before." Porter's frustration rose, something over the last few months I began to recognize as a sign that things could veer off course.

"We haven't even finished lunch. I said we’d go, and we will unless you begin to act out."

Both his hands slammed down on the table. "I'm not acting out. You're the one who said we could go and we’re not going."

"I didn't say we're not going. I said we would go soon."

He turned to look in the direction of the gift shop. "Can I just go in and look?"

"No. We’re spending the day together, so we're going to stay together."

He crossed his arms over his chest and gave me his evil stare. "You're just being like this to impress Naomi."

"Why are you being like this? Do you think this is impressing her?" I snapped.

Naomi put her hand over mine in a gesture I took to mean that perhaps I was overstepping. I wasn't sure how or why, but I took a breath and picked up my water to take a sip.

"I don't care. You like her more than me, anyway."

I pointed at him across the table as anger grew in me. "I’m here for you. If I didn't care, we wouldn't be here."

"Porter, do you really think your dad is going to back out on taking you for a souvenir, or are you just being impatient?” Naomi asked him.

In my mind, what did it matter? He was acting like a brat after everything I'd done for him today.

"I just want to go see the stuff."

"What stuff do you hope to see? Is there something specific you're looking for?" she prodded.

Porter was still agitated, but there was definitely a lessening of tension. "I want to see if they have a book on lions. Maybe the elephants too. They were kinda cool."

She smiled at him. "I thought the elephants were really cool too."

All of a sudden, Porter was off talking about the elephants. His pissed off demeanor from a second before was gone. His hands and expression were animated as he talked about the elephants.

How the fuck did she do that? I must've been gaping because she gave me a quick glance and a subtle eyebrow lift before she turned her attention back to Porter.

It occurred to me that every time I was around her, I was given proof positive about why she needed to be in my life. But now, I was beginning to think she needed to be in Porter’s life as well. And since Porter and I were a package deal, I needed to find a way to keep her with us.

32

Naomi

During the Uber ride back to the hotel, I was again sitting next to Porter by the window as he flipped through the books that Pierce bought him at the gift shop. He also bought him a T-shirt, which Porter insisted that he wear right away.

I had to admit that, except for a few moments of tension, Pierce actually did have a pretty good handle on parenting Porter. At the same time, I could see that if Porter wanted to push things, he could get Pierce to a point of frustration where he was stuck on what to do. My experience in helping with my brothers taught me to de-escalate and distract. They were tools I used as a coach as well.

"Thank you." Pierce's voice was low, as if he didn't want Porter to overhear.

I turned my head to find that Pierce had leaned close to me, and now we were nearly nose to nose. For a moment, I was mesmerized by his crystalline blue eyes. "For what?"

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