Page 98 of Biggest Player
“You went on a date with Dex?”
I nod. “Yes. After you shook him down for LEGO money, he took me out ... sort of as an apology but also to explain himself better. And we ended up having fun.”
My daughter smirks, doing a fist pump. “You’re welcome.”
She’s happily walking beside me as we head to the park. “What exactly am I thanking you for?”
“Playing matchmaker.”
I give my head a shake but smile. She has no idea I had swiped on Dex before she ran into him, but I don’t hold back explaining it to her now, filling her in on the same details I gave Cora.
“So you see? I’d met him—sort of—and you’ve met him, so now I’m trying to decide if the three of us should ... hang out.”
My child misses nothing. “Don’t you like him?”
“I do! I do like him. I just ... I’m not going to bring someone around my child until it’s a serious relationship.” That’s my rule anyway—I’m not sure what other people do, but it’s what I believe.
Wyatt cannot keep the skepticism off her face. “You’ve never had a serious relationship.”
Why must she point out the obvious?
I’ve dated several different guys for several months but still never wanted to introduce them to my kid, nor did I discuss them around her.
“True,” I say slowly. The very fact I’m discussing Dex with her is new, uncharted territory.
“What makes Dex different?” Why does my daughter sound like one of those dating coaches on television? Or someone three times her age.
Lordy.
I pause on the sidewalk, choosing my words carefully, considering that my audience is ten.
“There’s something about him that makes me think it could be more than just a few dates. But I don’t want to rush into anything.” I use the simplest terms to describe how I feel, starting off again toward the park.
Good exercise and a good excuse to talk.
She nods sagely. “I get it. You want to be sure.”
“Yes, exactly. I want to be sure for both of us.” I hesitate. “I don’t want either of us getting attached too soon.”
My daughter’s face lights up with a mischievous grin. “Well, you should give him a chance and don’t future trip about it. You never know unless you try, right?”
“What’s future tripping?”
“It’s when you worry about things that haven’t happened yet. Like you make things up in your brain and freak out about them,” mydaughter explains. “For example, thinking about how you’re going to spend the holiday with someone, and you only went on two dates with them. It’s useless to stress.”
I laugh, feeling the weight of the decision lighten just a bit. “How did you get to be so wise?”
“I don’t know. Are we getting ice cream later?” In true Wyatt fashion she does a complete one-eighty on the topic, so quickly it makes my head want to spin.
“We haven’t had dinner yet. Let’s not future trip, okay?”
Wyatt rolls her eyes. “That’s not the same thing.”
Oh.
Shoot.
I realize how uncool I sound because I was trying to sound cool.
