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Mesmerized by the water, Colin entertained himself with two rubber penguins and babbled animatedly. All Roe had to do was keep him above the surface.
I pushed my hair back and brushed a hand down my face.
“The image becomes clearer and clearer,” Roe mused. “Punk rock was your rebellious phase, wasn’t it? Do you play any instruments? Did you sneak out to play in a garage band?”
I chuckled and shook my head. “No garage bands. I learned to play piano and guitar in church, and I never missed a curfew. Sorry to disappoint.”
Roe quirked a lopsided smile. “That’s still hot. Musicians, man.”
That was funny. Interestingly enough, the only man he’d ever mentioned as hot—except for me, partly in jest—was the singer of Maroon 5. It’d sort of caught me off guard since he never spoke about his attraction to men. I didn’t know if he’d dated one yet. Last time, he’d said he wasn’t ready, but that was a while ago.
“Shouldn’t be too hard for you to find one in this town.” I could admit, I was digging a little. Sue me. After we’d quit bartending, I just never saw him around men in that type of environment. When we went out, we did that together, with or without friends.
“Yeah, maybe.” Roe watched Colin for a beat. “I actually have a date this weekend, but I might cancel.”
Oh. Yeah, no, that made sense. I’d grown so accustomed to us ordering pizza and either working or throwing our asses on the couch that I took it for granted. Sometimes we played video games too. He was getting decent at Call of Duty.
“Why would you cancel?” I prodded. Was it a dude? Was he gonna go out with another man? Had he already? I didn’t know what he did when Nikki and I got together to do something with Colin—or when I worked late with Ortiz.
He shrugged and reached for another rubber toy floating by. He gave it to Colin. “I don’t know. I usually go for more assertive women, I guess. She’s kinda young too.”
So it was a she. That was good. I didn’t know why that was good, but it felt better.
“How young?”
“She just graduated from college.”
How was that a problem? She was old enough to order a drink at a bar, and Roe was only twenty-five.
I cleared my throat. “I’m sorry to break it to you, buddy, but we won’t see any headlines about your age difference.”
He snorted softly and gave me a wry look. “Hilarious.”
*
The date was on.
Roe had just left.
It felt weird. I wasn’t used to being on my own on a Saturday night. No offense to my son, whom I was in charge of for another couple hours. Nikki had a date too. Actually, it’d started last night, so it must’ve gone well if they were still together. Either way, I was happy to have Colin an extra day, and I chased him through the house while I waited for him to get tired.
My boy was a runner and a wrestler.
With countless toys scattered across the floor in the living room and the hallway leading to the bedrooms, we ended up somewhere in the middle of it all, with me on my back, roughhousing like pros. I lived for his laughter, the joy in his expression, and how carefree he was. He climbed on top of me as I felt my phone buzz in my pocket, and he growled victoriously and bounced on my stomach.
I oomph’d through a chuckle and tickled his belly.
Then he wanted me to chase him again, so he took off.
I might actually fall asleep before he did at this rate.
“Dada, po!” He fell on his butt but got up again with a shout. “Bang!”
My little clown. I sat up too, and I checked my phone.
Dammit. A text from my mother.
Call me, please. We don’t talk often anymore.
She had to be getting desperate if she was texting. But I just couldn’t maintain the same relationship anymore. It took too much energy to sit there on Skype once a week as she prattled on about life in Norfolk and gushed about how quickly Colin was growing up. I’d become a pro at dodging calls and making up excuses, and once we did sit down over Skype, I kept things brief.
She would have to wait. Colin called out for me again, and I cast a glance toward Roe’s bedroom. Hell.
“Not in there, baby.” I got to my feet and stalked after him. “We don’t go into Uncle Roe’s room.” Roe must’ve forgotten to shut his door properly. I found Colin tugging on the nightstand drawer, and I smirked and hurried over to scoop him up. The boy was learning. He knew he could always find a pacifier in my nightstand drawer. “You won’t find anythin’ in there, Bear. Let’s go.” I blew a raspberry on his cheek, then bent down to close the drawer—and I just stopped.
