Page 65 of Singled Out

No.

He’s hanging all over you like a monkey on a banana tree.

I hid my laugh and again tried to act as if I wasn’t one hundred percent into my phone.

I quickly typed in a single word.

Jealous?

I’d seen him stiffen and frown in the food line when Ty had called me pretty lady the first time. I could tell he’d tried to stifle any reaction, but I’d been watching for one, hoping. And I’d seen it clear as day.

Max took a couple of minutes to respond. I could see he, too, was trying to engage with the people around him. But finally, my phone vibrated. I discreetly took a peek.

Yes.

I felt lighter than air, as if someone had pumped helium into my chest. I bit my lip and fought the urge to glance his way. I lasted a few seconds. When I looked toward where Max had been standing, he was gone.

For a heartbeat, I panicked that he’d left, but then logic caught up, and I realized there was no way he could pack up his son and all the kid equipment that fast. Sure enough, I found the two of them a few feet from their original spot, digging through their diaper bag. I sighed, happy they were still here, then rededicated myself to participating in the conversation around me.

Later, when Joanna and I were finishing packing up what little food was left, I heard talk of a high-stakes volleyball match. Normally I’d be game to join them, but I wasn’t dressed for it in this long, flowy skirt, so I ignored the loud recruitment going on around me.

I tuned back in when I heard my dad, who’d apparently decided to play, say, “Come on, Coach. We need your height against Ty.”

Behind me, Max’s low-pitched laugh sounded, awakening something deep inside me and making me want. “I promised Danny we’d get in the water,” he said.

“You want to go swimming, Danny?” my dad said.

It was all I could do not to turn around and see if Danny responded. Turned out I didn’t need to, because my dad laughed and said, “You do. What if we asked Harper over there to take you so your daddy could be on my volleyball team? Would you like to go swimming with Harper?”

I turned around, unable to ignore them.

Danny was peering at me with his sweet blue eyes and the beginnings of a grin. He wore shark-print swim trunks and a life vest with mini floaties on his arms. The cutie was impossible to resist.

When I glanced up at Max, though, I felt like a bucket full of cold reality was poured over me. He was frowning.

“He doesn’t go to other people easily,” Max explained.

Except Danny had taken my dad’s hand and was willingly coming toward me, his eyes big.

I met Max’s gaze again, expecting him to be smiling as I was, but instead he scowled.

“He’ll be just fine with Harper,” my dad assured him. “We don’t have a hope of winning without you on our side of the net.”

I could tell Max didn’t like it, but he finally relented, just as Danny reached me.

“Do you mind, Harper?” my dad asked.

Any other time, I’d resent my dad forcing me into something. “How could I resist such a handsome little guy?” I asked, meaning it. I picked up Danny.

Again, I looked at Max now that he was so close, but he avoided eye contact, instead sizing up his son to make sure he was okay with this change in plans, then turning to my dad and saying, “Let’s go kick their butts. Quickly.”

When he followed my dad past me after kissing his son, he finally acknowledged me—with a frown.

For an instant, I was stunned at his open rudeness. When I noticed Danny staring at me unabashedly, his blue eyes ever curious and long lashes angelic, I commanded myself to shake it off and snapped on a facade of indifference.

“Are you ready to get in the water, big guy?”

Danny whipped his head around to point at the lake.