Page 61 of The Incredible Ordinary

He narrows his eyes like he’s trying to figure out whether I’m being serious.

“I wouldn’t have asked otherwise,” he says with a perplexed laugh.

“Okay, then.” I nod. “Yeah. We’ll come. Of course.”

His smile widens, and he leans against the wall just as the kids start spilling out of the locker room.

“Are we still on for puppy shopping?” I ask Jordan.

He nods. “If you have the time. I’ll take all the help I can get.”

“I’ll fit you into my schedule.”

He smiles. There are people all around us, filling the small hallway, but this smile isn’t for them. It’s just for me.

It’s not a task he couldn’t handle himself, but he wants me there. Me.

Rory comes out of the locker room and heads straight toward us. He doesn’t glower or glare. He has his bag over his shoulder, the zipper undone, his hoodie thrown over his arm, and with the other, he’s juggling with the box with the cleats in it.

I wordlessly hold out my hand, and he gives me the box and the hoodie.

No hesitation.

I’m necessary.

I’m needed.

I make things easier.

A bit less chaotic.

Before now it’s always been the opposite. My whole life.

The fact that it feels so good is downright terrifying.

MILÁN

“You look nice,”Aiden says when I walk into the kitchen the next afternoon.

I stop and turn to look at him.

“Thanks?”

Frankly, I’m surprised he can see me past the stack of books in front of him on the table.

He leans back in his chair and rubs his face before he stretches. His gaze settles back on me.

“Going out?”

I quirk my brow at him.

“One of us should see the sun every once in a while. Otherwise they’ll start mistaking us for a family of vampires.” I look at him pointedly. He stares back and blinks like he doesn’t understand what I just said. Maybe he doesn’t. By this point, he could easily pass as the official mascot of sleep deprivation.

“Ha,” he says. “It’s nice.”

“What is?”

He waves his hand toward me. “This. You look… cheerful.”