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That fact that she won’t look at me tells me that there’s more to the story, but I let it go for now.
“It’s dangerous to walk alone at night, though.”
“Maybe from a bear,” she jokes, but I’m not laughing. And I’m not asking when I say, “Let’s go. I’ll take you home.”
“That’s ok. We can walk—”
“I know you can,” I say, taking Zander’s free hand as he pretends to drive his truck through the air. “But it doesn’t mean that you should. Besides, Zander would love to ride in a green truck, wouldn’t he?”
Zander pauses his toy’s ascension to stare up at me. “You have a green truck?”
“The greenest.”
“Oh yes! I want to ride in it.” He squirms excitedly, bouncing on his heels before running out the door as we follow.
Zoe narrows her eyes as if to say using Zander to get my way was low.
“You don’t want to ride in my truck?” I whisper teasingly as Zander leads the way into the parking lot. “What was that you said earlier? Three hours and the only thing I rode was that damn—”
She knocks my shoulder to stop me singing, but the smile she tries to hide as she climbs into my damn truck after Zander is priceless.
Chapter Two
Zoe
I didn’t think I could possibly find Cole any more attractive than I already did.
That was before I saw him up close and personal with my little brother.
Sure, Cole always acknowledged Zander and even ate his meals at the diner with him, but I’d never been able to linger around their table long enough to catch the full scope of their dynamic. But our short truck ride showed me just how comfortable Zander is with Cole and that it went far beyond polite pleasantries. It’s like they’ve been best friends this whole time, and I’m just now finding out.
Apparently, Cole knows Zander’s teacher's name, Ms. Hucklebee. He knows that Zander’s in first grade and that his favorite animal is a dinosaur. A Stegosaurus, to be exact. He knows that Zander had a field trip to Falcon Farm last week and that a rogue llama from the neighboring farm trespassed just to spit on the owner—a fact they were reminiscing and giggling about now.
As the two chatter continuously, I can’t help but wonder why Cole is doing all of this.
Why is he so invested in Zander and me?
