20. Theo
Theo
VIVIANNA’S ITALIAN RESTAURANT
Thursday
I let myself remember the naked slice of her thigh, her delicate bare shoulders, the heated flush of her skin. Two days later, and she was still in my head.
It only took one conversation for me to admit it–I wanted Mia.
And seeing her left me starved, fucking famished, with no way of satisfying it.
If I touched Mia again, I didn’t know if I could control–
“Will you stop staring like that?” Rochelle poked me with her fork. “The table in front of you is going to think you’re an axe murderer.”
Right. I was in a trendy Italian restaurant, having dinner with my sister and daughter. I probably should have been focusing on them.
I rubbed my arm and said, “First of all, ow.”
Kira giggled as she wrapped spaghetti around her fork.
“Second, I don’t think I look like an axe murderer.”
Rochelle drawled, “You’re huge and grouchy. Of course you look like you could murder someone. The tattoos don’t help.”
“I like the tattoos,” Kira said. “They’re sweet.”
Rochelle pointed her steak knife at her. “Not everyone knows that the dragon on his back is because he loved Dungeons & Dragons as a kid.”
“My favorite is the math equation.”
I smiled at my daughter. “Not the angel?”
She shrugged. “Working out the probability of my birth took more effort.”
Rochelle went back to cutting her meat. “I think that one’s my favorite too. It’s better than the magical closet thing on his hip.”
Kira laughed, and I reminded my sister that she loved the ‘magical closet thing’ as much as I did.
It was from our favorite fantasy series.
She ignored me with a roll of her eyes, and I tried to concentrate on my meal.
But it was pointless. Between all this talk about tattoos and closets, all I could think about was Mia.
As if she could read my mind, Rochelle asked, “What were you thinking about anyway?”
“Nothing.”
“Well, it must’ve been something, because Kira just asked me if I knew how to ‘fake-kiss,’ and I thought you’d be all over that.”
“It’s for the play,” Kira added.
“Right. The kissing scene.”
Kira rolled her eyes at my tone. “It’s not a big deal, Dad. I’m okay with kissing Miles.”
Both mine and Rochelle’s brows shot up as she dropped her fork and clapped a hand over her mouth.
“Kissing? Or fake-kissing?” Rochelle asked.
Kira shook her head, her eyes darting to meet mine briefly before she quickly shoved another forkful of spaghetti into her mouth.
I sighed and rubbed a hand down my face. She didn’t get her flair for melodrama from me. Or Tash. That was all Rochelle.
“I won’t be mad, if that’s what you’re worried about,” I told her.
Rochelle and Kira traded a look. The sound of the restaurant buzzed around us–cutlery scraped, glasses clinked, conversations hummed.
Then Kira straightened and said, “You were mad at Miss Walker.”
Rochelle snorted. “I can’t believe you’re not allowed to talk to her.”
I let a breath out through my nose and tried to scowl at them, but it wasn’t easy. These two didn’t know the half of what had happened between Mia and me, and I wasn’t about to tell them.
“Because he yelled at her,” Kira added. “And it wasn’t even her decision to add those scenes in.”
I put my hands up. “Okay, okay. I know. I overreacted.”
“You’re usually so calm,” Rochelle said, eyeing me. “But for some reason, Mia really gets under your skin.”
The pointed teasing in her tone was impossible to miss.
“Did I tell you she hurt her back?” Kira asked.
I shook my head.
“She’s okay now. She has to get treatments once a week for a bit, but we’ll get Miss Fares on those days, and I like her. She does this fact-check game that’s actually pretty cool.”
“I hope your teacher has a good chiropractor.” Rochelle nudged her chin at me. “Did you send her to your dear old dad?”
“Uh, no. I’m pretty sure he’d lock her out of his office.”
I sat forward. “How did we end up talking about me and Miss Walker when you–” I tapped the edge of Kira’s plate “–just admitted that you want to kiss that Miles kid.”
Rochelle’s laugh was loud, and I knew what that laugh meant. She was surprised and impressed by how deftly Kira managed to turn the conversation away from herself.
Kira’s face turned pink. “It’s not a big deal. He’s just… nice.”
Rochelle smirked. “That boy is pretty cute.”
She gave her aunt a shy smile, and I shook my head. “We talked about this.”
“But back then, I didn’t know him. I know him now.”
“You know him,” I repeated, watching her head dip twice. “And you’re dating him.”
Confusion rippled across her features, and I let out a breath of relief. Thank fuck she hadn’t gotten that far into it yet.
“We’re just friends right now. I mean, I like him, but he doesn’t know. Miss Walker said I should take my time. She told me that when a person is grieving, they might look for the wrong kind of comfort, and it could end up hurting more than helping.”
My neck snapped toward her. “Miss Walker told you that?”
She nodded, then realized her mistake. Her mouth went slack as she noticed my expression. “Dad, I asked her about Miles. She didn’t do anything wrong.”
“It’s not her place to give you advice like that.”
“But if she didn’t say anything,” Kira reasoned, “I might’ve already kissed Miles. Because I want to. And I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that.”
Rochelle reached across the table and touched Kira’s wrist. “You’re right. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. I had to calm down. This was why she didn’t tell me things like this.
“It’s okay that you want to kiss a… nice kid like Miles,” I ground out. “But it might not be the right choice for you.”
It was probably a good thing that Mia talked Kira down from kissing Miles.
Even if it wasn’t her place, even if she should have told me about that conversation, Mia was trying to help.
I needed to keep that in mind before I did something stupid.
I wouldn’t get away with cornering her in a closet a second time.
Rochelle lifted a brow. “Which is why she hasn’t kissed him yet.”
“Right. Yeah… right,” I agreed. “And I’m… proud of you for thinking it through.”
Kira glanced at me with suspicion. I blew out a breath. Tash was always better at this than I was. A sharp ache pierced my chest, and I rubbed at it absently, as if touching it could make this grief disappear.
“And?” Rochelle prodded.
“And… if you feel like you’re ready to… kiss him, I think it should be up to you.”
I could feel Kira’s eyes on me as she searched my face.
My sister patted my arm with her free hand and said, “Well done. You got there in the end.”
I nodded, trying to give my small family the impression that I was calm and in control, but the more I thought about Kira kissing that tall, broad-shouldered, hormonal teenage boy, the more my expression slipped.
“Just… go slow. Between your mom, the move, and the program, I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to rush into anything. I don’t want you getting hurt.”
Kira’s wary blue eyes softened, and I couldn’t have predicted what she did next. She slid out of her chair and wrapped her arms around me.
“I’ll go slow, I promise,” she mumbled into my shoulder. “I’ll be okay.”
And with everything in me, I hoped that was true.