Chapter 28
ISLA
“Deep breaths. You can do hard things,” I whisper under my breath as I wait for Charlie outside the skating rink a couple of hours later. Maybe I shouldn’t have been so shocked when Luca said Charlie had figured out we were dating. He’s a smart kid, intuitive and observant.
Still, I had hoped to check-in with him about the very idea of his mom dating before it actually happened.
Too late for that now.
The passenger door opens, bringing in a gust of cold air and a red-cheeked preteen. “Hey Mom.”
“Hi. How was skating?”
“Cool. Hard, but fun, I guess.” He’s staring down at his phone, scrolling through something with his thumb.
“Charlie.” I put one hand on his leg to get his attention. “Can we talk?”
He makes a disgruntled sound but looks up at me. “Is it about Luca? Cuz I’m cool with you two. It’s fine.”
I blink several times. “Okay, I’m glad you’re ‘cool,’ but I still want to talk about it. This is the first time in your life I’ve dated someone, and I really want to make sure you’re comfortable with me having a man in my life.”
The look of horror that covers his face is comical. “Oh my God. Mom. Please don’t call it that. Having a man in your life?” He scrunches up his face. “That just sounds so weird. You have a boyfriend. Whatever. I dunno why you haven’t had one before.”
“Because you have always been the only man in my life, honey,” I say, layering on the cheesy sweetness, and earning a full body shudder that has me laughing.
“Gross. Just don’t, like, kiss and stuff in front of me and it’ll be fine. Can we stop talking about it now? Please?”
“For now. But I need you to promise me something,” I say once I’ve stopped giggling.
“What.”
“If you feel weird about it, or have questions, or get annoyed, or anything, really. Please come to me. Talk to me. You’re still my number one guy.” I risk his annoyance by ruffling his sweaty hair. “Your opinion matters a lot, kid.”
A half smile tips his lips up. “It’s cool, Mom. I like Luca, and he makes you happy.” He glances down at his phone again. “Hey, can we order pizza tonight?”
And I guess that’s that.
“Sure.”
Now that Charlie knows about us, Luca suggested the three of us start spending more time together.
Which is why today, on the first day of Charlie’s winter break from school, we’re driving to the stadium in the evening for some time in the batting cages.
Charlie made a comment about wanting to work on his one-handed batting, and when I mentioned it to Luca, he suggested this.
Not gonna lie, it made my heart squeeze that he is so quick to include my son’s needs and wants into our plans.
“Okay, this is really freaking cool,” Charlie says as we step into the newly refurbished space on the bottom floor of the stadium.
“Thanks. I gotta admit, it was a little bit self-serving. I love using batting cages to get some energy out myself and wanted to be able to do that here.” Luca comes to stand next to me, his hands in his pockets. He looks down at me with a soft smile. “Hey, wonder woman.”
Charlie glances back at us from one of the batting tees. “No gross mushy stuff, got it?” He points his finger at us with narrowed eyes. “We’re here to hit some baseballs.”
Luca grins, lifts one arm, and drapes it over my shoulders. “How about a compromise? You head over to the rack and choose a bat while I give your mom a kiss. Then no more mushy stuff.”
I choke, but Charlie tips his head toward Luca, then pivots on his feet and jogs over to the rack of shiny new bats.
“Hope that was okay to say. I really want to kiss you.” Luca has stepped in front of me and is moving his hand to cup my cheek.
“Then why are you wasting time talking?” I reply impishly.
He’s still chuckling when his lips land on mine. The kiss is short, chaste, but still fills me with butterflies.
“Time’s up.”
We break apart at Charlie’s shout, and I turn to see him tugging on a helmet.
“C’mon, boss man. Turn on the pitching machine.”
“You got it.” Luca winks at me, then jogs over to the machine in front of Charlie.
Is it really this simple? To open my life, my son, my heart to a man? I guess when that man is Luca Calloway, yeah. It is.