Page 29 of The Perfect Catch

That response sent both a shiver and a thrill running through me. Zane was just glad he could go back inside and finish his game.

We changed once inside and helped each other with the other glow sticks, adding them all over to our ensemble. By the time we finished, it was time for the group to arrive for dinner. But it was difficult to do anything but look at Dax and remember his face as he leaned in, the tension between us so thick that even my mother’s supersharp knife set wouldn’t be able to cut through it.

“You guys look, um, awesome,” Brynn said once inside the door. She gave me that look like, “Are you really sure that’s what you want to wear?” and then continued into the kitchen with her date trailing behind her. Penny and Jake and then Nate and Colt and their dates all came in a few minutes later, and we started the meal.

“Okay, wow. I didn’t realize we’d have half of the baseball team here,” my mother said between clenched teeth, meaning she was trying to be supportive but I would definitely hear about it later.

She grabbed a couple of platters from the island in the kitchen and brought them over to the dining table, spreading them out along the table. “One of our favorite things when Kate was growing up was to do a spooky dinner. So here are a bunch of edible options,” she said, emphasizing the edible, “that will help bring the spirit of the holiday.”

“Thank you, ma’am,” Dax said quietly but loud enough for her to hear.

She turned to him and paused, her face without emotion until she finally nodded and said, “You’re welcome.” The tone wasn’t really warm, but neither was it cold. That was the most indecisive my mother had ever been about anything in my life.

We chatted while we ate, reminiscing about the rock climbing from the morning and the boys swapping some stories about a baseball game last spring. I hadn’t seen Dax smile that wide in a long time. It seemed like he was having fun.

“Okay, everyone. We should probably get going,” I said, checking the large clock on the far wall. The junior committee was in charge of the dance, but I always worried that they’d still be setting up the decorations when people were coming into the gym for the dance.

“Are you sure you don’t want to make a dramatic entrance?” Nate joked.

There were times I wished I could smack the guy, but when he wasn’t trying to be so cool, he was somewhat chill.

“We can help them get things ready, right?” Dax glanced around the table, looking at all the guys, the tone of his voice more serious than I’d heard him speak around them. The shift in the room caused me to smile as it was usually Jake’s words that they all listened to.

Everyone stood, helping clear the table and heading out the door. We piled into a couple of cars and headed over to the school.

I drove my crossover vehicle with Brynn and her date, Garrett, sitting in the back of the car whispering about something. I glanced over at Dax and tried to figure out how to say what I wanted to.

“Thanks, for back there.” I pointed my finger toward the house and turned my gaze behind me so I could reverse out of the driveway. When I put it into drive, I noticed the confusion on Dax’s face.

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“I mean for standing up for me when it came to the whole getting-there-early thing. My friends give me a hard time.”

“That’s something, considering Penny is scared to death of being late to anything.” Dax chuckled, and I gave him a small smile, realizing how right he was.

I sighed, nodding. “I know, but I don’t have to put up with a lecture from my mother if I show up early.”

The rest of the drive was relatively quiet, chatting here and there about a few things, but mostly my stomach was wrapped up in nerves. I couldn’t get the smell of him from earlier in the man cave out of my senses, and the thought of him kissing me was something I wanted more than I’d thought up until now. I was getting in deep and too fast.

It took some time to check on everything, but Dax finally pulled me onto the dance floor, surprising me by the way he led the dances, making it more fun than just swaying back and forth. At least he wasn’t stepping on my toes like some of my past dance dates.

“Where did you learn how to dance like this?” I asked, tilting my head back to glance up at him.

His smile was sad, his eyes looking far away and glazed. “My mom.” He turned his attention back to me and smiled a bit wider. “She would give me dance lessons while we cleaned up from dinner. It’s one of the things I’ll never forget about her.”

All the warm fuzzies took over my chest, and I could imagine a slightly younger version of Dax, probably towering over his mother like he did me, listening to her as she instructed him on what to do.

“Those are the memories to be cherished, for sure.” I dropped my gaze, focusing on the blobs of paint on Dax’s chest. Memories of my own father crept up, the simple fun times we always had when he was done with work. He’d been a carpenter, usually working long hours to help support the family. But when he was home, he was present. One of the gifts I would be grateful for in the years to come.

We danced through several songs, and I was on cloud nine. The way he held my hand as we danced and then how he placed his hand on the small of my back when we left to get a drink or move through a crowd had my stomach doing some serious gymnastics.

Once it was close to the end, we headed back to my house once more to watch a movie in the theater room with everyone but Brynn and Garrett, who had to go home early.

Several minutes into the movie, I heard my mother whisper a few feet away. Her tight expression was illuminated by the light cast from the screen. I stood, feeling the loss of excitement I’d had from sitting next to Dax during a movie, and scooted out of the row and through the door where my mother waited in the light. I could tell from the stiffness in her back as I followed her out into the hall that she wasn’t happy.

“What do you need, Mom?” I asked in a harsh whisper.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were planning to come back here after the dance?” She was waving her hands, a sign that she was even madder about something than I realized.

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