Page 18 of Singled Out
“Says the girl who only bid on me because of a dare.”
“Because I know you’d never choose to go out with me,” I repeated, keeping my tone light.
“The only reason I wouldn’t choose to go out with you is because your dad is my boss.”
“And your sister is my friend.”
“There’s that too.”
“And yet here we are, and you’re not fired.”
“Only warned.”
“My dad warned you away from me?”
“Not in so many words.”
I bit down on my annoyance because Max didn’t need to hear about that.
“He accused me of fronting you the money to bid on me,” he said.
I whipped my gaze toward him. “He didn’t!”
“To be fair, he was confused that you had so much money to spend on the auction.”
“That’s sort of justified. I don’t normally have five grand lying around.”
“At the risk of asking about one of those off-limits first-date topics?—”
“Only date,” I teased.
“I’m starting to get a complex.”
“First time for everything, right?”
He let out a full-chested laugh. For some reason, I found that gratifying. I liked making him laugh.
I never would’ve thought I’d be comfortable teasing Max Dawson on a date, but I was. Whenever I saw him around town or in the hallways back when I was in school, he seemed unapproachable, as if he had a protective shield around him. As if he hid behind a sort of public persona and didn’t let people see the real him.
This guy? The one in the seat next to me? I wasn’t getting those same vibes. The things this Max said seemed more personable, more…real.
“What off-limits topic were you going to ask about?” I asked.
“The money you used to bid on me…” He hesitated. “You said it was a story for another day. I’ve been curious ever since.”
“Ah.” I nodded once and steeled myself. “How well did you know Naomi?”
“I didn’t. She didn’t go to Dragonfly Lake High, right?”
“She was from Runner. Her whole life was about art and especially sharing it with others. The experience, I mean. She did sell a lot of her paintings and other creations, but the thing that lit her up was getting people involved in art. Especially kids.”
“She’s responsible for us getting art classes back in the high school,” he said. “Even after she died.”
I couldn’t help but smile at that, even though harder emotions were bubbling up—they’d been threatening all day, getting closer to the surface with every hour as the gala approached.
“She’d be euphoric over that.” I sniffled involuntarily, which drew Max’s gaze to me. “I’m fine,” I reassured him, cringing that I’d let that sniffle escape. “Anyway, she had an envelope where she stashed cash. Her house and land were paid for. She lived frugally and saved whatever she could in her envelope, always with a cause in mind.” I stopped for a minute to brace myself further. “When she was in the hospital and the infection was getting worse instead of better, I think she sensed what was coming. She told me where her envelope was, how much was in it, and that she wanted it to go to the Dragonfly Lake fundraiser. She actually put it in writing that that money was a gift for me to donate.”
My eyes teared up as I remembered that conversation, remembered insisting she would be okay and that the discussion was a waste of her energy. My breath was shaky, and I dabbed at the corners of my eyes with my finger, hoping to avoid raccoon eyes before I stood up in front of hundreds of people.