64. Mira

64

MIRA

"How long are they going to be up there?" I growl.

"Relax," Taylor says. "Daniel texted and he's still planning to meet me for lunch, so it should be wrapping up soon."

I pull my phone away from my ear to check the time. Peter Morris left an hour ago and Taylor and I have been on the phone since three seconds after I closed the door on him.

I've been pacing on this phone call long enough that my fitness app is congratulating me for meeting my step goal in record time. I think the health benefits of the walk are gonna be outweighed by the stress.

"What if I fucked everything up?" I ask. "What am I going to tell Zane?"

I should have gone upstairs to get Zane the moment I saw Peter Morris standing on the other side of the door.

Zane and I are dating, but it's new. I shouldn't be the spokesperson for his relationship with his son. It's not like I ever had luck with CPS agents growing up.

I overstepped.

"Mimi, you've got to chill." Taylor takes a deep, cleansing breath. She keeps trying to lead me through breathing exercises that I only pretend to follow. "It sounds like that CPS guy was being an asshole. He's lucky you didn't use all of your kickboxing skills and punch him in the dick."

I huff out a laugh. "You're not wrong. That would have been worse. Somehow, you're actually making me feel better."

"Good enough to ask Zane about our double date?" I can practically hear her eyebrows wagging through the phone.

"I don't know, Tay… It's been a tough couple of days."

"Which is why we all need to go out together, eat, drink… non-alcoholic beverages of our choice," she adds quickly, "and be merry. What's the point of us dating hot best friends if we don't double date?"

"Love and companionship?"

She blows a raspberry. "We need to see and be seen with our smoking hot men. Plus, if you don't ask Zane, I'll just make Daniel do it. So, unless you want to spend our double date playing laser tag like teenage boys, might I suggest you ask him?"

I groan. "‘ Hey, Zane. I might have just royally pissed off the CPS agent in charge of your case until he stormed out of here. How would you like to go to dinner?' "

"Meh. Your delivery could use some work," Taylor says. "Is your shirt unbuttoned? Maybe we should FaceTime so I can approve the amount of cleavage. You've never been great at wielding the casual cleave. Boobs are a weapon if you know how to?—"

I hear deep voices at the top of the stairs and panic for no good reason. "I'll ask him and text you later," I hiss into the phone. "Bye."

"At least three buttons!" Taylor shouts before I hang up and throw myself on the couch.

Seconds later, Zane comes around the corner, leading Jace, Owen, and Daniel towards the door.

Unlike when they came in a few hours ago, they all at least wave. Whatever happened upstairs, it can't have been too bleak.

Daniel tosses me a knowing look as he closes the door that tells me he was in constant communication with Taylor. The narrowing of his eyes seems to threaten a light-up vest and a laser gun if I don't do as I promised.

As soon as Zane closes the door, he finds me on the couch. He gently lays me out on the cushions, pinning me down with his weight. His arms are around my middle and his head is pillowed on my chest. Taylor would be disappointed: my sundress has a halter neckline. I'm covered all the way to the base of my neck.

"How did it go?" I venture. "You were up there a long time."

"Owen has promised not to knock the front door down in the middle of the night next time he gets an anonymous email, so that's good."

"Better than nothing," I concede. "What about Carson?"

"Jace knows what is going on. He's going to talk to Coach." Zane sighs. "I would, but I don't want it to look like I'm making shit up to disqualify him from being captain."

"But you're not making it up!"

"I also don't have proof Carson did this," he points out. "What I can do is make sure the people in my life know to watch out for him." Zane brushes his calloused thumb over my shoulder. "As long as you trust me and Aiden is safe, the rest of it doesn't matter."

My heart jolts so hard I'm surprised Zane didn't feel it.

How did I end up here?

How did I go from not even owning a couch to being on this one, happily crushed by Zane Whitaker?

It all happened so suddenly that it feels fragile. Like, if I handle it too roughly, it'll disappear.

When I was a little older than Aiden, I found a jewelry box at a garage sale. There was a tiny fairy inside with purple wings and glittery white hair. She spun to this tinkling music whenever I opened the lid. It was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. And I was terrified to open it.

The music was loud and I'd learned a long time before not to draw more of my dad's attention than necessary. But it also felt like every time the fairy turned on the little spindle, some of the magic was lost. Like the joy it gave me was a finite resource and I needed to portion it out.

A few years later, my dad went on a drunken rampage in my room. It was one of the few times he didn't lay a hand on me, but he shredded through my closet and my drawers. He shattered hangers, ripped my closet doors off the hinges, and threw my fairy jewelry box against the wall.

It shattered and left a dent in the drywall that I had to stare at for years.

Every time I looked at that dent, I wished I'd enjoyed the jewelry box more.

It turns out, it was fragile. But being gentle with it didn't do a damn thing in the end. It was still taken from me.

I hold Zane a little tighter, absorbing some of this magic between us. "I have to tell you something."

He lifts his head. His blue eyes are tropical blue. They're waters I've never swam in, skies I've never seen. Zane Whitaker is stuffed full of things I never thought I'd have in this life.

So, while he's here in my arms, I plan to make the most of it.

Maybe that's why, instead of telling him about Peter Morris's visit, I ask, "Will you go on a double date with me?"

To my surprise, an easy smile spreads across his face. "If you're there, I'm there."