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Austin leaned back in his chair. “I don’t know. I just assumed now that Smitty is doing some sleepovers it won’t be long before Max wants to be over there all the time.”
“Why would Max want to be there all the time?”
“Big baseball player, he probably has pretty swanky digs. Makes sense Max would rather be there than your place.”
“What’s wrong with my place?”
“Nothing, for regular people. But come on, you can’t tell me a kid wouldn’t rather spend time at a house with an Xbox and a pool.”
“Jeff doesn’t have a pool,” she muttered. But he had a big gaming room and Max was already bugging her that they should get something for their place.
“Come on, babe, this is a good thing. You’ve been doing the single mom thing for so long I figured it would be nice for you to have someone take over half time.”
“Half-time,” she screeched. The man at the table beside them glared at her, and she lowered her voice, “Half-time. Max isn’t living with his dad half-time. It’s one sleepover.” She caught the way her voice rose again, and she winced. Holy crap, what if Austin was right and Max wanted to live with his dad half-time? Her heart pounded in her chest. There was no way in hell that was happening. Jeff had never even hinted at anything to do with custody. Besides, with his work schedule, it wouldn’t even be an option for most of the year. Her mind raced.
“Babe, relax.”
She blinked at him. “Sorry, what did you say?”
“I just said chill a bit. You look like I just told you to kill a puppy.”
“You may as well have,” she muttered.
He reached across the table and squeezed her hand. “Who knows? Once the novelty wears off, maybe he’ll be like all those other athletes you always read about and lose interest. Just some deadbeat dad who throws a little cash your way every now and then.”
Clearly, he didn’t know Jeff. That was never going to be the kind of dad he was. Which had seemed like such a good thing just this morning. Now she wasn’t so sure.
“I really blew my chances of getting invited to stay over tonight, didn’t I?” Austin asked.
“Yeah, you really did.” She picked up her menu. “Looks like you’re in the clear to order something with lots of garlic or onions.”
Chapter Eleven
Jeffhadneverfeltso helpless before in his life. The sight of his son weeping in his bed was more than he could bear. He’d heard the saying his heart hurt before, but until this moment he hadn’t known what it meant. This being a dad thing was hard.
He crouched beside the spare bed he’d made up for Max to sleep in. “Max, talk to me. Why are you crying?”
Max burrowed his face deeper into his pillow and shook his head.
“I don’t know how to help you, Max, if you don’t tell me what’s going on.” This was his first night with Max and already he was failing miserably.
“I want my mom.” Max’s face remained buried in the pillow, making it hard to hear him speak.
“You want me to call her?”
Max peeked at him over the mound of blankets and pillows and nodded slightly.
“Okay.” Jeff dug into his pocket and pulled out his cellphone. He flicked through his contacts for Kia’s number and hit the call button. He eyed Max while the phone rang in his hand. What the hell was he going to do if she didn’t answer? What if she answered? Would she regret letting him take Max for the night? What if she didn’t let him take his son again?
“Hello,” Kia’s voice broke over the line.
“Hey Kia, it’s Jeff.”
“Is everything okay with Max?”
“Honestly, I don’t know.” He eyed his son on the bed. Max wiped his nose with his sleeve as he watched him. The tears continued to stream down his little face. “He’s crying and he’s asking for you. I’m sorry to ask you this, but any chance you can come over?”
“Can I talk to him?”
