Page 38 of Apparently, I’m Trouble

And Theo. I’d written him off as a grumpy asshole all this time, but he was grieving. While taking on full-time responsibility of his also-grieving daughter.

I couldn’t believe it, but in this situation, I was the asshole.

Why didn’t I think to ask questions? Why didn’t I push? I took his attitude at face value and gave him zero benefit of the doubt. And poor Kira. Now her essays about Misplaced made sense.

I could finally see the problem.

But… what could I do about it?

Rochelle eyed me thoughtfully, and I wasn’t sure if she was speaking to herself or me when she said, “I can tell you care about Kira. Well. That’s a good start.”

Chapter 16

Theo

CHIROPRACTIC CARE

Wednesday

It was hard not to smile at them. Rochelle and Kira sat in the waiting area, and their laughter was infectious.

I stood just outside my office door, catching pieces of what they said.

“That kid with the dimple?”

“Derek, I know. It moves, though. One minute it’s here, then it’s here.”

My daughter pointed from her cheek to her chin, and Rochelle snorted.

Mario, my receptionist and assistant, kept glancing at them. His mouth was parted, glasses slipping down his nose like he was too distracted to push them back up.

I understood the feeling. But if I went over there and tried to join in, whatever magic that was unfolding between my sister and daughter would dissolve. I had my place, and it wasn’t laughing over boys they knew.

May, my final client of the day, shuffled in, grinning in their direction.

“They’re cute, aren’t they?” Her voice was husky with age, and it pulled my focus back.

Drudging up what I knew about her spinal care, I set her through her paces and left her feeling like she could move without the usual stab of pain.

“Your hands are like magic,” she purred happily. “What do I have to do to get a massage from you?”

I forced a good-natured laugh, but this wasn’t the first time a female client had asked me that.

“May, we talked about this. You know that’s Loretta’s area. Mario can set up an appointment for you.”

She tsked, put her hands to her lower back, and thrust her hips forward in an awkward stretch. “It’s because you’re saving it for your girlfriend, aren’t you? That woman who’s sitting with your daughter?”

My stomach turned as I opened the door for her. “That’s my sister, actually.”

She shuffled to the threshold then paused, waggling her brows at me. “If you’re single, I have–”

“No, no,” I blurted, panicked. “I’m not looking for anything romantic right now, thank you. I, uh, have my hands full with my daughter.” And a fiery, beautiful teacher who wanted nothing to do with me.

May pouted. At least, I thought it was a pout. As she shuffled off, she started complaining that it was “such a shame that a man who looks like that has no one to go home to”.

Rochelle and Kira were quiet, holding in a silent snicker as they flipped their stares from May to me and back again. Once my final client was out of earshot, Rochelle dropped her hand and asked whether May managed to grab a handful of my ass, and Kira’s expression went from teasing to horrified.

“I’m pretty sure my ass is safe,” I answered.