Page 105 of Side By Side

“Yes. And you should be, too.”

Belle cleared her throat.

“You’re dressed up more than usual and not at the Ice Park when it’s open or the sun is up, so can I guess that maybe you finally asked the girl out?”

“What? What girl?”

“Chandler Wolfe,” he said.

“Dad, we kissed once as kids.”

“Then, why are you all dressed up right now?”

“I’m wearing a button-down. How is that all dressed up?”

“You don’t wear those unless you’re trying to dress up for something. I might be your dense dad most of the time, but if there’s one thing I know something about, it’s my kid. So, why are you dressed up, sitting on my bed, and not out with Chandler right now?”

“She asked me out, actually. And I didn’t even know she was into women, so it was a little bit of a surprise today.”

“She kissed you.”

“When we were younger, yeah. But she’s given me no indication that she’s into women. I came out to her, and nothing. So, I just thought she’d experimented then and was going to marry someone like Walker Wilcox but straight one day.”

“I saw her looking at you, you know? When she came over to help you, I saw her. I talked to her. She didn’t come here to make sure you two kept skating together, Belle. She came here because she likes you. It’s obvious even to me.”

“Well, I guess she does. But I don’t know what to do about that.”

“You go out with her, take her to a decent restaurant, not the bar down the street, you open doors for her unless she tells you not to, because I raised you right, and you treat her well. She does the same thing for you.”

“She’s supposed to open my doors, too? Won’t we just be standing there, waiting for the other person to open the door?”

“Okay. Admittedly, I raised you with some of what you would probably call the male gender construct. Is that right?”

Belle chuckled and said, “It works for me sometimes.” She shrugged. “And it works for her sometimes, too, I think.”

“Honey, what time are you supposed to pick her up?”

“She’s picking me up. Oh, shit.” Belle looked at the alarm clock on the table and its bright red numbers. “Five minutes ago.”

“Belle!”

“Shit. Dad, I lost track of time.” She stood up. “She’s going to think I’m late.”

“You are late.”

“Not helping. I need to go. Are you okay? I can cancel. Or, postpone, I guess.”

“Not a chance. Go. I’ll be fine.”

There was a knock at the door.

“Sheryl?” she asked.

“I doubt it. She told me she wouldn’t be over until later, if at all.”

“We need to discuss ground rules, mister,” she teased. “Your new girlfriend can’t stop after midnight.”

Her dad laughed as she hurried to see who was at the door. When she checked the peephole, her eyes went wide as she took in Chandler standing there.