“Mom, I do not want to do this class. Spend my Saturday evening teaching dads how to braid hair?” I whine on our way to the high school. “You’ve seen Emilia. It’s been months and her hair is still lopsided on the days Molly can’t do it. Nothing I show them here tonight is going to help.”
Mom blows out a breath, putting on her windshield wipers because of the light sprinkling of rain.
“This is a good thing and something Gavin can’t be a part of. I thought that would make you happy at least.” She glances at me with a smirk that clearly suggests she sees what’s been going on between us.
“Don’t give me that look,” I say.
“What look? I’m not giving you a look.” She smiles, her hands at ten and two, staring out the window.
“I knew I should’ve driven myself.” I lean back in the seat and cross my legs.
“You don’t have to talk to me about him, but I’m not blind.”
I turn up the radio. She turns it back down, using the button on her steering wheel.
“What?” I ask.
“I just want to make sure you’re not refusing to go out with him because of this mayor thing. I’m more than okay with it if he makes you happy.”
“And if he wins?” I ask.
She shrugs. “So be it. If he wins, then that’s what was supposed to happen. It means I’m meant for something else.”
“How can you be so casual about it? This job should be yours, Mom. Why does he think he can just come in here and take that from you?” My voice rises as the rain comes down harder, pounding on the roof.
“Whoa, sweetie, calm down. He isn’t taking anything away from me. There must be some reason he wants to be mayor. Have you thought about asking him?”
“No,” I say with a tone that implies that’d be absurd. “Why would I do that?”
“Because the minute you saw that Vote Price sign, you put a bulls-eye on him, but you’re the only one with the arrows, sweetie. And when you aren’t looking at him like you want to kill him, your eyes are filled with hearts. You’re at war with yourself and I don’t like it.”
I stare out the window, my finger following a drop of rain that slips down the glass. “It’s just a childhood obsession. Like if Paul McCartney came to Sunrise Bay, you’d be all gaga over him.”
“First of all, you’re aging me. Maybe if Jon Bon Jovi came to town.” She chuckles. “But I married my childhood crush. I’m good.”
I glare at her.
“The second one,” she clarifies.
Phew, because she married my dad young and knew him in high school too.
She touches my leg before placing her hand back on the steering wheel. “I really wish you’d explore things with him.”
“Mom!” I cross my arms. “He’s the enemy.”
She parks in the high school parking lot and stays in her seat. This was her move when we were younger and we were fighting. We were told never to part ways while mad, so no matter what happened, we stayed in the car until we could talk it out.
“Gavin Price is not our enemy. He’s just trying to find his place in the world.”
“Says you.”
What I won’t say out loud is that I kind of agree with her. I’ve never asked him why he wants to become mayor. I assume it’s because he wants to be another big name somewhere. If he hated the limelight like he says, why wouldn’t he go bury himself in the woods somewhere like Naomi’s ex-husband?
“I will work at being nicer,” I say begrudgingly.
“Thank you. If I’m going to win, I can’t have people giving him a sympathy vote because of my daughter.” She laughs. “This is Sunrise Bay, sweetie, and there’s no room for negativity because when this mayor race is over, we have to respect the town’s decision no matter which way they voted.”
She has a point.
“Okay,” I murmur as I open the door to make a run for it through the rain and into the school.
Before I can get out, Gavin’s Bronco peels into the parking lot, splashing a huge puddle on our car. I glare at him, then look at my mom.
She laughs. “Remember your brothers and how crazy they are.”
“Why is he here?” I snipe, reaching for my bag in the back seat, then getting out of the vehicle.
I watch him get out of his truck. Erwin comes out the other side.
The four of us end up at the entrance at the same time. Other workshops are going on tonight, so surely Gavin’s here to learn how to cook, or maybe he’s going to go learn how to knit with Fran to score some brownie points.
“Why are you here?” I ask him as we step through the doors.
“To learn how to braid hair.” He has a smile plastered on his beautiful face. I hate that his face makes me melt in appreciation even when I’m annoyed with him.
“You don’t have kids,” I say.
“Nice to see you two. I’m going to set up.” Mom heads down the hallway.
Gavin nods in her direction. “Erwin, go help Mrs. Greene with her bags.”
“She doesn’t need help, Erwin, stay put,” I say.
Erwin retraces his footsteps back to us.
“Go, Erwin,” Gavin says and steps forward.
“Erwin, you take one more step and I will break that Rubik’s Cube once you find it.”
“Do you know where it is?” He comes face-to-face with me, sounding hopeful.
Gavin raises his eyebrows like I’m at fault for bringing it up in the first place.
“Sorry, I don’t.”
“Damn,” he whispers.
I turn to Gavin. “You don’t have kids. This is for fathers with kids.”
He holds up his finger and all I want to do is bend it backward until he’s howling in pain. “Technically, it’s just to learn how to do a kid’s hair.”
“And whose hair will you be practicing on?”
He takes off Erwin’s skull cap. A flop of brown hair falls down to his shoulders. “Erwin.”
“Seriously?”
“Don’t worry, I washed it and dried it,” Erwin says.
“Let’s go, Erwin, we don’t want to be late,” Gavin says.
Erwin walks, but I tug on Gavin’s sleeve, pulling him back to me. “What is your game?”
A devilish smile crosses his lips. “To make sure that Eli Easton doesn’t get another shot with you.”
The air leaves my lungs in a rush.
His smile deepens, and he walks away, leaving me speechless.
Our flirtation is one thing. The kiss we shared still haunts me late at night in bed. But now he’s purposely going to keep me from being involved with someone else? Someone I wouldn’t give another shot to if he was the last man in Sunrise Bay. But Gavin doesn’t need to know that. In fact, I think I should play my own game.
I saunter into the room reserved for us and find Jed and Emilia already there.
“It’s daughter/daddy night. Mommy is drinking wine,” Emilia says to me. “She said one bottle might not be enough.”
I run my fingers through my niece’s thick hair.
Jed rolls his eyes. “Molly is making me come, even though I do a kick-ass job already. Right, kiddo?” He raises his hand, and she smacks it.