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Milo walked by her in a hurry, and she grabbed his wrist before he could disappear again. “Hey.”
His eyes landed on her hand before meeting her gaze. “Hey.” He was wearing a white short-sleeve button-down with red, white and blue Firecracker popsicles on it. It should’ve looked ridiculous, but he pulled it off. The fun pattern matched his personality.
“Everything okay?” she asked.
“Why wouldn’t it be?”
She kicked at a pebble on the ground. “I don’t know. I feel like you’re avoiding me.”
“Never.” His hand lifted like he was going to brush her hair out of her face, but he thought better of it, and his arm fell back to his side. “Just busy.”
“I don’t want what we did to make it weird between us.” She didn’t want to take what they shared back; it was something she’d never forget, but she didn’t want that brief moment of pure bliss to take away the constant joy of Milo in her life.
“It’s not. We both went into it knowing it was just sex, and that’s all it was.”
His words unexpectedly stabbed her in the heart. While it was supposed to be just sex, it seemed to be more than that. It was mind-blowing and amazing. “Yeah… just sex,” she said, unable to keep the disappointment from seeping into her tone.
He moved toward her, and she held her breath, hoping he’d pin her up against the side of the house and let them revisit last night. Instead, he kissed her forehead and stepped away. “We’re cool, okay?”
Uncertainty flooded through her mind, but she ignored the thoughts and nodded. “Okay.”
In a blink he was gone, and she stood there for a moment, hoping he hadn’t lied to her. No, if he was lying, he would have avoided her gaze and his voice would’ve squeaked. He was the world’s worst liar, and there was no way that changed overnight.
Like he said, he was busy. There was nothing more to it. She shook away the stupid voices in the back of her head, telling her she ruined everything, and continued with her ice duty before she was given a new task.
Two hours later, all the coolers were filled with beverages, all the burgers were patted into patties, all the water balloons and water guns were locked and loaded, wood filled the fire pit, and the makeshift slip and slide was ready for people to take their turns sliding across the lawn.
The sun had settled high in the sky, and Harper had stripped down to a pair of jean shorts and a bikini top. The humidity clung in the air, which was a sign of an oppressive summer. It was too damn hot to be wearing anything more than a bathing suit. She was eyeing the slip and slide, ready to take a dive when Jasper came over to her and handed her a beer.
“Looks like you could use this,” he said.
She took it, grateful for the cold bottle. She pressed it against her neck, letting the chill absorb into her body. “Thanks.”
“Thinking about beating the lines?” he asked.
“That’s exactly what I’m thinking.”
“I’m surprised Milo hasn’t given a run at it yet.”
Harper glanced around the backyard. “Where is he?”
“In the house filling up water balloons.”
“Don’t we have enough?” Milo and Jasper spent last night filling up three laundry baskets.
“That’s what I said, and his response is there is never enough when it comes to water balloons.”
Harper laughed. “That sounds about right.” Milo was go big or go home when it came to the Memorial Day party, and with no concern for money, he always went overboard.
“I told him as long as we pick up every last piece of balloon to go for it.” Jasper’s love for the planet amplified when it came to the water and marine life.
“You going to give this a go?” She nodded to the slip and slide.
“Not yet. I’m going to head into town and catch the end of the parade.”
“You just want to watch the mayhem unfold.” Every year something was bound to go wrong at the annual parade. There was the time One Step Dance School ended their routine with sparklers and one of the sparks caught the papier-mâché bald eagle, setting it ablaze. Luckily, the Morgan’s Bay Fire Department was only one group behind and had the fire out before it could spread.
“There’s nothing better than witnessing it first-hand. I also told some of my students I’d be by.”
