Flirting with Forever: A Hot Romantic Comedy(37)

And what was that about, anyway?

He hugged her. My eyes narrowed. It looked like a goodbye, not a come inside. My heart hammered in my chest and I clenched my fists, waiting to see if she’d invite him in. And if he’d accept.

She didn’t. Or he was as big of an idiot as I was and had turned her down. He walked back to his car.

I let out a long breath and stepped away from the window. What the hell was I doing? Talk about being a creepy neighbor. I was spying on her through a crack in my curtains, fuming over her personal life.

Crazy. The woman was making me crazy.

“Dad?”

I tried not to jump but she’d startled me. “Yeah?”

“What are you doing?”

Why did she always catch me when I was staring out the window at Nora? “Nothing. Just heard a car, so I was looking to see who it was.”

“Who was it?”

I shrugged. “Someone next door.”

Without another word, she turned for the kitchen.

Frustration bubbled up inside me as I followed her. I was tired of feeling like I lived with a surly roommate, not my daughter. Tired of her clipped answers and refusal to tell me what was going on in her life.

“Ry, I need to know what the pajama thing was about.”

The look she gave me was just shy of a glare. “Why?”

“Because I don’t understand what’s going on with you. And I’m concerned about your friendship with Nora.”

The glare melted into alarm. “Why? Nora’s so nice. Why would you be concerned?”

“Because I don’t know what she’s telling you.” I let out a breath. “Can you just tell me what you two talked about?”

She looked down. “Katie took a picture of me sleeping when I spent the night at her house. Somehow Ryan Hutchison got it and she drew drool on my face and a fart cloud coming out of my butt and posted it online everywhere.”

“She?”

“What?”

“Ryan is a she?”

“Yeah. She’s super popular and pretty and it’s so dumb. Katie worships her even though she’s mean. So I told Nora and she told me it doesn’t matter what they say about me. It can’t hurt me if I don’t care, and why would I care what a bunch of jerks think? She told me to own it, so I thought the best way to own it would be to wear the same pajamas in front of everyone. You know, show them I don’t care about the stupid picture.”

I stared at her. No wonder she’d walked out of school like she owned the place.

“Damn it, Ry, that’s fucking awesome.” I grabbed her and pulled her against me. “Sorry for swearing.”

Her little body shook with her laugh. “It’s okay.”

“Seriously, that’s some next level badassery. I wish I could have done that in seventh grade.”

She pulled away. “It made so much sense when Nora said it. I don’t even like those kids so why do I care if they make fun of me?”

“What did they do when you came out in the pajamas?”

“At first they tried to laugh at me but I ignored them. Nora was right, once they realized they couldn’t hurt my feelings, they stopped.”

“Assholes.”

“Permission to swear?”

One corner of my mouth lifted. “Granted.”

“They are assholes.”

I hugged her again. “Damn right. I’m proud of you.”

“Thanks, Dad.”

“You know, you can tell me this stuff.”

“I know. But it was embarrassing.”

I nodded. “Yeah. I get that. I’m glad Nora helped.”

“Yeah, she did.” She pointed to the fridge. “I’m just going to get a snack.”

“Go for it.”

Now I really felt like an idiot.

Not only had Nora not had an inappropriate conversation with my daughter, she’d given her great advice. She’d helped her navigate a shitty situation and come out on top. As much as I wanted Riley to feel like she could confide in me, would I have told her to own it? To show those little shits they couldn’t hurt her? Maybe, but maybe not. I didn’t know what I would have told her, but it wouldn’t have been as good—or helpful—as what Nora had said to her.

And even if I had, Riley wouldn’t have listened to me the way she’d listened to Nora. She’d needed a woman to talk to.

My deep seated resentment toward Riley’s mother briefly flared to life. Unfortunately for both of us, Riley’s mom sucked as a parent.

I grabbed a beer out of the fridge. Nora’s back porch light was on, illuminating a circle in her backyard. Damn it. I’d screwed up.

Although could anyone blame me? I was flying blind, here, trying to parent a teen girl on my own. So what if I’d jumped to the wrong conclusion and chewed out Nora when I should have been thanking her? Seeing Nora’s column had freaked me the hell out.

And because I was really good at being stubborn, I didn’t go over to apologize.





Guilt ate at me.

Every glimpse I caught of Nora reminded me that I’d been a dick to her and she hadn’t deserved it. That I not only owed her a thank you for helping Ry, I owed her an apology.

A big one.

Stubbornness won for a few days. I ignored her, doing my best to pretend she didn’t exist. I took Riley to school. Went to work. Focused on my clients, my business, my art. I cooked dinner and made Riley do the dishes and helped with her homework. And I didn’t watch through the windows, looking to see if Nora had another date—if she invited him in this time.