Page 65 of The Hook Up
“I would love to,” Ty said, meaning it. “But I need to get the burgers on the grill.”
Ellie stood up, nibbling a carrot stick from the tray she’d laid out neatly on Ty’s patio table. “I’ll play with you, kiddo.”
She kicked off her flip-flops then padded, laughing, into the grass. Her blond ponytail streamed behind her as she jogged out into the middle of the yard and assumed an exaggerated goalie stance. “C’mon, buddy! Sock it right here!”
Henry laughed and hustled out into the lawn, booting the ball as hard as possible once he reached it. Ellie scrambled after it barefoot, shouting in triumph as she kicked it back to him. The smell of fresh-cut grass and someone else’s barbecue wafted on the breeze as Ty laid the hamburger patties on the grill.
As the meat began to sizzle, Ty’s phone buzzed in his pocket. He ignored it, not wanting to interrupt his time with Ellie and Henry to chat with anyone. Not wanting to do anything to disturb this perfect evening.
He let the call go to voicemail and turned to flip the burgers. A spatter of hot grease popped, shooting a rocket of gristle backward. It hit his cheek with a searing blast, and Ty dropped the tongs.
“Son of a squirrel fucker!”
He put a hand to his cheek, dimly aware of the silence behind him.
Slowly, he realized the awfulness of what he’d just done. Shoulders tense with shame, Ty turned to see Henry staring open-mouthed with the soccer ball in his hands.
The boy gave him a curious look. “What’s a sq?—”
“It’s nothing, baby,” Ellie said, throwing a grimace at Ty. “Come on, toss the ball over here.”
“I’m sorry,” Ty muttered. He closed his eyes and counted to ten, pissed as hell at himself for screwing this up already. For thinking he could be anything other than a shitty influence on a kid.
With his cheek still stinging, he turned back to the grill and checked the buns. They were toasty enough to serve, so he flipped the burgers one last time and added slices of cheese to each one. Calcium. Kids needed calcium, right?
You’re a fucking joke,his subconscious chided.You have no idea what kids need.
“Dinner’s ready!” he called, determined to salvage the evening.
Ellie and Henry hustled over, both gushing about how good everything smelled.
“Here, sweetie,” Ellie said, slathering her son’s bun with ketchup. “You want pickles this time?”
“No, thank you.”
Ty forced a smile, hoping they could all move past his faux pas. “You’re so good at that, Henry,” he said. “Your manners. I appreciate that you always say please and thank you.”
Henry beamed and took a big bite of his burger. “Thank you. I’m trying to be a gentleman. The good kind.”
He attempted a conspiratorial wink, but it came out looking more like the effect of a mild stroke.
Ty laughed. “You’re welcome.”
Ty dove into his own burger, grateful he’d gotten that right. The patty was juicy and flavorful, and the tang of grilled meat made him long for family cookouts he’d never actually experienced.
Henry was halfway through his burger already. Across the table, Ellie kept urging him to eat a few carrot slices. Ty picked one up and bit into it, doing his best to set a positive example.
“This is the best hamburger ever,” Henry said, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand before Ellie shoved a paper towel napkin at him. “Thank you, Mr. Ty.”
“You’re welcome, Mr. Henry.”
The boy laughed and polished off the last of his burger before starting in on his apple slices. “Maybe after dinner you’ll show me some of the pictures you took today?”
Ty nodded and finished chewing his own mouthful of burger before answering. “Absolutely. We can even run them through the television so it’ll be just like watching yourself on a TV show.”
Henry’s eyes went wide at that suggestion, and he gave an exuberant nod. “And maybe we can put music with it,” he said. “Like they do in the movies. Something like nah-nah- nah-nah-nah-nah-nah-nah?—”
“Batman!” shouted Ty, completing the song. He held up a hand, delighted when Henry smacked a ketchup-sticky high-five in the center of his palm.
