We separated immediately. My heart was thundering loud in my chest as John’s eyes narrowed between us.
Jeremy’s expression straightened in realization. I felt like a child caught red-handed even when I had done nothing.
I forced myself to breathe, plastering on a small, composed smile. “Jeremy slipped…and I just helped steady him,” I said quickly, heart pounding as the lie rolled off my tongue.
God please, let him buy the lie. It was lame but still…
John’s gaze flicked to Jeremy, as if waiting for him to say something too. Jeremy’s jaw clenched, that stubborn streak of his burning brighter than sense. He didn’t even flinch.
He just met his father’s eyes with the same natural fierceness he had always emitted.
John broke it with a quiet exhale, as though humoring his son. “Careful o
