Page 26 of The Perfect Catch

It took everything in me to keep from laughing. A trend to date a certain sport athlete? It was probably something she’d read in one of her articles about trying to relate to teens.

“Mom, it’s nothing.” I opened the fridge, grabbing the bottle of orange juice. “It’s just a dance. You’ll still cook dinner, right?”

My mom sighed and nodded. “Of course. I’ve got all the things for a Halloween dinner party.”

I clapped my hands and grinned. “Thank you! It’s been so long since we’ve had our Spooky Dinner. I’m excited to share it with my friends.”

I walked out the door, breathing a sigh of relief that I’d dodged a bullet there.

* * *

“Okay,let’s figure out how we’re going to connect all this stuff, shall we?” I said, glancing up at Dax. His eyes kept moving over the table full of glow sticks.

“Got a little excited about this, did you?” he said, the corner of his mouth inching up as he glanced in my direction, a twinkle in his eye.

I waved over the small packages filled with glow sticks and shook my head. “Of course not. This is for sure an appropriate amount of glow sticks for a dance. Have you never been to a black-light party?”

“No,” he said, chuckling. “Have you?”

“Well, no. But this will be good for us. We have plenty of options for how we want it to look. And I even have some glow-in-the-dark paint to use on the shirts.”

He was right. It was a bit of overkill, but I’d bought everything that morning and hadn’t wanted to miss anything since I wouldn’t have the chance to run back to the store. I’d already experienced the “I forgot something” twelve times on the day of a dance and never had time to finish my costume before it was time to leave.

I’d had to guess on his size when it came to the black shirt, and after seeing him climb the walls at the rock-climbing activity, I wondered if I should’ve gotten one a little smaller so I could just stare at his arms all night. Or not. Because I didn’t need that kind of thing distracting me from my goals. If only my brain would really be convinced of that.

Dax leaned on the table, his eyebrow raised as he asked, “Did you get in trouble for being late last night?”

I blew out a breath and rolled my eyes. “At first. But then I just said something about helping out with some ideas about the dance, and she was okay with it. At least she wasn’t physically at the game, or I wouldn’t have been able to claim that.” We both laughed at that.

After a second, I said, “My turn for a question. Are you really the bad boy everyone thinks you are?”

His eyes locked onto mine, and I was sure all the breath had been squeezed out of my body. “What do you think?”

I shook my head and smiled. “I don’t buy it. The guy who works long hours at a garage, plays baseball, and pays for his sister’s dance? Yeah, you’re the unsung hero.”

Dax’s cheeks flushed, and I grinned. When he didn’t say anything, I continued, surprised by my own words. “How many people have you kissed?”

His eyes widened, and he said, “What does that have to do with anything?”

“Rumor says you’re a playboy. Again, I’m calling it.”

“Three.”

I didn’t think he could get any more red as the color rose up his neck and throughout his cheeks and nose. I was kind of shocked at that number, and for some reason, my defenses rose, like I felt left out that I wasn’t part of that number.

“Well, what kind of design should we do?” Dax asked, changing the subject quickly. He pressed his palm on the table so his body was inches from mine.

My breathing sped up, and I managed to avoid looking to my right, knowing I’d probably do something to ruin the moment.

“Should we do some kind of baseball thing? That could be fun.” I stared at the black shirts, wondering how to paint them to make them look like Dax’s favorite sport.

Dax was shaking his head, looking at me like I’d lost my mind. “Do you hear yourself? I like more stuff than just baseball. What I’m asking is, what do you want to go as? I’ve seen your talents with a paintbrush, and I’m sure you can create just about anything. The question is, what does Kate Adams want to look like tonight?”

I took a deep breath, surprised by the serious tone. I’d never really had anyone ask me what I wanted, instead usually doing everything I could to make it about them, hoping to make them feel good.

Biting my inner lip, I turned to him. “It’s almost Halloween. What if we do something with that?”

“Is that what you want to do?” Dax asked, his eyebrow raised.

---