Page 64 of Tanner

That shut Miles up because what had started getting to him was that Tanner noticed everything. The tone of a question. A look. A pause before an answer.

“I’m not trying to mess him up,” Miles murmured.

“I know.” Santino’s voice stayed calm. “That’s why I’m standing here talking to you before I go home.”

Miles looked down at the sidewalk, then back at him. “You done now?”

“Almost.” Santino’s gaze was steady. “You’re not neutral anymore. That’s all I’m saying.”

For some reason, that was the line that hit Miles the hardest, because hearing it from someone else stripped away any room to pretend this was still casual.

“No,” Miles said after a moment. “I’m not.”

Santino nodded. “Alright.”

Miles gave him a look. “That’s it?”

“That’s it.”

Santino nodded and walked on, then stopped and glanced back over his shoulder. “Just don’t make him carry your uncertainty as well as his own.”

Miles stood still and by the time he thought of anything to say, Santino had already walked away.

For a minute, Miles stayed where he was, thinking about what Santino had said.

Santino hadn’t given him an easy answer. Just the truth laid out for Miles to see. Tanner was nineteen. Tanner had Savannah. Tanner had only just come back. Tanner might want Miles while still not trusting it might last.

Part of him wanted to step back now before things got any messier. Before Tanner started expecting something Miles might not be able to give him. Before the age difference and the paperwork issue and the timing of it all ruined what could be between them.

The other part of him knew stepping back wouldn’t make him neutral in the situation again. It wouldn’t put Tanner neatly out of his head or out of his system. It wouldn’t stop him thinking about the way Tanner had looked at him that morning. It wouldn’t stop him from caring what happened next.

Miles exhaled and closed his eyes. He didn’t have an answer yet. Well, not one he trusted. All he knew was that walking away and pushing forward both had the power to do damage, and pretending otherwise wouldn’t deny the truth.

When he finally opened his eyes, he still hadn’t decided what came next, but Santino had been right about one thing.

Miles couldn’t pretend this meant nothing anymore.

Chapter Eighteen

Savannah was on the floor with a coloring book and a box of crayons when the knock came. Tanner looked up from the sofa straight away, his hand tightening around the mug he hadn’t taken a drink from in ten minutes.

Nobody came to the door unless they wanted something. He already knew that much.

Savannah glanced up. “Someone there?”

“Yeah.” Tanner got to his feet. “Stay there a second.”

He crossed the living room quietly and looked through the window first. A woman stood on the porch with a folder tucked under one arm. Mid-thirties maybe, with her hair pulled back. Nothing about her looked threatening, which to Tanner somehow made it worse. Beside her stood a man a little older, his expression blank.

Tanner didn’t open the door straight away.

The woman waited, then spoke through it. “Tanner Fernsby?”

He kept one hand on the knob. “Who’s asking?”

“My name’s Dana Holloway. I’m with Child Protective Services. This is my colleague, Mark Ellis. We’d like to speak with you for a few minutes, if that’s alright.”

His stomach dropped so hard he almost vomited. Behind him, Savannah had gone quiet.