twenty-seven
Sadie
Battle of Balloons
"Aunt Sadie, will you put that stuff on my face?" Lily asks, pointing at the black under my eyes.
My sister rolls her eyes as she’s never been a fan of Mage Hollow’s annual water balloon bonanza—she says it promotes more violence than it teaches about history. But that’s like Mal to be overly opinionated about something that is fun.
As kids, we didn’t take part until high school. And even then, I rarely went because I always had something more important to do. But when I came back from college one summer, Howard convinced me to go, and I found it incredibly cathartic to hurl water-filled sacks at our neighbors, young and old. Since then, if I’m in town when it happens (only twice), I’ve made it a point tohave the whole family attend the event. And this year, it feels like a no-brainer, like we could all use a moment of joy.
Swiping my now torched eyeliner under Lily’s eyes, there’s a knock at the door.
"Sadie, I think your special friend is here," my mom coos.
Tiny feet pound against the hardwood floor as Magnolia and Poppy race to open the door for Max. My body erupts in goosebumps just knowing he’s here. It’s only been twelve hours since I saw him, but I find myself wanting to be near him.
"Hey Sade." He steps into the dining room, a girl in each of his arms, and my heart beats faster. Leave it to Max to look unfairly attractive in camo shorts, a black t-shirt with the sleeves cut off, and a backward baseball hat. "You in charge of battle makeup?"
He nods toward my niece's face, and I accidentally swipe the black material down her cheek. So much for not being obvious about how much he affects me.
Grabbing a makeup remover cloth, I clean Lily’s face, ensuring she has two perfect rectangles under her eyes. Max watches with rapt attention as the girls wiggle in his arms.
"Aunt Adie, me nest," Poppy yells.
"No, it’s my turn, Poppy. I called it," Magnolia whines.
"Hey, Max." My sister saunters into the room, reaching to grab Poppy from his arm. "Girls, Aunt Sadie will get to both of you. Please be patient."
Max sets Magnolia on her feet, then pulls out a chair next to me. "If you have another one of those, I could help." He nods toward the pencil in my hand, smirking in that delicious way that makes his dimples pop.
Rummaging through my makeup bag, I pull out a liquid version and place it in his awaiting palm. He looks at it, turning it over in his hand as if it's the most foreign thing he’s ever seen. But the girls break my appraisal of Max, pushing each other as they scramble to line up in front of him.
I guess my rating of favorite just took a nosedive.
Max chuckles as Poppy—the sneaky little thing—wins out and Magnolia huffs, moving onto the chair Lily just vacated. Quickly, I draw the lines on Mag’s rosy little cheeks, having minimal to clean up. But when I look at Poppy, a wave of giggles rolls out of me.
Max is struggling. Liquid eyeliner rolls down both her cheeks like some sort of misshapen lightning bolt.
"Need some help?" I ask, biting the inside of my cheek.
He shakes his head, then leans forward to whisper in Poppy’s ear. She giggles, her cheeks turning pink as she nods her head in response to whatever he told her.
"We were going for battle-worn, you know, like she was working so hard it already melted," he explains as my niece hops off the chair and squeals in delight at the sight of herself in the mirror. "Will you do mine exactly like hers, so we can match?"
Covering my mouth with the back of my hand, I stifle the squeak that’s begging to break free. His matching with my niece, his attempt at making her feel special compared to the others—it’s too much for my heart to take. Poppy adores him, and I think I might be falling in love with him too.
"Sure, Casanova." I motion for him to move onto the chair in front of me. "Just be careful not to break her heart, or I might have to kill you."
Max grins, winking at me. "I’ll do my best…" He leans forward, brushing a stray tendril of hair from my face as his lips coast across the shell of my ear. "But I think her aunt might be the one responsible for breaking her heart when she finds out I’m here for you."
My cheeks heat from the proximity, and the words coming out of his mouth. This man—although adorably sweet—is deadly with his tongue, in more ways than one.
"We’ll cross that bridge when we get there." I touch his shoulder, pushing so that he’s sitting upright, and get to work on his makeup. "Have you done this before?"
"The Balloon Bonanza?"
"Yeah." Swiping the liquid stick under his eyes, I do my best to make it look sloppy. "Does your family usually take part?"
