Page 75 of Never Kiss the Bad Boy
Grace is at that awkward stage when kids are more arms and legs than body, with blonde curls that reach down her back, and when Kyle sets her down, I can see her blue eyes match her father’s.
“Where have you been?” Grace demands as she throws her hands on her hips, her tone holding more sass than she should be capable of at such a young age. She’s definitely going to be a handful.
“Here, there, everywhere,” Kyle tells her, flashing a teasing grin as he doesn’t answer the question. I appreciate that he doesn’t put the blame on me for taking up his time because kids can be brutal about that stuff, and if Grace is this important to Kyle, I want her to like me too.
“Hey! You’re new,” Grace says, finally spying me. She comes right up in front of me to hold her hand out. Surprised, I shake it. “I’m Grace Harrington, nice to meet you.” It’s a shift in formality, and I suspect Cameron has taught her to introduce herself this way.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Dani Becerra, a friend of Kyle’s.”
“Like a friend… or a friend?” she asks, making it clear that she wants to know exactly how close Kyle and I are. I feel like everyone else in the room leans forward a bit too, interested in what I’m going to say.
“Uhm…” I look to Kyle, hoping for some help here.
But he holds up his hands. “Oh, no, I’m not interfering again. I’ve learned my lesson to let you handle shit on your own. Besides, I kinda want to hear that answer too.” He leans my way, ear first with a smirk on his face. He’s teasing, with no sign of the serious, raw vulnerability he showed earlier, and I’d bet this is how he always acts with his family.
Light, superficial, teasing, nothing of real depth and substance. I’d wonder if they know what they’re missing out on, but I think I already know the answer… they don’t have any idea.
“Uhm… friend?” I answer, not sure that clarifies things for anyone.
“We’re just glad you came,” Mrs. Harrington says, and I throw her a grateful smile.
“Subtle and smooth, as always,” Kayla stage-whispers to her mom.
Kyle scoffs. “I help, I get yelled at in two languages and backhanded in my chest.” He rubs his pec like he can still feel my love tap. “Mom does it and gets a smile of undying gratitude? Do you know what I went through just to get this woman to speak to me instead of flipping me off?” He’s asking the room at large, who of course have no idea, but they’re looking at me like they totally understand.
“Well if you hadn’t been such a—” I pause, not sure if I should curse in front of Grace, and settle on, “pendejo, I wouldn’t have been flipping you off.”
Grace sees my glance at her and offers, “You can cuss or say whatever. I’m eleven years old and have heard it all, either from Uncle Kyle or TV.”
Kyle turns betrayed eyes to Grace. “Damn, girl. You drove that bus right over me with no hesitation. Well, how about no Frappuccino for you this week.”
“Sure, sure, I totally believe that.” Grace rolls her eyes. “I don’t know that one, though. Pen-day-ho,” she sounds out, repeating me.
“Oh!” I exclaim, looking to Cameron. “Sorry. That’s probably not a great word for you, Grace. Sorry.”
“What’s it mean?” she asks, plopping to an ottoman with her legs hanging on either side of the big cube.
I furrow my brow, looking at Cameron to see if I should tell her, but it’s Kyle who answers her. “Asshole. Dani thought I was an annoying asshole at first, but she likes me now. We’re friends.” He gives me a triumphant smirk, amusement dancing in his eyes.
“She’s right, you are an annoying… pen-day-ho,” Grace tells Kyle, who frowns dramatically, putting his hand on his chest, right over his apparently wounded heart. A blink later, he takes my hand again and smiles.
“So I’ve been told.”
Mrs. Harrington has been watching the exchanges between her children with delight and now gestures to a small loveseat. “Well, I’m glad you started talking to Kyle instead of flipping him off.” Her eyes widen like she’s surprised she actually repeated that.
Kyle and I sit down, his hip next to mine as he lays an ankle on his knee and throws his arm along the back of the loveseat to surround me. It feels like ‘us against them’, which it shouldn’t be, but after what Kyle told me earlier, it unfortunately seems accurate.
The questions aren’t unsurprising, starting with how we met, so I tell them about my lunch business and yelling at him because of his parking job. Everyone laughs, agreeing that he deserved it. I tell them about blocking him with Nessa’s car, which I thought was pretty creative, and Kayla holds her hand up for long-distance high-five across the room. But Kyle interjects that it worked out for him in the long run because that was our first ride.
“You let her ride on Lucille?” Kayla asks in surprise.
“Yeah, I’ve ridden with him a few times now,” I say, worried that’s unusual, but Janey is grinning wide like if it is, it’s not a bad thing. “For pancakes, to his place for dinner, and here tonight.”
“You went to his house?” Luna asks, her hands clasped beneath her chin and hearts nearly popping from her eyes.
“He cooked for you?” Samantha asks at the same time.
I nod slowly, looking at Kyle for some context of why everyone’s staring at me like I sprouted a second head, but he’s no help, just smiling as he clocks everyone’s shock. “Yeah, chicken pasta.” I intentionally don’t say the name of the recipe because I feel like they might overreact the way Kyle thought I would. “It was good.”