Wasp smiled. “Told you I would be. A man always keeps his promises, Trent. That’s important.”
Trent nodded, and I could almost see him absorbing Wasp’s words like a sponge. My kid was already so terrifyingly attached to this man, and here I was accepting his dinner invite. Maybe we could be friends, like Robbie and I had been in the end. Maybe that would be enough for us.
But as Wasp kept rowing us toward the shore, with every stroke of his magnificent arms I knew I was screwed.
Or, at least, I wanted to get screwed.
And that was a very big problem.
Still, I couldn’t help but wonder what sex with Wasp would be like. With all those girls hanging all over him, I was sure he knew what he was doing. Would it be amazing and wonderful like I’d heard it could be? Or would it be awkward and painful like it had been with Robbie? Would I wake up in the morning regretting it and worried I’d wrecked our friendship?
We reached the shore, and I turned my brain off and focused on getting my half-asleep kid out of the kayak and onto solid ground. Trent swayed as I set him down, so I picked him back up and carried him in as Wasp and the employee who’d come out to meet us took care of the kayak.
“Your back’s gonna be hurting tomorrow,” Wasp said as we retrieved our stuff from the lockers.
“What do you mean?” I looked over my shoulder into the mirror beside the lockers. I had little handprints of white surrounded by red. Awesome.
“Sorry, Mommy,” Trent said, wincing as he looked at my back.
“It’s fine,” I lied, already feeling the sting. No doubt the burn would keep me up tonight. I should have let Wasp help me out but had a feeling that letting his hands touch my body would just incite a different kind of burn.
And no amount of aloe would help me with that.
Wasp took us to a pizzeria with arcade games, blocks, books, and a giant chalk board. Since Trent and I didn’t exactly have the kind of disposable income necessary for eating out, we hadn’t been inside any real restaurants since we’d moved to Seattle. His eyes widened as he looked over all the things to do. He released my hand and grabbed Wasp’s, tugging to get his attention.
“What’s up T-man?” Wasp asked.
“Will you play that game with me?” Trent asked, pointing at some racing game shaped like a motorcycle.
“Good pick. That looks like the best game in here. Absolutely I will, but let’s order our food first. I’m starving. Are you hungry?”
Trent nodded.
The hostess showed us to our table, and Trent—the little traitor—sat next to Wasp.
Wasp opened his menu and angled it so Trent could see. “Now, what kind of pizza do you like? Canadian bacon and pineapple? Pepperoni? Sausage? Whatever you want, we’ll get.”
As the two of them mulled over what to order, I sucked down water and tried not to get caught up in the moment. The biker was just so awesome with my kid, I couldn’t handle it. No man had shown Trent attention like that, not even Robbie. Most of the time, Robbie just ignored him and watched sports, but Wasp… Wasp seemed to legitimately care about how Trent felt and what he had to say.
He could be pretending to care, but like he said, there were easier targets if he was just trying to get laid. Judging by the looks he was getting from the hostess who’d seated us, she’d gladly volunteer. So would the table of college girls watching him from across the room.
“What about you, babe? What do you want on your pizza?” Wasp asked.
“Yeah, babe,” Trent added, mimicking Wasp’s folded hands and cocked head pose.
“Seriously?” I asked, staring at my kid.
Wasp’s eyes laughed and he pressed his lips together, taking a moment to compose himself. Then he turned to Trent and said, “You can’t call your mom babe, buddy.”
“You can’t callanygirls babe,” I corrected. “Wasp, I swear, if he gets in trouble at school for this…”
He held up a hand. “I’ll handle it. When the waitress comes back, will you please order us three large pizzas: a pepperoni and mushroom, a Hawaiian, and whatever you want?”
“We’re not going to eat three pizzas.”
He shrugged. “So? We’ll take them home then. I’m buying, and I love leftover pizza.” Then, before I could argue further, he led Trent over to the racing game, talking to him as they walked.
I stared after the two of them, wondering what the hell was going on. In calling Wasp, I’d opened a window for him to help us, and sure enough, he’d bulldozed the entire wall. My kid was looking at him like he hung the moon and I felt like I was spinning out of the atmosphere. I couldn’t do anything but watch and hope Wasp was for real.
