little, I swing the door open, only it’s me who is taken by surprise, because not only is Gareth standing in my breezeway, but so is Max.
“Please tell me you have food. I’m starving, and Dad didn’t bring me a snack,” Max offers as a greeting, and I blink at his adorable pleading face.
“I… I have food,” I stammer out.
“Thank God,” he groans, walking past me into my apartment, and I turn to watch him take a seat on my couch then look at his father when his hand touches my hip.
“He’s not actually starving. He had two granola bars on the way over here.”
“You didn’t tell me you were coming over.”
He shrugs. “We have some time to kill before we have to pick up Mitchell, and your place is closer than mine to the school. I drove by, figuring if I saw your car we’d stop, and if not we’d go on home.”
I start to tell him he still should have called to let me know he was coming over with Max, but before I can open my mouth, he leans down, gently touching his lips to mine. When he pulls back, I see he’s smiling.
“Did you have a good day?”
“Yeah.” I clear my throat, wishing he didn’t have split personalities or turn me into a complete idiot with a simple kiss.
“You have a cat!” At that exclamation, I turn quickly to warn Max that Melbourne isn’t exactly nice, but find my cat on his lap, rubbing his jaw along Max’s chin, and can hear him purring loudly even from across the room.
“I thought you said your cat doesn’t like people.”
“He doesn’t,” I mutter, and Gareth laughs while shutting the door.
“He’s so cool.” Max smiles at me, scratching the head of the cat who has obviously been switched with mine.
“Let me find you something to eat.” I smile back at him before stepping into the kitchen.
“What’s his name?”
“Melbourne,” I call out. “Or I think it is. My cat doesn’t like people, so I don’t know who you’re holding.” I hear him laugh from the other room and I smile.
“You don’t have to feed him, babe. He can wait to eat until dinner,” Gareth tells me, wrapping his arms around my waist from behind, and I lean back into his embrace then tip my head to the side until I catch his gaze.
“I don’t really have anything nutritious to feed a growing boy, but I’m not going to let your son starve.”
His eyes search mine for a moment then he shakes his head, kisses the tip of my nose, and lets me go to leave the kitchen. Not sure what that was about or why goose bumps are breaking out on my arms, I go back to searching for something to feed Max.
“Max, are chips and salsa okay?” I shout. When he calls out a yes, I dump a jar of salsa into a bowl then dig through the cabinets for corn chips. Carrying the bowl and the bag with me into the living room, I stop in my tracks when I see Gareth pick up Melbourne and flip him to his back to rub his stomach—a move that would for sure get my eyes scratched out.
Okay, so my cat is obviously sexist and only likes men. Good to know.
“What do you want to drink, honey?” I ask Max as I set down the chips and salsa in front of him.
“Water is okay.”
“What do you say to December, kid?” Gareth asks, and Max pauses with a chip close to his lips.
“Thanks.”
“No problem.” I touch his hair and his eyes widen. Damn, why did I do that? I shouldn’t have done that. “Um.” I look at Gareth, balling my hand at my side. “Would you like something to drink?”
He looks at my hand then me. “Do you have tea?”
“Yeah.”
“That’d be good, babe.” My skin tingles.
Focusing on the task at hand and not everything I’m feeling, I go back to the kitchen and come back a minute later with their drinks and a Diet Coke for myself.
“How was school today?” I ask Max, taking a seat on the couch next to him as he digs into the salsa with a chip.
“It was okay.”
“Just okay?”
“I had science, so that was cool.” He shrugs.
“Is science your favorite class?” I ask, dipping a chip into the salsa.
“Yeah, our science teacher, Mr. Tonk, is awesome. He’s always doing experiments and stuff, which makes class fun.”
“What’s your least favorite class?” I inquire, while Gareth takes a seat