The Baby Blitz (Varsity Dads #3)(13)
Author: Lex Martin

“Just making idle chitchat.”

 

“No need. You can go back to ignoring me.”

 

I face her. “When have I ever, in the history of you and me, ever ignored you?”

 

She rolls her eyes. “Perhaps ‘ignore’ isn’t the right word. Maybe I should say you avoid me.”

 

“I don’t avoid you.”

 

“Sure. Let’s go with that.”

 

The parents are now dancing with the bride and groom. We have a minute, so I grab Magnolia’s elbow and tug her into a nearby hall. “What’s your problem?”

 

“My problem?” she hisses. “Didn’t you know? It’s always been you. You have some damn nerve, acting like you and Vanessa didn’t keep me up half the night. Pretending you didn’t know your room was right next door to mine.”

 

I still, my feet rooted to the ground. “What are you talking about? Vanessa left last night.”

 

She scoffs. “Someone was howling, ‘oh, Daddy, hit it harder’ on the other side of my wall. I seem to recall you had that room. In fact, I saw you open that door this morning, half-clothed, so don’t lie.”

 

Oh, shit. I laugh, relieved as hell, now that I understand why her feathers are all ruffled.

 

“Michael Oliver, don’t you dare laugh at me.” Her face is flushed, and she looks like she might deck me. She’s beautiful in her fury. Ready to bust me up if I’m not careful. Makes me want to kiss the hell out of her.

 

I hold up both hands. “Just listen, okay?”

 

“Michael Oliver and Magnolia Morales!”

 

Her eyes get huge when we hear our names boom over the loudspeaker. “That was our intro! Crap.”

 

I grab her hand as we press pause on our bickering and race out to the dance floor.

 

“Somewhere Only We Know” by Keane plays in the background as I pull her into my arms. She’s stiff and obviously still pissed at me.

 

“Relax, Maggie. I’m not gonna bite you.”

 

It’s a strange experience to finally hold her. I might’ve been Bash’s friend first and initially viewed Maggie as a little sister, but I remember the day that changed. From the moment she strolled up on my lawn on a blisteringly hot summer day with a scraped knee when she was thirteen and I was fourteen, I’ve wondered what it would be like to make this girl mine. To hold her when she cried. To be the reason she smiled. To have the words to make her laugh.

 

I ruthlessly locked away those urges. Sebastian was my best friend. In our small town world, you don’t mess with your buddy’s little sister. At the time, I didn’t know exactly what that meant. I just liked the way Maggie always smiled when I caught her looking. Like a toy secreted away in my pocket, I wanted that.

 

Except I learned to look away when she turned my way. Pretended I didn’t light up inside when she was around. Dated other girls when I wondered what it would be like to ask out Bash’s beautiful sister.

 

It’s something I try not to think about—what might have been.

 

When Maggie doesn’t respond, I lean close to whisper in her ear. “Vanessa wasn’t enjoying herself, and she obviously didn’t click with my family. We both agreed it was best to go our separate ways. So she left last night.”

 

Her wary eyes meet mine, and she studies me for a long moment, probably to see if I’m telling the truth. “So you’re telling me that wasn’t you having an extra-loud hotel bang next door?”

 

“Hate to disappoint you, but it wasn’t.” I chuckle and then groan at what that means. “You heard my parents going at it like horny teenagers.” I explain how we switched rooms last night and then switched back this morning.

 

She stops dancing. “If you’re lying to me…”

 

“I swear to God, you heard Wendy and Ted burning up the sheets.”

 

Our heads swivel to stare at my parents, who are dancing, swaying slowly and staring into each other’s eyes like they’re thinking about all the dirty things they did last night.

 

“Gah!” Maggie covers her ears. “I can’t un-hear all of that.”

 

Laughing, I pull her into my arms again. “Mags, I know you’re slightly traumatized. We all are the first time we hear Wendy and Ted in beast mode. You’ll need to avoid making eye contact for a while.”

 

She giggles and rests her forehead on my chest. I have the strangest urge to kiss her hair.

 

Maggie’s face is flushed, and she can’t stop laughing as we finish the dance. When the next slow song comes on, I don’t let her go, and she doesn’t try to get away.

 

“How about this?” I whisper in her ear. “Let’s call a truce. Just one night where we don’t bicker or fight or try to get even. Call me crazy, but let’s pretend we’re friends.”

 

Her hands lock around the back of my neck as we sway to the music. “A truce, huh?”

 

“What’s the worst thing that could happen?”

 

 

 

 

 

9

 

 

 

 

 

MAGGIE

 

 

 

 

 

The whole time we eat dinner and dessert, I’m acutely aware of Michael’s presence next to me. His knee presses into mine, and I smile.

 

“Just admit you left that tuna sandwich in my car,” he says in my ear.

 

“Will you be mad if I tell you I did it?”

 

“No. I’m sure I did something shitty to deserve the retribution.”

 

My smile widens. I’m not used to having Michael agree with me. He usually argues for the sake of arguing.

 

He motions to my brother, who is sneaking off with one of the bridesmaids. “Another wedding hookup on the books, ladies and gentlemen.”

 

I laugh. “Those are supposed to be the best kind of hookups,” I say as though I have any experience with these sort of things. I don’t, but I’ve read plenty of Cosmo articles on the topic. “Everyone goes their separate ways the next day, so there are no awkward run-ins later. Half the time, it’s a great excuse to do what you’ve always wanted to anyway.”

 

“I mean, how are you supposed to resist all of this romantic stuff, right? Candle lights and slow songs.”