Page 36 of Hot Dad Summer

His eyes narrowed dangerously as he caught my waist and pinned me to his chest. “Maybe you already found all the man you need.”

I planted my hands on his chest and stared up at him with a teasing smile on my lips. “You mean Flynn? Or Max?”

His jaw tightened right along with his hands on my waist. “Daisy.”

I ignored his warning tone and continued teasing him. “Wes.”

He seemed to realize people were watching us and whispering. His face went pale for a moment before moving away. I had to pretend like it didn’t hurt. He cleared his throat and nodded. “Do what you want.”

Something in me went ugly at yet another rejection. I narrowed my gaze on his face and crossed my arms under my chest. Seeing his eyes drop to my chest didn’t soothe any of the anger in me. “I have been doing what I want, Wes. I slept with Flynn and it was amazing. And Max? Max knows exactly how I taste.”

The way his mouth fell open almost made my words worth it. In reality, I was horrified and shamed of myself for saying those things. I couldn’t understand why the hell I’d just said the things I said because after saying them, I wanted to drown in a ditch. I wasn’t normally like that; I didn’t normally say things to hurt people. Apparently getting dumped and cutting off my family made me mean.

“I-I shouldn’t have said that.”

I stepped around him and out of the store. Without looking at Max or Flynn, I took off towards the kids. Hank spawned next to my feet and licked my hand. I patted him and tried to keep myself together.

A minute or two later Wes fell into step with me. He caught my hand again. “Okay.”

I shot him an unreadable look with plenty of skepticism. “What?”

“Okay. You slept with Flynn and hooked up with Max. Fine. I was the best, obviously.” He kept his eyes on the sidewalk ahead but there was a smirk on his face and a cockiness that I didn’t recognize in him. “I’ll make sure to stay the best. No matter the cost.”

I was so surprised by his new attitude that I stopped walking and would’ve been run over by a large man carrying a toddler on his shoulders if Max hadn’t been close enough to grab me and pull me out of the way and into his chest. I stared up at him and knew I was in trouble. Real trouble. It shouldn’t have been possible to go from seeing Wes with hearts in my eyes to seeing Max with hearts in my eyes in less than five seconds. I already knew if I looked back at Flynn, it’d be more of the same.

Crushing guilt and panic had me pushing away from Max and Wes. One glance around let me see that people were staring. Some I recognized as locals from my time in the village. They were pointing and whispering to each other and it was my turn to be ashamed. They all knew the Calloways. They all knew I’d been showing up for three years with Tyler. They’d all witnessed me hanging out with Tyler’s brothers all summer, with no Tyler in sight. They were watching me hang all over Wes and Max right there in public.

I knew what they must be thinking of me. Shame and guilt hit me hard. My stomach clenched and I had to take a deep, shaky breath to keep from throwing up. Wes reached for me again but I sidestepped him and started forward. I couldn’t stop thinking about what all the people around us were thinking about me. And it would be me that they’d be talking about. The Calloways were a structure in Sweetwater Cove. People got out of their way when they walked and no one dared whisper about them where the Calloways could possibly overhear. I was the one out on a limb all by herself. I was there for judgement. And a big part of me felt like I deserved it.

29

***Wes***

Istood around the kitchen with my brothers, each of us waiting to speak until we could no longer hear Daisy and the kids. She was putting them to bed and we didn’t have much time to talk because I wanted to be there when she put Hazel to bed. Hazel had been quieter the past few weeks and I wanted to know if something was going on with my daughter.

Max spoke up first. “I don’t want anything to do with her or whatever this is. You two handle your shit.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “She said you know how she tastes.”

His cheeks actually went red and he choked on whatever denial he started to put out. When he had control over his breathing he just shook his head. “I’m out of this.”

Flynn and I watched him leave from the kitchen door and then turned back to each other. I stared him down but he didn’t buckle. If anything, he stood up taller and smirked at me.

“Whatever you think you have with her, you’re wrong. She’s mine.” Flynn shrugged like he hadn’t just pissed me off.

“She’s not yours, Flynn. She’s not something either of us can own.” I waited a moment and then gave into my base needs. “If she was one of ours, she wouldn’t be yours.”

“I’m not backing down, Wes.”

“For now. You never stick to anything, Flynn. You can’t commit. Never have and you probably never will.” I braced my hands on the island and frowned at him. “She isn’t someone you can play house with for a few weeks and then bolt as soon as you have to make a real choice to be with her.”

Flynn stood up straighter and glared at me. “Fuck off, Wes. You think you’re any better? You touched her and then acted like it was the worse thing you’d ever done. You can’t commit to her anymore than you think I can.”

“Bullshit. I’m going to make this work.” I ignored the pain in my chest at the thought of him bringing up Sarah. I’d been fucked up for a long time but I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life, the rest of Hazel’s life, being closed off and miserable. “I’m not backing down, Flynn.”

He smiled but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “I guess it’s game on, then, because I’m not walking away from Daisy just so you can fuck it up.”

“So, we’re both going after the same woman? The woman who happens to be our little brother’s ex?” I let out a humorless laugh. “This definitely won’t blow up in our faces.”