Somethin' About That Boy

Ford leaned forward as if he was interested in that answer himself.

“I always assumed he was going to go to college for football,” Ashe said as she leaned back in her chair, her eyes on Banner.

Banner grinned at her. “I might. Or I might not. I’m not one hundred percent sure yet what exactly I want to do. I just know that I’m interested in becoming a police officer one day. I’m not sure when I want to do that, though. Football would be nice… but that’s not the way I see myself leaning.” He turned to stare at me. “What about you?”

I grinned. “Adoption. I want to do something with social work, or helping children get adopted.”

“Why’s that?” Ashe asked curiously.

I turned to her to answer, but before I could, Banner answered for me.

“Perry was adopted as a young girl,” he said. “Her dad told me that they drove all the way to fuckin’ Canada for her.”

“Wow,” Ashe said. “Canada? That’s a long way away. Did you know that you were adopted when you were younger?”

I snickered. “Um, yes. It was kind of hard for it not to be a secret. I’m half Asian. My biological mother was white. My mom and dad now don’t look like me. My dad is from Texas with red hair and blue eyes. And my mother is African American. Needless to say, that wasn’t a secret that they could keep.”

Ford grinned wickedly. “I would think not.”

Damn, his grin was almost as good as Banner’s.

Almost being the operative word.

“That sounds like a great job to have,” Ashe said. “I started to look into criminal psychology around your age. Though, my best friend dying was a major reason why that was the case.”

Ford leaned over and placed his lips on her temple, whispering something into her ear.

I felt an irrational urge to look away, thinking that their moment was something intensely private, and I shouldn’t be witnessing it.

Banner, not realizing the moment they were having, tossed another breadstick at Ford’s face.

“Did you tell Ashe that Mom and Dad were coming into town this weekend?” he asked.

Ford shook his head. “Haven’t had a chance.” He turned to his wife. “My parents are coming into town this weekend.”

I snickered at the look on Ashe’s face.

Banner curled his arm around the back of the booth, his fingers going to a stray lock of hair that’d escaped my ponytail.

I leaned my head more toward him and grinned when I saw the waitress walking toward us with her arms loaded down with enough dessert to feed a family of eight, not just four.

Plates were set down, and sadly Banner returned to his own side of the table.

But something weird happened.

When he was done—which was amazingly before the rest of us—he returned to his earlier position. This time, he actively started to tug my hair free of my ponytail.

I looked over at him with amusement as he tugged a bigger lock free and started to twirl it around his big finger. The funny thing was, he wasn’t even paying attention to me. It was as if he was absently doing it as he spoke at length with his brother about a SWAT call he’d gone on earlier in the week.

By the time dinner was done, I was more than ready to go home and change out of my clothes.

That, and I was tired.

Today’s game was an intense one, and I’d played the entire game. My knees were hurting, and my hip was bruised. I needed to ice it down.

But I didn’t want Banner to leave.

I wanted him to come with me.

So thirty-five minutes later, when he pulled up in front of my house, I was reluctant for him to go.

But, seeing as it was already half past nine, I didn’t have much of a choice.

Covering up my disappointment as best as I could, I got off the bike and handed him the helmet.

“Keep it,” he said. “That way when I pick you up tomorrow, you’ll have it.”

His eyes went to the porch and I turned to see my dad standing there, his arms crossed tightly over his chest.

Feeling my cheeks heat, and thankful that it was dark, I tucked the helmet under my arm and leaned a bit into him.

“I’ll see you in the morning?” I asked hopefully.

His grin was swift. “Yep.”Chapter 14

Some people should use a glue stick instead of Chapstick.

-Banner’s secret thoughts

Banner

I watched as she turned and made her way to the front porch where her father was standing.

Once she got to him, I waved and started my bike before walking it backward out of the driveway.

Once on the street, I accelerated sedately, not wanting her father to think that I drove like a bat out of hell.

I waited until I was a good five blocks away before I did any fast driving, making it the other ten minutes home in the time it took me to go the five blocks.