Her blue eyes darken as they focus on me licking my lips. Hmm. Maybe she does think about our kiss, too. “I wanted to make sure there weren’t any cats who needed rescuing.”
She drops her head back and laughs. “I didn’t hear any crying in the trees, so I think we are good.”
“That’s great. We can’t have you checking on them and falling again.”
“I wouldn’t have fallen if it weren’t for a big, brooding shadow of a man who scared me in the middle of the night.”
“It’s not every day I have a trespasser wanting to climb a tree on my property.”
She scoffs. “The fact that you have to specify what kind of trespasser you have speaks volumes.”
I shrug. “People are weird and invasive.”
“Maybe they’re interested in checking out if your house is haunted.”
It’s my turn to laugh. “What?”
Seriously, how can this girl not know I’m famous? I can’t remember the last time I’ve been completely anonymous. By the time I was eighteen, I already had over a hundred-thousand followers on my social media accounts.
“Your house. Have you seen it? It’s like Luigi’s Mansion but less fun.”
“Are you a Nintendo fan?”
“Are you not? Be careful how you answer. I might have to end this friendship before it has a real chance.”
Friendship? She’s got to be kidding me. I’m not about to get friend-zoned by a woman who kissed me like she might die without it. No way. Fuck that.
“Of course I like Nintendo. I grew up using Mario Kart as practice.”
“Practice for what?” Her brows scrunch together.
Shit. I ignore the urge to reveal my racing past. “For actual driving. What else?”
“I wouldn’t know. I never learned how to drive.”
“What? You don’t know how to drive?” I try to wrap my head around the concept. I’ve been driving karts since I was four years old.
“No! I grew up in New York. No one knows how to drive.”
“Whoa. That needs to be amended.”
She laughs to herself. “And you’re going to be the one to sacrifice yourself for the cause?”
“It’s not a sacrifice if I’m willing.” I grin.
Marko, cockblocker extraordinaire, interrupts us, squeezing my neck with his sweaty arms. “Time for gelato?”
“Hmm, I don’t know. You already had gelato yesterday.”
“Please!” He squeezes my neck tighter. “You’re the bestest uncle ever.”
“Thanks. It was a tough competition with myself, but I’m glad I won.”
Chloe giggles and I want to hear more of it.
“So yes?” Marko whines.
“Why don’t you go run around some more?” Go run. Go hide. Go rip grass from the ground like I did when I was your age. Anything to give me an ounce of privacy with Chloe.
“Then I get pukey.” He fake retches.
Chloe’s deep laugh has my dick waking up like it’s time to play.
“Then sit.” I pat the grass. If it worked on me, maybe it’ll work on him.
He moves onto Chloe, crawling into her lap and holding her face with his pudgy hands. “Princess, can you take me? Tickle dragon is grumpy.”
The little shit.
Chloe looks at me with a raised brow. “I don’t want the tickle dragon mad at me.”
“Please.” Marko pouts.
“Fine. We can go.” I exhale.
“Yes!” Marko claps and stands up, offering his hand to Chloe. “You coming?”
Chloe opens her mouth, clearly wanting to reject Marko.
I jump in. “You don’t want to disappoint a four-year-old because they tend to hold grudges. And this little guy is the worst at them. He forced me for an entire week to dress up as Elsa because I didn’t want to watch Frozen with him.”
She chuckles to herself as she packs up the few items she had strewn out on the grass. “Sure. Why not? I don’t have anything else to do tonight.” She rises from the ground with ease.
I make a move to get up before remembering I can’t do it the same way anymore. The vein above my eye throbs as I prep myself.
Fuck. This was a terrible idea. Getting up is way worse than going down.
“Hey.” Chloe bends over, hitting me with two sapphire eyes. “Marko calls you Iron Man, right?”
I raise a brow, ignoring the clenching of my stomach muscles from the fresh wave of nerves. “Yes.”
The scar above her lip twitches as her lips part. “And do you know what makes Iron Man special?”