before Ira, there wasn’t much time for me to spend doing things I liked. Right after college, I put work first, which was a mistake. I shouldn’t have said yes to every little thing my co-workers asked me to do, even if it wasn’t my job.”
“Why did you do it then?”
Good question.
I shrugged, puckering my lips and studying the plate in my hands.
“I guess I wanted to impress others.”
“And have things changed a little regarding always saying yes?”
“Yes, but as soon as that changed, Ira came into my life. But he made things so much better,” I told her with a smile.
“That’s great! I can tell you raised him right.” She was quiet for a while, and after thinking intensely about what to say next, she finally spoke again. “Do you mind me asking where his mother is?”
I didn’t mind her asking, but I didn’t like talking about it.
“That’s a story for another time. It’s a little bit of a long one.”
Luckily, she didn’t get offended by me not telling her.
“No worries. I didn’t mean to…” she said, not finishing her sentence.
“It’s fine, Rooney. It’s a rightful question to ask, but I haven’t spoken about it in a while.”
“I understand,” she told me, smiling again. “As much as I don’t want to, I really should head back upstairs.”
I nodded and placed the last plate into the dishwasher, then dried my hands and looked over to the living room.
“Ira, come say bye to Rooney,” I called out.
When he walked toward us, she squatted down in front of him to be on his level and placed her hands on both his sides.
“I’ll see you soon, okay? I’m sure we’ll have plenty of time to play with your action figures another day,” she promised him.
“Okay,” he replied. “Thank you for the yummy food,” he then added, surprising me just as much as Rooney.
Ira was a sweet kid, but sometimes he even fascinated me with his kindness.
Did he really learn that from me?
“You’re so welcome! Thank you for showing me your toys. And hey, your dad told me you like to draw. Maybe next time I can bring a few brushes and colors so we can paint together. Would that be fun?”
Ira’s eyes grew wide. “Yes!” he called out.
To make this whole interaction even sweeter, Ira wrapped his arms around Rooney, and after a quick but tight hug, he ran back into the living room.
“I think he’s my new favorite person,” Rooney said as she stood back up, holding her hand over her heart and pushing her bottom lip out to show her adoration.
I chuckled and agreed. “He’s incredible. So…I’ll see you soon?” I asked, walking to the front door with her.
“Definitely. I’m sure we’ll cross paths around here, and if you need anything, just knock on my door.”
“Likewise. Thank you for breakfast.”
“My pleasure. Have a good day at the park. I’ll see you around, Wells.”
Her voice got softer by the end of the sentence, and after looking into my eyes for a few seconds, she lifted her hand to wave, and like an idiot I let her go without even hugging her goodbye.
What. A. Dick.
Rooney
“You ate breakfast with him?” Evie asked with her brows raised up to the roof.
“I did, and it was nice. In fact, it was so nice that I wished I had said yes to going to the park with him and Ira instead of studying.”
I was pouring myself a cup of coffee to get me through the first half of the day while Evie was standing there in her gym clothes with her arms crossed over her chest.
“He’s, what, forty-five?”
“Forty-two,” I corrected her. “And what does it matter anyway? He’s a nice guy and Ira’s a sweet kid. I could use some distraction from everything that’s going on in my life.”
“There is something going on?” Evie’s brows pushed even higher.
“No, but that’s the problem. I don’t wanna hang out with guys my age right now. That thing between AJ and I made me realize that college guys are all the same. Sure, I was able to have conversations with AJ, but not like the ones I had with Wells this morning. He’s smart, and although he’s a little introverted, he’s great.”
“He’s forty-two,” Evie pointed out.
She probably didn’t even listen to what I said.
“I don’t care,” I shot back, then grabbed my cup of coffee and walked past her and into my bedroom.
“It’s not like I’m gonna date him or anything. I like spending time with him, and if that’s