I snuck my hand over and was just about to set it on his thigh but detoured it to land on his forearm, and I was going to ignore just how muscular and tight it was. “Hey, I’m sorry. I promise it was a long time ago. You’re one of my best friends, and I would never want to ruin this between us. I honestly thought you’d laugh. I’m sorry for making you uncomfortable.”
“You didn’t make me uncomfortable,” he replied instantly, gaze unflinching. “There’s nothin’ for you to apologize for.”
“But there is. I didn’t mean to make you feel weird.”
That fingertip smoothed its way back down to my chin, and I was pretty sure another finger landed right next to it. The lines across his forehead got deeper. “Bianca, I don’t think there’s a thing you could do to make me feel weird.”
I wasn’t so sure about that.
The hand on my knee gave it a squeeze. “You caught me off guard is all. I didn’t know. I had no idea. Boog never said nothin’. Nobody did.”
“Because it wouldn’t have changed anything. Connie knew. Boogie put it together himself, but you know he wouldn’t have teased me over it. He’s too nice with that sort of thing.” I let go of his forearm and set my hand on top of the one he had on my leg. “I was a kid. It didn’t mean anything.”
His jaw did this weird thing, and I could see his nostrils flare for a second before he dipped his chin down. “You were a kid.”
A kid who had clung to him like a spider monkey. A little sister figure. He was too kind to ever say that to me, but it was the truth, and we both knew it.
“Are we fine? Do you forgive me?”
“There’s nothin’ to forgive,” he said after a second, his words slow.
I looked at him for what felt like a long time. Those features weren’t exactly pinched. They weren’t even close to being distressed either. They were just… thoughtful.
Too thoughtful.
Any kind of thoughtful was too thoughtful though.
All I had wanted and expected was a laugh, and now we were here.
When he still hadn’t said anything after what felt like half an hour but was probably really only about a solid minute, I shifted from one butt cheek to another, ignoring the hand still lingering on my knee, and said, “You’re not gonna be all awkward now, are you?”
That did it.
Those light blue eyes that were a perfect mix of bright baby blue and milk, blinked, and in a matter of two seconds, his lips slowly peeled back into a soft and familiar smile. “Me, awkward?”
I ticked my head to the side and couldn’t help but smile back at him.
His lips went crooked. “Who you callin’ awkward?”
“You’re the one sitting there being all quiet and weird, Snack Pack.” There, that took us back to our friendship—at least that’s what I hoped. “I just want to make sure I don’t have to noogie you back to being normal.”
He laughed. “You think you’re gonna noogie me?”
Good. This was good. “If I have to, Mr. White Oak.”
One nearly blond eyebrow went up, and I felt him shift on his butt cheek to face me just a little better.
I raised both my eyebrows right back at him, clinging onto this, wanting this familiarity. “Are we going to pretend this didn’t happen or…?”
“Oh, I’m not pretendin’ shit, darlin’.”
It was my turn to blink.
And this jerk grinned even wider. “What? I’m not. Want me to lie to you?”
I nodded.
He laughed. “I’m never forgettin’, so….”
“So what you’re saying is we’re doing this?”
“Yeah, because I’m not forgettin’ you used to like me—”
“Oh hell no.” I rolled onto my hip and freaking went for him.
Not for his head but for his ribs. His weak spot.
“What the fuck, Bianca!” Zac literally fucking shouted as he threw his body and head back against the headboard, his arms slamming down into place against his ribs... and my fingers.
I cackled, digging my fingers even deeper into his sides. “You remember now? Who’s your daddy, huh?”
Those big, strong arms jerked up and down along his sides, trying to disengage me as he tried to melt into the headboard to get away from me. “You said you were gonna noogie me! What the hell are you doing? Stop it!”
“Duh. Ouch!”
He instantly stopped moving, and so did I in surprise that he’d actually stopped after his elbow clipped one of the bones on my wrist.
Zac’s face was flushed red, eyes bright, and I decided to take pity on him. So I smiled, keeping my fingers where they were but not digging in anymore. “You thought I didn’t remember?” I asked him before dipping my face in even closer. Then I whispered, like a psycho, “I remember everything.” I tapped my fingers lightly along his sides, feeling him flinch. “Especially you being ticklish.”
Those blue eyes bore into mine, and his mouth went damn near flat. Zac’s voice was almost a whisper too as he said, “Did you ask me who my daddy is?”
I nodded gravely.
His voice was still a whisper when he went on with, “You’re my daddy now, I guess.”
Pulling my fingers away, I sat back on my knees and laughed. “Deal. I promise not to use that against you unless I have to.”
His nostrils flared, and he stared at me right in the eyes as he said, still quietly, “Bianca.”
“Yes?”
“I remember things too.”
What?
Before I could process who this man was, what he did for a living, and what talents he’d polished over the years, he came at me with one of those hands that were lightning fast and accurate. Zac licked the tip of his index finger and shoved that turd into my ear just as I started yelling, “Don’t you dare!”
He dared.
By the time I pushed him away, we were both breathing hard and laughing, and I had to talk myself into looking at my phone to see if I had
