“You’re not. I think this is his first summer of girls, so to speak—if my hunch is right and there’s one he’s not telling us about. He noticed you in a bathing suit because…that’s what he does now.” She shrugged. “Part of the whole coming-of-age thing. He’s a little older than most kids when it happens, mostly due to how the poor kid grew up, but he’s definitely”—she tilted her head from side to side—“coming into his own now. You remember those days. The excitement mixed with terror.”
I cracked up as I set the bottle next to the pool.
“I don’t remember a timenotbeing boy-crazy as a kid. Maybe that’s why I can handle men now. I got the big humiliations out of the way early, and now they’re just there.”
“Just there, huh?” She narrowed her eyes as she leaned back in the chair.
“Yes. I haven’t had anything more than a casual date or two in months, and it’s probably pathetic how little that matters to me. I should go adopt a cat when I get back to Brooklyn.”
Work had sucked the life out of me enough to deplete any kind of energy I had to date. Jesus, how much of a rut was I in lately? My standards were so low, I never realized they were almost nonexistent. I needed to raise the bar in my life—if I could figure out what I wanted out of it.
This facing-reality bullshit was taxing.
“Was the broody cop you were chatting with at the parkjust there? You looked kind of cozy by the refreshment stand.”
“That was for Mary’s sake. The cozy went away when she wasn’t looking.”
Peyton didn’t reply as I took another swig. After a long minute, I shifted in the pool to face her and lifted a brow.
“What?”
“I caught the way he was looking at you. It didn’t seem that fake to me.”
I rolled my eyes. “He was playing it up for the show.”
“I’m not talking about that. I’m talking aboutbefore. When you were playing with Keely on the swings. Even Mr. Davis noticed him staring.”
“He was staring at me?” I crinkled my nose at Peyton.
“Maybe it has been a little too long for you, Claud.” She laughed and shook her head. “Let me put it this way—he stared at you for so long that when you finally came over to us, he couldn’t look you in the eye because he knew his father and I had noticed. It was pretty cute. Poor guy.”
“He was probably making sure I wasn’t doing anything reckless by the children.” I didn’t acknowledge anything Peyton said as I stood from the pool and trudged over to the table, appreciating the soft grass under my feet that didn’t seem so scorching after a dip in the pool.
I didn’t think my lousy first impression had made a difference with Jude, or at least not anymore. But if he were really that interested in me, he wouldn’t have been so quick to pull away from our pretend cuddle.
“It’s so damn hot. I thought it was supposed to be cooler in the country.” I laid one of the beach towels Peyton kept outside flat onto the other lawn chair and sat on the edge. “Maybe if I drip dry, I won’t feel so hot so fast.”
“Hey, ladies. Don’t mind us.”
We turned to the screech of the screen door. Jake stepped through, setting down two bags of something on the other end of the deck before coming up to his wife and dropping a kiss on her lips.
“I hope you both are staying cool. It’s hot as hell today.” He wiped the sweat off his brow and let out a long breath. He was drenched in sweat and grabbed one of the towels to wipe his face down. “I may take a dip in the kiddie pool myself once I unload the truck,” Jake told me, a smirk tipping up the side of his mouth.
“You should. It’s nice,” I said, stretching my legs out as I leaned back on the chair.
“I think this is it, Jake.”
I cringed at the familiar voice coming from inside the house. Jude didn’t glance in our direction as he dropped two bags in the same corner.
“Thanks, Davis. Let me get you something to drink before you go,” Jake said, turning back toward the house. “Glad to see you’re making use of the wine coolers,” he said over his shoulder, nodding at the empty bottles on the table.
“They aren’t bad. Drinking them in the kiddie pool made me feel surprisingly young,” I joked.
Jude stilled and slowly turned his head, sweeping his gaze over Peyton and me.
“Hey,” was all he said as he lined up whatever they’d brought outside.
“Hey, Jude. I bet you get that a lot.”
