I tried to ignore the giddiness that shot through me at Slade’s text. I sent back: No way. Max will be too scared. Gilly will hurt herself trying to outdo all the other kids.
My phone pinged again. What ya got, then, BB? Besides a documentary.
BB? Still with the nickname, right to my face?
Not to your face, exactly. More like to your screen. Then he sent a bunch of smiley faces.
Before I could chicken out, I dialed his number. He answered on the first ring.
“It’s like when Alex and his gay friends call one another queer,” he said, before I could say anything. “It’s about embracing something meant to hurt, then claiming it as your own.”
“I think maybe I have the wrong number,” I said.
“Bird Brain was a stupid nickname,” he said. “I’m sorry I ever gave it to you.” I didn’t hear any laughter in his voice. “But maybe BB is just as bad. Another one of my failed attempts at humor.”
I was quiet for a few seconds. “No,” I said, “BB is cool. I can live with that.”
“Yeah?” he sounded surprised.
“Yeah,” I said.
We were both quiet. I wasn’t used to talking to guys on the phone. “So, uh, your ideas. They might work for you and Gilly, but I don’t know about Max.”
“What about you? Are you philosophically opposed to dangerous activities?”
I tugged at my hair. I had to be honest, or at least partially so. My body shivered at the thought of the secrets I was still keeping from him.
“I’m not much of a risk taker,” I said.
“Hmm.” His voice hummed in my ear, making me bite my lip. “Are you open to the possibility of becoming a risk taker?”
My heart sped up a little. “I prefer to stay on the ground.” I coughed nervously. “How about bowling? Or Putt-Putt golf?”
He chuckled. “I can see we’re going to have work up to zip-lining.”
I wished he could see me rolling my eyes.
“Putt-Putt golf could work,” he said. “We can take them to a movie after that.” He paused. “And by that I mean an actual movie with a plot, not a documentary.” I heard the smirk in his voice.
“That sounds great,” I said, relieved.
“So let’s meet at Gilly’s on Monday,” he said.
“It’s a date.” I immediately wanted to grab the words back.
“Sounds good,” he said, apparently unfazed by my faux pas. “Oh, and Trina? I read the binder. In its entirety.”
“You did?” My voice was a whisper.
“Yep. It’s a good thing you gave me my own copy. Seeing as how yours suffered an untimely demise.”
“That’s some might fancy words you’re using, Edmunds,” I drawled.
“Lots more where those came from. Just because I’m not on the honor roll like you doesn’t mean I couldn’t be.”
I didn’t know what to say to that. “You’d better not bring the binder with you on Monday. The kids will freak.”
“Binder of Doom rises from dead to torture innocent children.”
“It’s not that bad.”
“You do know it has an index, right? And a table of contents?”
“So I’m thorough. There are worse things.”
“Name one.”
I chewed on the inside of my lip. “Um…not being thorough?”
His laughter made me shiver in all the wrong places.
“Okay, I give up, BB. You’ll never cop to the binder insanity. But you should get paid overtime for all the work you put into that thing.”
And just like that, the mention of overtime reminded me of the paycheck from his mom that I’d cashed that morning, snapping me out of whatever flirty haze I’d fallen into.
The happy juice flooding my system evaporated, replaced by guilt and…something else. Panic, maybe?
“Trina? Did you pass out or something? Should I take back the compliment so you can breathe?”
I glanced at Glen, Sharon’s handyman, who’d just clomped down the stairs with his tool belt, a man on a mission. He was a retired plumber or electrician or whatever, who volunteered at the shelter. I suspected he had a thing for Sharon.
“Look, I’ve gotta go, Slade. Glen needs me.”
“Who’s Glen? Where are you, anyway?”
“Never mind. I’ll see you Monday.” I disconnected before he could ask any more questions. Or toss out any more backhanded compliments that made me feel like a modern day Benedict Arnold.
Hours later, I typed up my first weekly report on Slade’s progress, distilling the crazy week to one short paragraph.
We got off to a rocky start but I’m hopeful next week will be smoother. Slade’s interactions with the kids are entertaining and surprisingly helpful. He has some unexpected skills, which are coming in handy.