Page 54 of The Bluffing Game

“Thank you.” He claps his hands, then runs off.

She looks over at me and offers me a small smile. “You’re a good dad,” she says, as if the realization suddenly hit her. “You’re a tease and a grump and quite annoying at times, but you’re a good dad.”

“Thank you. I don’t know if I should be offended that there was ever a possibility that I wasn’t, but thank you.”

“I guess now that I’m looking for my real dad, I just wonder if he’s a good dad or if he would’ve been a good dad. I just appreciate these things. I appreciate you. I’ve told you that before.”

“You have,” I say. “And just how much do you appreciate me?”

“What does that mean, Dalton?”

“You know …” I lick my lips. “Maybe another kiss?”

“I’m not giving you another kiss.”

“I could give you one.”

“Now, now, would that be appropriate in front of all of these kids?”

“I didn’t say it would be a French kiss or anything.”

“Well, you may kiss my cheek.” She turns her face to the side; I lean forward and kiss her cheek. “There you go.”

“May I kiss the other?”

She turns her cheek the other way, and I kiss that.

I grab her hand and run my fingers around her palm and whisper in her ear, “The other places I’d like to kiss are definitely not suitable for where we are right now. But maybe one day, if I’m lucky, huh?” I step back.

She blushes, and there’s a glimpse of uncertainty in her eyes. But I can see the lust there. I can feel it. I can sense it. It’s the same lust that exists in me.

“Yeah, maybe,” she says with a soft smile. “And maybe pigs will fly, and maybe fish will sing, and maybe geese will one day be rulers of the universe.”

There’s always a maybe in every situation, right?

“I’ll hold on to the maybe hope … no matter how low the chances seem to be.”

I don’t tell her that I think the chances are higher than she’s letting on. I’m still flying high from the kiss. It was quite chaste, but it was the most meaningful kiss I’ve had in years.

Chapter 15

SAGE

My lips are still tingling from the kiss, and I feel pathetic. It certainly wasn’t sexy, and yet I can still feel the imprint of Dalton’s lips on mine. I can still feel the pressure of his thumb against my palm. I can still smell his masculine musk in my nostrils. And that is exactly the reason I hadn’t wanted to kiss him. I don’t want to want him.

It is so much easier in life to date men for reasons other than want and life. Not that I don’t crave that deep down. I’m just not sure if I could ever relinquish control of every situation. I’m not sure I feel comfortable enough to let my guard down and take off the mask. I’ve spent so many years playing a part, being happy, being outlandish and confident. Even I sometimes forget how vulnerable I am inside. It is only at night, when my heart races and my brain won’t shut down, that I feel the heaviness of having to be the strong one.

“Who wants to read their profile first?” Lucia claps eagerly to gather everyone’s attention.

We’re hanging out in a booth at a local ’50s diner, drinking spiked milkshakes and eating chili cheese fries, and I can’t remember the last time Rosie and I had a fun girls’ night like this with friends. I’m not sure if we’ve ever had really close friends, aside from our cousin Juniper and her best friend.

“Not me,” I pipe up, feeling shy about what I wrote. “Izzy?”

“I don’t mind going first,” she says, grabbing her phone from the tabletop. “I’m ready to find my new boyfriend. A real man who will be there for me.”

“So, did you officially break up with Colton then?” Rosie asks hopefully, and we all lean forward.

I’m almost positive I know the answer. No way she ended it since I last spoke to her earlier in the day.