says. “From what I remember, anyway. Maybe you should go. Get some experience before you go back New York.”
“Experience?” Leo speaks up, but his voice is so low I barely hear him.
“With dating,” I tell him. “I’ve never…”
“She’s never been on a date,” Holden finishes for me, and then to me, he says, “You should go.”
Leo picks up the piece of wood he was drilling random holes into and flings it behind him. It lands on the driveway unceremoniously. Then he picks up another piece, the same size. He doesn’t mark the spots on this one. Just drills away. One hole after another.
“So?” Holden urges. “Will you go?”
“I don’t know,” I tell him honestly. “I’m hesitant.”
“You’re scared,” Holden says, and I really wish we weren’t having this conversation with Leo right here. “Talk it out with me. What are you scared of?”
I groan out loud, and it makes Holden laugh. “Where’s your mom when I need her?” I mumble.
“Where’s yours?” Holden retorts.
Leo’s head snaps up; his eyes thinned to slits as he stares down Holden. I tap on his arm, tell him, “He’s kidding.” Leo accepts my word and goes back to his task. I’m so used to Holden’s snide remarks about my mom; I just let them bounce off of me. Besides, his animosity toward her only shows how much he cares. It’s like his weirdo version of love language if he could actually love.
Holden shakes out his hands, looks up at the ceiling. “Okay, I’m about to channel my inner Tammy. Give me a minute.”
“This’ll be good,” I mumble.
I give him the minute he asked for, and when it’s time, his eyes settle on me. “The most important thing about dating is respect.” Well, I wasn’t expecting that. “And respect goes both ways. But with you, Mia, it’s more important that you find someone who respects you and treats you the way you deserve.”
There’s a sudden ache in my chest, and I don’t know where to look. “What about… the physical stuff?”
Leo makes an indescribable sound while Holden blows out a breath. “You do whatever you’re comfortable with,” Holden says. “If you want to hold hands, that’s fine. If you want to let him kiss you, that’s fine, too. As far as letting him touch you—”
The drill whirs, followed closely by a “Fuck!” from Leo. When I look at him, he’s got a finger in his mouth.
“You good, bro?” Holden asks him.
Leo shakes out his hand as he licks the blood off his lips. “Yep.”
Holden returns his focus to me. “Don’t let him touch you. Not on your first date.”
I trail my gaze from Leo, who’s focused on his wood again, and look up at Holden. “Is that where you stop on a first date?”
Holden laughs. “I don’t date girls like you, Mia.”
I rear back. “What’s that supposed to mean? You jerk!” I almost shout. “What’s wrong—”
“What I mean is…” He cuts in, his hands out, palms up in surrender. “I marry girls like you.”
As pathetic as it is, I surrender to his charm. “Awww.”
“I mean, I’ll probably end up marrying a few of them, but still…”
I throw another screw at his head.
He laughs.
And Leo…
Leo walks away.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Leo
Mia’s walking away from the barn when I return from breakfast the next morning. She offers a wave, I do the same, and I expect her to go back to the house. She doesn’t. She waits for me where the porch steps used to be, and so I get out of the truck, meet her there. “Hi,” she says. She’s in flip-flops and red plaid pajamas: short shorts and a button-down tee, and damn if it isn’t cute as hell. “You go to the diner for breakfast?”
I nod.
She has one eye squinted, trying to block out the sun as she looks up at me, so I take a step to the side, block it for her. “How was it?” she asks.
I’m never here for meals, and obviously, she’s worked out where I go, but this is the first time she’s acknowledged it. “It was fine.”
“You don’t have to leave to eat, you know. We have food here.”
I don’t know if this is her version of an invitation, or if she’s just being courteous. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Okay,” she says.
“Okay,” I return.
She smiles.
I smile.
And now we’re staring at each other, smiling as if some secret conversation is happening between us, though I have no idea what we’re saying. She’s the first to break our stare. “Why are you looking at me?”