“I know, buddy, but Blair hung out with you all day. Now she has to go hang out with her other friends.” Was it her friends, though, or was it that girl she said she met at the bar a few weeks ago? Maybe it was another girl. The idea of Blair with other girls shouldn’t make Erin sick, so she decided to ignore the tug at her stomach from just the thought.

Nolan nodded slowly, but continued to stare at the door. A minute later, he finally turned around to look at Erin instead. “I really like Bear, Mommy.”

“Aw, sweetie, I really like her too.”

That was the problem. They both liked her way too much. What happened when this summer came to an end and Nolan went back to daycare and Blair found a new job? Would the two of them be okay?

Luckily, there was still a lot of time before she had to worry about that. They practically had the whole summer.

Chapter 8

Blair

“Are you feeling okay?” Erin asked as soon as she opened the door for Blair.

“I’m fine,” Blair said. It was a complete lie. She was technically  fine. She was just exhausted. After going to a concert on Friday night, out to a bar on Saturday night, and lying in the sun all day on Sunday, she needed a day just to nap. Unfortunately, that would not be possible with the three-and-a-half-year-old she was spending today with.

“Long weekend, I take it?”

Blair nodded, even though she wanted to lie. She didn’t want Erin to think she was completely immature, even if that was the case.

“Did you see multiple DJs, or did you dedicate all of your energy to Scratch and Sniff?”

Blair coughed through a laugh. She was always surprised by how witty Erin was. “Excuse me. It’s Skratch Sick.”

“Oh yes, because that’s so much better.”

The sarcasm in Erin’s voice made Blair laugh again. Instead of moving past her lush , it just kept getting worse, and this teasing certainly was not helping. “Don’t you have somewhere to be?”

Erin waved her hand. “Nowhere important.” The way she was staring at Blair, rather than walking out the door, made it seem like work actually wasn’t  important.

Why is this happening so often lately? Why did Erin seem to be getting lost in Blair just as much as Blair kept getting lost in her? Was it simply because she liked Blair’s looks or was there something more there? If there was, Erin wasn’t giving anything away. Aside from these emotionally charged moments, there was a definite wall between them; one that existed because she was the babysitter, not a friend.

Erin sighed. “You’re right, though. I really do need to go.”