He studied me, uncertain. “But?” he asked, moving in closer. He slid his hands into his pockets and bit his bottom lip before speaking again. “I know there’s a ‘but’. I see it in your eyes.”
“But…she’s my sister.”
He grimaced knowingly. “Jane.”
I nodded. “Lyric.”
“So, you think never? You and I?” The hurt in his eyes from his question broke my heart.
“I think society would have a lot to say about it. That’s my biggest worry.”
He was even closer than before, close enough to kiss me again. “And since when do we care what society thinks, my hippie weirdo?”
I blushed, and he moved my hair behind my ear.
“It’s not going to be easy. It might be very hard, and weird, and out of the norm, but I promise you, if you give me a chance, if you give us a few moments, I’ll make it worth all of your time. Say okay?”
I lived in the moment, and my lips parted. “Okay.”
“I want to take you out on a date. Tomorrow. I want you to wear your favorite out
fit and allow me to take you out.”
I laughed. “Are you sure? My favorite outfit involves stripes, polka dots, and a million colors.”
“I wouldn’t expect anything else.” He smiled.
God. That smile. That smile did things to me. I placed Talon on the floor so she could crawl around as Graham kept speaking.
“And, Lucille?”
“Yes?”
“There’s poop on your cheek.”
My eyes widened in horror as I moved to a mirror and grabbed a baby wipe to clean my face. I looked at Graham who was snickering to himself, and my cheeks didn’t stop turning red. I crossed my arms and narrowed my stare. “Did you just ask me on a date even though there was poop on my face?”
He nodded without hesitation. “Of course. It’s just a little poop. That wouldn’t change the fact that I’m in love with you and want to take you out on a date.”
“What? Wait. What? Say that again…” My heart was racing, my mind spinning.
“I want to take you out a date?”
“No. Before that.”
“That it’s just a little poop?”
I waved my hands. “No, no. The part after that. The part about—”
“Me loving you?”
There it was again. The racing heart and the spinning mind. “You’re in love with me?”
“With every piece of my soul.”
Before I could reply, before any words left my mouth, a little girl walked past me. My eyes widened at the same exact moment Graham’s did as he stared at his daughter.
“Did she…?” he asked.