I had my sights set on Daddy. I wasn’t thinking about Mia like that. I could see that she was beautiful and I could see that she was kind and sweet and she cared about me, I knew all of that. But I’d never thought of her in that way. She was my friend. My best friend at the whole place. In the whole country. Even if I were thinking of her in that way, I wouldn’t have jeopardized our friendship for anything.
So, yeah, when the guest picked us out of a lineup, I nodded. “Sure,” I said. “No problem,” I said. And Mia, maybe for just a glimpse, looked a little hurt.
“Are you okay with it?” I asked her, and she nodded, performance back on, mask in place.