Page 48 of 10 Signs You Need to Grovel

“You’re right. It’s a gorilla.”

This giggle comes from his belly. “It’s a weird-looking lion. And why do you have a ghost on your arm? Ghosts don’t play baseball.”

They sure did in Field of Dreams. Sadly, Max is smirking at the scythe-wielding skeleton on my left forearm, which looks nothing like a scythe-wielding skeleton. But hey. I’m actually coming around to my ink. I want to remember how angry and lonely I was the past decade. Remember to make good choices going forward. To always put Sadie and Max first so I don’t end up with another head full of knotted hair and a gnarly personality to match.

The ink is also freeing. I don’t have virgin skin I’m worried about marring. Having it means I can do what I’m about to do without a second thought.

“I’m actually due for a new tattoo.” I look at the blurry, bloody rose on my right forearm. “But I need a better artist to design me something.”

“You could ask Joseph. He’s good at drawing nature. Or one of Mom’s artists from her website.”

Yeah, no. Joseph may be Sadie’s business associate, but I don’t trust him. I’m still worried he has designs on Sadie and she’s oblivious. If he does, he’d for sure undermine me. Plus, I have someone else in mind. “Why would I do that when I’m looking at a talented artist right now?”

His jaw unhinges. “Me?”

“I mean, I could ask Jasmine or Zoey.” I hook my thumb toward the duo still hunched over their phones. “But I’m not sure I want Camila Cabello on my arm.”

He snort-cackles. “Camila Cabello is awesome.”

I tried listening to her. It hurt my ears. “If you say so. But back to my new ink. You design me something without Camila Cabello, and whatever you create, I’ll get tattooed.”

“Seriously?”

“Seriously.”

Max is a human version of his glow stick now, beaming and blushing all at once. “This is so cool.”

Cool is how much I love this kid already.

FOURTEEN

As we finish the first half of our hike, I’m verging on gleeful. Max is having a blast teasing me with what he might design for my tattoo, even pointing to a pile of animal droppings without saying a word. Just making eye contact with me and laughing his butt off. Honestly, if he draws a pile of shit, I’ll still get it inked. On the other side of my neck if it makes him laugh like that. I also have some thoughts on how to make his mother as happy as he is right now.

But the second I spot Olivia at the halfway meetup point, my glee slips. Thinking fast, I dodge her advance and tell Sadie we need to talk.

“Did something happen?” she asks, concerned, as I guide her away from my tormentor.

“Olivia happened.”

She tips her head back and laughs. “What is it with you two?”

“She likes to practice her psychoanalysis techniques on me.”

“She’s a little intense.”

Understatement. I check on our kids, who are all occupied. Max, Jasmine, and Zoey are standing in a circle doing some kind of interpretive dance where Jasmine makes a hand gesture and hip twitch and they follow her. Even Olivia joins in. Jun and Carter seem to be channeling their inner Rambos, holding invisible guns as they pretend to shoot the birds above, making pew-pew sound effects with their mouths.

“We need to take care of some adult stuff,” I call to them. “Be back in a second.”

They ignore us. I gesture ahead and lead Sadie behind a grouping of trees.

“Des. What—”

I cage her with my arms, giving her space, but not much. “I was thinking about what you said on the phone.”

“Which part?”

“You’re single,” I offer roughly. A detail that stole my sleep all weekend. The kind of insomnia where my body burned, my cock hard from remembering the soft sounds of her voice through the phone Friday night.