Page 14 of Single Dad Problems
“The Aquila constellation, also known as the Eagle. We’ll need to find Altair, the highest star in Aquila.” Oliver nodded faster as he stood. “We have to find the Summer Triangle and Aquila will-”
“-be the lowest star in the triangle. You know stars, too?! I want to be an astronaut and go to space when I grow up.” Noah grabbed Oliver’s hand and pulled him towards the door. I noticed immediately that Oliver didn’t fight the hold. “We’re going to look at stars! Bye!”
Emma and Beth, Ben’s daughter, chased after the boys, holding hands themselves. I would’ve found it even cuter than I did if they hadn’t left me completely alone with their dads.
Karla stepped in and I suddenly wished I was very much alone with the guys. She only had eyes for me, despite the hunks standing there, which said a lot about how much she disliked me. “You. I told you that you couldn’t use this room and you just had to get your way, anyway. You need to learn to follow the rules. I’ll be telling Principal Darren about this.”
I patted my pockets and looked around for my keys. “I would expect nothing less, Karla.”
Luke walked behind me and picked something up from the floor. He raised an eyebrow and smirked as he held my keys out to me on the tip of one finger. “Looking for these?”
“Out! All of you out, now. I need to make sure you didn’t mess anything up during your unauthorized use of this room.” Karla held one thin, stiff arm out and pointed at the door. “This won’t happen again.”
Ben walked over, charming smile aimed at Karla. He shoved his hands in his pockets and when he curled his shoulders in he looked more like an innocent boy than he should’ve been able to. “We’ll go, of course. Thank you for letting us use this room, Miss Karla.”
For the first time ever I watched Karla blush and look shy. “Oh! Um… You’re very welcome.”
We had to get out of there before Karla’s head spun around in circles and she started vomiting pea soup. It was every woman for herself as I scurried out of the room like I was a mouse and there was a tomcat chasing after me. I left all three men behind without a second thought or glance. Oops.
12
Callie
Cole caught up with me just before I slammed the front door open and escaped. He reached around me to push the exit bar before I could. “I never thought you’d be so fast to abandon us, Cupcake. That was just cruel.”
His arm was solid and hot along mine and I had to hurry out so I didn’t do anything stupid, like lean into him and absorb all that hard heat. The night air was muggy and hot and I had sweat forming along my upper lip immediately.
I groaned and wiped it away before lifting my hair from my neck. “This is the devil’s weather.”
“Yet you were so impatient to get out here.” Cole’s words could’ve been a joke but his face was so serious that I wasn’t sure. “That lady hates you, huh?”
Karla was a safe conversation topic. There was no way I could say or do anything embarrassing if we only spoke about Karla. “I think she does. She’s pretty intense. Tessa did steal the key to the conference room for me tonight so maybe she has a right to bemad this time. I mean, it wasn’t Tessa. Someone else did. Tessa would never. She’s a good girl. Just like me. We didn’t steal the key.”
Ben and Luke made their presence known and moved around to stand in front of us. Ben rubbed the scruff of his beard and shook his head. “Tessa’s the one who was laughing so hard she was crying and snorting?”
I nodded. “Yep. She’s my best friend. Karla, that evil lady inside, hates her almost as much as she hates me.”
“Why does she hate you so much?” Luke crossed his arms and studied me with the same look my dad had given me when he was trying to figure me out. It was the look of a man unsure if he was dealing with a sweet girl or a little demon.
“I don’t know. She always has. I guess I never really thought about it much. Her feelings are her problems.” I shrugged and looked at the kids staring up at the sky at the bottom of the steps. “Do any of you know what the Aquila constellation looks like?”
Ben scoffed. “I could barely point out the Big Dipper if you put a gun to my head.”
“Yeah, no. I can tell you what the stars look like over thirty different countries but I have no clue what any of them are named.” Cole said it like visiting thirty countries was nothing. “I’m good with Noah being smarter than me but only because I can still pick him up and hold him upside down. I don’t know what I’ll do when he’s my size.”
I watched Oliver point something out to the other kids and felt like my world couldn’t get any better when they all got excited by it. It wasn’t easy for Oliver to find friends who understood him but it looked like he was finding his tribe. At least I hoped he was.
“Of course,Lukeknows what the constellation looks like. Nerd.” Ben playfully pushed Luke and then nodded at me. “What about you? Point out the tequila stars for us.”
I laughed and held up my hands. “No, no. I mean, Iammore likely to be able to point out a tequila constellation than the Aquila one, but constellations aren’t my area of expertise. If you wanted me to identify different serial killers through the centuries, I could. But stars? I don’t have a clue.”
I was so busy watching the kids that it took me a few seconds to realize the men around me had all gone silent. I looked up and saw they were each staring at me with matching expressions of shock.
“What? What’d I say?” I shrugged. “We should get the kids home. As soon as Oliver realizes we’re running late for his dinner, he’s going to give methe look.”
Ben stepped closer and lightly brushed my hand with his thumb. “If you weren’t so sexy it’d be a giant red flag that you can identify multiple serial killers.”
“It’s still a red flag. I just don’t care.” Cole smirked. “I can protect myself if you come at me with a weapon.”
