“Yes,” the reply at the same time, “bye, Mom.” They give me a quick hug and take off down the road, powdered sugar floating in the air behind them.
“Y’all are more than welcome to join us for bowling later.” Keith watches Eric to see how he’ll react.
“I’ll leave that up to Joan.”
“Sounds good,” he gives a quick wave. “I’ll have the kids home when you get off work tomorrow.”
“Thanks.” I let out a sigh of relief once he’s a few yards away from us, following our kids to the area with the rides. “So that was fun.”
“Agreed,” he laughs and shakes his head. “I mean, I wanted to meet them, but not quite under these circumstances.”
“So, what were y’all talking about?” I need to make sure he didn’t say anything about being my boyfriend, or whatever we are.
“Nothing really.” He shrugs his shoulders and takes my hand now that they are out of view. “They told me about what sports they played, and asked who I was.” He glances over at me and smirks. “Don’t worry, I told them we were friends. Though, I think your daughter knows something.”
“She does. She guessed yesterday.” Hopefully her brother wasn’t paying attention to her facial expressions.
“I also told them I have a brother their age, and maybe they could get together.”
Huh. That’s a nice way to ease him being around the kids. Why didn’t I think of that? The fact they talked to him and were cool gives me a bit of hope. But I won’t run away with that until after I talk to Isaac. He’s the one who could throw a wrench in everything, and I’ll always choose my kids above anything else. I only hope Eric understands that.
“We’ll see.” I squeeze his hand, relishing in the fact he didn’t back off when Keith gave him side-eye. I know my ex-husband ended up not saying anything else on the matter today, and I hope it stays that way. This doesn’t need to become a battle.
“Want to do more shopping?”
A little retail therapy will help calm the nerves. “Absolutely.”
We waited as long as possible to come to the rides and games area to avoid running into my kids again. Not because I don’t want to see them, but because I don’t want them to see me and Eric being affectionate.
“Look, there’s the rest of the Ashes crew.” He points toward a crowd huddled in front of a basketball game. “Let’s see what they’re up to.”
We walk hand in hand toward our co-workers. Carlos and Angie are arguing with each other. Patrick is shaking his head in the background, and our fellow bartenders are staring at the scene before them.
“What’s going on?” I ask Lisa as we join the group.
“Angie and Carlos both think they are better than the other at shooting hoops.” She rolls her eyes and continues watching. “Honestly, I’ve never seen either of them do anything athletic. Well, maybe Carlos when we tosses the football with Caroline’s son.”
The son in question is doing his best not to laugh. I’m guessing he doesn’t think Carlos is very good either.
Eric holds the bags out to me, “hold these for a second?”
“Sure.” I take the bags and watch him approach our bosses.
“Let’s make this interesting.” He points to himself then Angie and Carlos, “whoever scores the least in points, supplies breakfast for the staff…winner’s choice.”
Lisa leans closer to me, “It’s like he wants to see who he can piss off more.”
“Do you think he’ll win?” I’ve never seen Eric play a sport either, but I know for a fact he runs after this morning.
“For sure.” She laughs.
We watch the three of them line up in front of the goals. There’s a set separating each one. Patrick goes behind Eric to count. Caroline is behind Carlos, and Dylan with Angie. Maybe they shouldn’t have their partners count for them, but I’m not throwing in my two cents. I’m the new kid on the block.
The person running the booth blows a whistle and the three of them grab a ball and shoot. It would have been more entertaining if they were all shooting into the same goal, but this is probably the best way to keep it fair.
Eric isn’t even paying attention to what his bosses are doing. His eyes completely focused on the goal. It reminds me of this morning when his gaze never left mine as I fell apart. Okay, Joan, calm down those thoughts. You’re in public.
I’m not sure how much time has passed, maybe a minute, but the whistle blows and all three have set down the ball in their hands. The person running the booth has Patrick, Dylan and Caroline approach him. They give them their totals and return their spots. The vendor walks to Eric, grabs his arms and lifts it in the air. “We have a winner.”
