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“TikTok is better,” Bella said. “We posted a video of the walk.”

Which meant he’d have to check that out too.

He allowed her to be on a few platforms but only if he could follow her.

Which meant he had to create profiles also and hated it.

He kept it private and shared with no one.

It was a monitoring tool, not entertainment for him.

Who the hell had the time for that shit?

“Remember,” he said. “Try not to be too loud or draw too much attention. Be respectful in public because people will notice Marly.”

“So then they know you are dating?” Bella asked.

“I’m sure people are figuring it out slowly,” he admitted. And more would be with him there with teens.

“What if someone comes over to talk to her?” Tiff asked. “Will that happen?”

He hoped the hell not. Not with kids there.

“I’m not sure. But some people are rude that way. Just please stay quiet and let her handle it. I’d appreciate it.”

“No problem, Colson,” Bella said.

The two girls went back to their phones while he drove to the restaurant, glancing in the rearview mirror to see Marly still behind him.

He pulled in and parked, she was two down from him, and they walked in and were seated quickly.

“So,” Tiff said. “Colson gave us the rules. He said we can’t ask about your job.”

He groaned, but wasn’t the least bit surprised that Tiff started right in.

“I can’t give specifics on cases, no. Just like Colson can’t.”

“He told us,” Bella said. “But, do you like what you do? Colson said that people are always watching you? I’m not sure I’d like that.”

“To be honest, I grew up like that,” she said. “My mother was the DA before me and now she’s a judge. My father was a captain in the Durham PD. There were always eyes on me and we knew to never really step out of line.”

“So you never got in trouble?” Tiff asked. “That had to be boring.”

Now this was getting interesting. “Marly was the star pupil in school. Kind of a brownnoser.”

“Unlike Colson who was more interested in how many friends he had and parties he attended each weekend.”

“Ohhhh, so that means I can do that when I’m older?” Bella asked.

He turned and growled at her. “You threw the first punch,” she said almost singing the words.

He had. “I was joking.”

“So was I.”

But really neither of them was.

That was how they were back then.