Page 66 of Promised Summer
I should have been surprised when Clay picked up his plate and rounded to Dan’s other side to take a seat. It wasn’t the first time he’d done that. Clay always preferred to sit beside Dan, and I’d always thought it was because they were stepbrothers. But now, knowingwhat I did, I felt stupid for not realizing how weird his actions were in the first place.
I stabbed at my food, told myself to let it go, butfuck! My friends were right about me being nosy. God forbid a man had a hobby.
“So, um, Dan,” I said, my words cutting through the sounds of chewing.
“Yeah?” Dan looked up with questioning eyes.
“Been seeing anyone recently?” I asked, feeling even more awkward when the words were out. I forced my eyes not to look Clay’s way.
I didn’t want to force them to tell us about their relationship before they were ready, but it wassohard to push the curiosity down.
Dan, looking unfazed, pressed a finger to his chin. “I did go on a date with a cute barista last night, but alas, it didn’t work out—again,” he said with a disappointed sigh that didn’t sound fake to my ears. “I guess I’m just meant to spread my love instead of being tied down to one person.”
Clay snorted and looked grumpier than he usually did. Dan was a well-known playboy in town. He was always seen out in town with a date on his arm. Men, women, he didn’t care. But from what I heard, most of those dates never led to anything…and after seeing them intimate like that, I finally understood the reason behind it.
The question was, if they liked each other, why not just be together? It wasn’t like they were real brothers,for fuck’s sake.
I wasn’t going to get an answer to that tonight, though, as the conversation had moved on. Dan mentioned he’d volunteered for the hugging booth at the town’s summer fair next weekend.
What surprised me was Clay had signed up as well. The dude hated physical touch so much that even I rarely got hugs from him.
Even if the hugging booth was raising money for a good cause, why the hell would a touch-averse man sign up for this?
“Fair?” Karla asked, testing the word on her mouth as she looked to her daddy for clarification.
Ryan explained to her what a fair was, while the others added their input every so often and told her about the giant teddy bears and rides. By the time they finished, Karla’s eyes were so round and sparkly.
“I’m honestly surprised they’re still doing it. We used to go every year,” Ryan said with a nostalgic smile.
I reached for his hand. “I remember we used to get sick from binging funnel cake, then we’d do it again the next summer.”
Ryan laughed and shook his head. “I swear they put something in them to make them so addictive.”
“We should go and take our baby girl to try it,” I said softly.
“It’ll be Sam’s first summer fair since he’s been back. We should all go together,” Ryker said with a nod.
“Of course you have to come and support us! You all better order our most expensive hug!” Dan declared.
We spent the rest of dinner finalizing the plan to go together next Saturday. Ryker had texted Sam, who readily agreed.
My friends didn’t stay long after the food was finished. We all headed back out front to where Karla’s bed was being made. I noticed how Ryan kept close to my side, as if he was keeping an eye on me. When I looked toward his car, he blocked it from my sight with his body again.
Karla was absolutely over the moon when I told her the bed was for her. She ran around it, examining all the little details that were carved into the wood.
I caught her before she could hurt herself and told her she’d could play around it when it was completed. Ryker would return tomorrow to help me finish it, so we left it outside and covered it with a tarp.
We thanked my friends for their help—Ryan very enthusiastic in his gratitude, and Karla copying her daddy—then saw them off.
“Why don’t you head inside and go check on Lily first?” Ryan said when my friends’ vehicles were out of sight. “Karla and I need to get something from the car.”
“I can help you,” I said with a smile and moved toward his trunk.
“No!” Ryan shouted again and stopped me.
I laughed. “What do you have hiding in there? A body?” I teased.
“I-It’s a surprise,” Ryan said, and Karla nodded seriously.
