I do as he says and look away from Harrison.
“He’s gorgeous, isn’t he?” Charlie says.
I bite my tongue to stop myself from joining the Harrison Appreciation Society.
What do I do if he sees me? Do we pretend we’ve never met before?
My blood runs cold as I recall the way he looked at me that night. There was no mistaking his attraction, regardless of whether he wanted to admit it.
But what the fuck? He has a kid? Was he married all along?
The auction was meant to be for bachelors, and forgive me if I’m wrong, but the definition of a bachelor is that they are usually unattached. Unmarried. Single.
He said his friend put him up to it.
I know I shouldn’t be angry. After all, nothing happened. But fuck me if I don’t want to go over to Mr. Tight Butt and rip him a new one.
“Daddy!”
The sound of George calling is just what I need to get back to my calm self.
I catch him as he runs over, giving him a tight hug.
“Hey, buddy. Good day?”
He looks away and bites his nail. That’s his tell that something happened. I wave goodbye to the parent gang and take George to the car.
I place him on the hood, removing his backpack.
“What happened, Gigi?”
He avoids my eyes, letting out a long sigh that makes me want to smile. I keep my expression neutral until I know what I’m dealing with.
“Um…um…I did something…” I’m sure it can’t be that bad, but he looks so repentant that a million scenarios play through my head.
“Do you want to tell me what you did?” I ask gently.
“I was pushing Megan on the swing. She was laughing, but then she started screaming. I don’t know why.”
“Did you apologize?”
He nods.
“Good boy.” I place a kiss on his straight blond hair.
“Mr. Bradford wants to talk to you,” George says, finally looking up at me and letting out the longest sigh as if he's about to be given a life sentence…
“Okay, should we go inside?”
He nods.
I lock his bag in the car and take his hand as we navigate the kids and parents still milling around the school gate. Harrison is no longer there.
He’s not in any of the cars parked nearby either.
I don’t know if I’m happy our paths haven’t crossed or disappointed.
There’s no point in dwelling on it. Now that I know Harrison’s kid goes to the same school as George, I’ll have to think about how I might feel or react when we finally see each other. It’s bound to happen, but that’s a thought for another day.
