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I giggle at that comparison. “It may have helped that I asked him after the animal was already on the property. That lessened the barrier of entry, I suppose.”
“Or maybe my uncle likes you,” she coos, her eyes twinkling.
I pause before taking a bite of the salad as his face at the Mercantile a couple of weeks ago replays in my head:“I might be focusing too much on getting into someone else’s bullpen.”
I shake off that lust-worthy thought. “Well, I like your uncle too, some of the time. That’s part of the whole friends thing.”
“But do you think he’s cute?” Everly eyes me curiously.
My brows shoot upward. “Yeah, he’s cute, but I don’t like him like that.”
“Why not?”
“Because he’s about to be a single dad, and kids aren’t my thing,” I state simply because it’s an easy truth to use as an excuse.
Everly looks taken aback. “Why don’t you like kids?”
“It’s not that I don’t like them. I just don’t want any of my own. Life can still be very fulfilling without children as well.”
I can’t help but notice the crestfallen look on Everly’s face. She looks like I just told her Santa Claus isn’t real, the poor thing. She needs to see more life experiences and broaden her horizons. Ireland will be good for her.
“But it’s not just the kid thing,” I add, feeling like I need to give her more of an explanation. “I have career aspirations, and it’s going to take the right kind of partner to be cool with my crazy ideas.”
“Everly,” Max calls from behind me, interrupting our conversation. “Grandma Eleanor has just arrived. She’s over by the ice cream truck and asking to see you.”
“Grandma E!” Everly exclaims and bounds off like the good kid she probably always was.
“That girl is something else.” I turn to Max as he sets his drink down on the table beside me and assesses the party for a moment.
“You’re telling me.” He huffs, and I can’t help but notice a shiftin his demeanor. “We’re all really going to struggle when she leaves for college. She’s kind of our family cheerleader. She keeps the whole gang together.”
“Dad!” a young boy shouts from the other side of the pool, and Max’s head snaps over to look at him. He starts unbuttoning his dress shirt and bellows, “I’m going swimming!”
“No, you’re not,” Max yells back at him, standing at attention. “Ethan, we talked about this. Ethan!”
The dark-haired little boy has stripped out of his shirt and is about to jump in the water when his mom appears, fishhooking his arm and catching him midjump. Cozy holds her hand up to Max. “I got him!”
“Jesus Christ,” Max grumbles and loosens the tie around his neck as he points at the scene on the other side of the pool. “My youngest is the exact opposite of Everly. He’s going to be the death of me.”
I laugh as I watch Cozy struggle to get Ethan’s shirt back on him, all while they argue about his desire to swim.
“That’s what Wyatt has to look forward to,” Max states, pointing at his son with a laugh. “We all stupidly thought Everly was how most kids were. Easygoing, a good listener, and sweet down to her very core. Ethan was quite the wake-up call.”
I glance over to see the little boy walk away from his mother and stand in the grass, unbutton his pants, and start peeing. The guests nearby all begin laughing, and Cozy shakes her head and throws her hands up in the air.
Max pinches the bridge of his nose. “And I hate to say it, but Wyatt was just like him.”
“Liked to pee in the grass?”
“Yes,” Max laughs and shakes his head. “He always did exactly what he wanted, when he wanted, didn’t matter what anyone else said.”
“Why does that not surprise me?” I laugh knowingly. I’ve only known the guy for four months, but he didn’t take long to figure out.
Affection blooms on Max’s face. “It’s going to be really fun watching him become a dad.”
I watch Max for a moment, noting how serious he is. “Man, you guys are like the closest family I’ve ever met.”
“Are you not close with yours?” he asks, turning his focus back to me now that Cozy seems to have the wild child under control.
