4. Kiss It Better #2
“Oh no! Did Uncle Noah kiss it better?”
Emma snorts. “I bet he did.”
I try not to think about kissing Clio. About how soft her lips would be, and how she’d taste. The way her body would fit against mine. Something stirs in my gut, but I shove it down.
“Emma,” I grit out.
“Noah,” she says in a mocking tone. “God, you’re such a killjoy. Maybe you need to get l—”
“Anyway,” Clio says, loud enough to drown out the rest of Emma’s statement. “I should get going. You have fun at the park, ok? You can tell me all about it at school on Monday.”
“Ok,” Auggie mumbles as he licks the trail of ice cream off his hand.
“Thanks again, Noah.”
I offer a curt nod as she hobbles toward the door between the shop and the entrance to the apartments.
“Are you really going to let her limp all the way up those stairs?” Emma whispers like we’re sharing a secret.
“What do you want me to do?” I respond in the same tone.
“I don’t know. Maybe don’t be a dick and help her.”
Clio struggles to hold open the door and walk through it at the same time.
“Set a good example for your nephew,” Emma says.
I loathe to admit she has a point. Letting out a sigh of resignation, I walk over to the door and wrench it open. Clio’s hand slips off the handle, and she stumbles into my chest.
“Someone should wrap you in bubble wrap,” I mutter.
“It’s not my fault you keep standing in my way,” she quips, righting herself. “Maybe you should stop stalking me.”
“If I hadn’t been here, you would’ve fallen on your ass.”
She jabs one rainbow-tipped fingernail into my chest. “If you hadn’t pulled the door out of my hand, I would’ve been on the other side of it by now.”
“Are they always like this?” Emma asks Auggie.
He shrugs and takes another bite of his ice cream.
After discreetly flipping off my sister, I hold out my arm and offer Clio my elbow. “Let me help you.”
“What?”
I groan. Tired of the back and forth, I crouch low and lift her into my arms bridal style.
In an almost panicky voice, she says, “Whoa. What are you doing?”
“Will you shut up?” The door glides shut behind us as I carry her up the first flight of stairs, ignoring the way her soft waist and lush thighs feel in my palms.
She clings to my neck for dear life, her long nails digging into my flesh, but it doesn’t deter me. I might like it a little too much.
“Put me down. You’re going to drop me.”
“I could do this in my sleep, princess. Almost there.” I walk her up the second flight of stairs and deposit her on the landing. “See. All in one piece. Well, mostly.” I gesture to what’s left of her jeans and her injured leg.
She runs her hands down her clothes, smoothing the wrinkles. “I’d thank you, but that was entirely against my will, and I don’t think you deserve it this time.”
Ignoring the biting remark, I jog down the steps, and with a backward wave, I call back, “You’re welcome.”
Her apartment door snicks closed, and I make my way back to Emma and Auggie.
“Can we go now?” Auggie says impatiently. His ice cream is nowhere to be seen.
“Sure, buddy. Let’s go.”
As I step outside, I notice Clio’s bike is still discarded on the sidewalk. “You guys go ahead. I’m just going to bring this inside.”
“So, you aren’t a total dick after all,” Emma says. “You could be nicer to her, you know.”
“I am nice. It’s not my fault she’s so…”
“Beautiful. Vibrant. Way out of your league.”
Yes.
“No.”
“Liar.” She smirks and takes Auggie’s hand. “Come on, kiddo. Let’s go to the park.”
I walk Clio’s bike inside and lean it against the wall near the bottom of the stairs, then I take the back door to the lot where I park my bike.
I make it there just as Emma and Auggie are walking onto the playground.
It’s a busy day. With the last bit of summer heat waning, the evenings are cooling, making it prime time for weekend park visits. Parents can come and hang out on the benches, setting their kids loose on the playground until they exhaust themselves.
I used to come here with Jonah years ago. We’d play ground tag and see how high we could swing. Then along came Emma, and we’d fight over whose team she would be on until she’d outright refuse to pick a side. Looking back, it feels like someone else’s life, not my own.
I sit on a nearby bench as Emma chases Auggie across a rope bridge and down a slide.
He makes it back around, climbing a set of stairs and then a set of ropes until he’s standing in the crow’s nest of a wooden pirate ship.
He shades his eyes and scans the area until his gaze lands on me.
He waves enthusiastically. “Uncle Noah! Look at me!”
I wave back and rub my chest with the other hand. Jonah should be here, not me. This isn’t the life I chose, and it’s not the life Auggie deserves. This kid was dealt a shit hand, but he’s making the best of it.
If he asked for the moon, I’d find a way to give it to him, but I know what he wants more than anything is to have his family back together. The moon would be an easier feat.
Emma slumps next to me, breathing heavily. “I’m too old for this.”
I snort. “You’re twenty-four, not sixty.”
“You try chasing a four-year-old up a rope ladder.”
“Yeah. Hard pass.”
“He looks happy though,” she says wistfully. “I wish…”
“Don’t say it.”
“He should be here.”
My fists clench tight against my thighs until it’s almost painful. “Yeah, well. He’s not. Jonah knew what he was doing. He made his bed, and he can lie in it.”
“And if he didn’t do it?”