A warm, heavy feeling settled inside me. Those deep blue eyes, the hand in mine, the way he teased and supported me, all of those things were making Harlan become part of my family. Not fully, but little by little. He was there to help out when shit went wrong. He was there to celebrate our victories. And I wanted to be there to celebrate more of his. Harlan stopped by the bathroom, and I went outside to meet up with Jeff. He walked my way from his minivan, blowing a kiss to his wife as she drove off.
“So proud of our boy,” Jeff said, extending his arms to hug me.
I gave him a good squeeze before stepping back. “Can’t believe he’s almost done with high school.”
Jeff smiled. “You did good with him, Em.”
“Wedid good,” I corrected him.
“Nah, we both know he’s your boy.”
“He is the forever motherboy,” I laughed, drumming up the term we used for him when he was so attached to me as an infant. “But that doesn’t mean you weren’t there. A lot of guys don’t stick around, but you did. I think I had an easier single parent journey than a lot of people do.”
Jeff flattened his lips. “I can’t imagine it any other way. You’re a great mom, and he’s a great kid. Walking away from that is unfathomable.”
“Which is why it wasn’t so crazy to think of having a kid with you when we were twenty. I had a good feeling about you.”
Jeff chuckled, then looked pensive. “I like Royce.”
I put a hand to my chest in mock shock. “You, approving of someone? Are there snowballs in hell?”
“He cares about you. Sticks up for you.”
I wrinkled my nose. “Sticks up for me?”
Jeff sighed. “Fuckin’ Dave said something rude and Harlan handed him his ass. And he was funny about it too, to the point that I wasn’t sure if Dave even knew he was getting taken for a ride.”
I tipped my head from side to side. “Yep, that’s him.”
“So, that, and I like that he’s nice to Liam. Not just nice, but . . . he’s on his team.” Jeff tweaked my cheek. “And he makes you happy. I approve.”
I swatted his hand away. “I wasn’t looking for your approval, but thank you.”
“Is work okay with you two being together?”
A pit sank in my stomach. We were still playing the “secret for now” game, but that time seemed to be coming to a close. “We haven’t crossed that bridge yet.”
Jeff scoffed. “You better. Thirty people took pictures of you two together tonight. And there were all those comments on that video of you two.”
I waved a hand. “It’s just the internet. They want a rock to get together with a tree if it looks at it just right.”
“Well, you two tend to look at each other just right. People know.”
I shrugged and put up finger quotes. “He was mentoring the team.”
Jeff cocked his head at me. “Emma. Come on. I’m sure someone caught the kissing or the grabassing or the handholding.”
Rather than being embarrassed for being called out, a chill raced over my skin. Why was it that every little drop of affection from Harlan felt thrilling? Irresistible? Why did I feel like a giggling schoolgirl because I got a little sneaky PDA from Harlan Royce of all people?
So much had changed in a span of a few months, but I felt like a flower emerging in spring. I didn’t know I was still alive until the sun shone and the water rained down on me and the bees tended to me.
“We’ll figure it out,” I said. “I appreciate the concern, though.”
Dinner was winding down.Harlan ended up inviting the rest of the seniors and their families to come along.
I leaned into his ear. “You don’t have to foot the bill for all these people, you know.”
He shrugged. “No kids of my own. Might as well spoil someone’s kids.”