Page 12 of Singled Out
“All true,” I said.
“And you’re okay with that?” Shawna asked Dakota. “Ooh, your future roommate and your brother. If that’s not a romance trope, I don’t know what is.”
Dakota laughed. “I’m fine with it. As far as I know, there’s no romance.” She eyed me hard, and I shook my head.
“No romance. Dakota made me do it,” I insisted.
“I did dare her,” Dakota admitted.
Shawna tilted her head. “What’s the story there?”
Dakota shrugged. “My brother needs to get out for a night, away from town, a break from Danny.”
“He’s out every Friday night at games, isn’t he?” Shawna asked.
“I mean not for work. A date.”
“But no romance?” Piper asked.
“I don’t think he’s in the right place for that,” Dakota said. “But he hasn’t been on a date since our cousin died and Danny became his responsibility. Harper’s safe. She doesn’t want anything from him, unlike all the women who are itching to go out with him. None of them even try to get to know him. They just want to land Max Dawson, former-NFL player.”
I could see how that might be true. I wondered if it bothered Max or if he even noticed it. I couldn’t remember ever hearing about him being in a relationship. Maybe he was like me and didn’t want one.
“You don’t want to land Max Dawson?” Shawna asked me, grinning.
“I don’t,” I said. “I don’t want to land anybody. I was going to bid on someone to take to this gala anyway, just so I don’t have to go alone because…”
“It might be hard,” Piper said with an empathetic look.
“It might be hard,” I repeated. Understatement.
“Sounds like a good arrangement then,” Shawna said. “He gets out of the house. You don’t have to go to the gala alone. And it’s no big deal to either one of you.”
“Exactly.”
I didn’t confess that I was nervous, and it wasn’t just about speaking in front of a large group on behalf of Naomi.
Max was incredibly good-looking and had this engaging, likeable quality about him that made it easy to forget he wasn’t still a star athlete. There were good reasons women went all a-flutter about him.
I wasn’t blind, and when I thought too hard about Saturday night, I got butterflies in my gut. That alone told me it might be a bigger deal than I was admitting to anyone, including myself.
Chapter Five
Max
Over a year in, I still had no idea how single parents did it.
I put my dress shoes on and caught myself frowning. The last thing I wanted to do tonight was go to some fancy gala in Nashville with a girl ten years younger than me. A girl I barely knew, who was taking me because my sister dared her.
The guilt over leaving Danny for the second night in a row ate away at me as it did most Saturdays when the single dads got together. Friday night football games couldn’t be helped. They were my job. And ultimately I could acknowledge the dads’ nights were essential to my mental health—we were all dealing with a lot of the same issues. They were like a support group where we didn’t have to talk.
Tonight? A date? To an event I had no interest in, with a near stranger I had no desire to get involved with?
“Bad decision, man,” I said to my reflection as I straightened my bow tie. “Should’ve never agreed to the auction in the first place.”
I had, so I would see it through, but damn, I hoped to be back home with my son long before midnight.
After a final glance in the mirror to make sure my tux looked okay, I headed to the kitchen.