Page 140 of The Single Dad

I shrug. “Well, they can deal.”

We join the rest of the parents in eating. The pre-K catered the event, and there are boxes of cheese and pepperoni pizza for the kids, and sandwich wraps for the adults. Archie sits down with his friends for a few minutes while they all eat and enjoy their lemonades.

“Make sure you take it easy after you eat,” Riley calls. “Don’t just rush off again, or your tummy will hurt!”

Archie nods in acknowledgement, but it isn’t long before he and the other kids are back at it, their endless game of tag resuming.

“Who do you think is winning?” Riley asks me, her gaze tracking Archie as he races after another child.

“Is it a team game?” I wonder in reply.

“I think it’s every man for himself.”

For a few minutes, we sit in silence, trying to make heads or tails of the strange game the kids are playing. At first glance, it looks like tag, but there’s a definite hide-and-seek element; the kid who’s “it” has to stand by a specific tree and count down before giving chase.

The longer I watch, the more confusing it gets, until eventually I give up on understanding and instead focus on Riley. I’ll never get tired of looking at her, especially in the sunlight.

It catches in her silken hair and warms her skin. It also illuminates her eyes. I’ve found her eyes—warm and brown and perfect—stunning since the first time I looked into them. But now, as the sun’s rays pass through them, they become all the more beautiful.

She’s radiant.

Right now, I want nothing more than to have her in my arms.

I look over to make sure that the other parents have a good handle on the group of kids. They’re watching attentively—there are plenty of careful, adult eyes around.

I nudge Riley with my shoulder. “We should move our blanket over a little bit,” I suggest. I nod toward a tree, around fifty yards away from the cluster of parents—not far enough to be out of eyesight, but far enough that we’ll have a little privacy. “Into the shade, maybe.”

“Sure,” she says. Together, we tug our checkered blanket toward the tree, settling in beneath its branches.

As soon as we’re on our own, I pull her into my arms and plant a kiss on her cheek. Of course, this is followed quickly by another one on her lips. I can’t resist her, no matter how hard I try—and I’m not trying particularly hard at the moment.

Riley laughs uncertainly, but after a third kiss, she melts against me, letting out a small sigh. When we break apart, she stares at me, then shakes her head.

“What are you doing? The other parents are definitely gonna notice this.”

“Let them notice, then,” I say. There’s a spark of defiance in me alongside my desire to have Riley as close as possible.

Why should any random stranger get to dictate what I should and shouldn’t do? What I can and can’t have?

“It’s going to be a whole thing. Imagine what Mrs. Matthews will have to say about this. And—” She glances furtively back to the group of parents, more than a few of whom are still openly staring. “Once a few of them know, it’s going to get back to all the rest of them.”

I take a deep breath.

“Maybe I don’t care,” I tell her.

Her eyes widen. “What about the rules?”

I hesitate for a few seconds, watching the crowd of children running and laughing. Then I look back to Riley with a smile.

“Maybe we say fuck the rules. Every single one of them. Maybe whatever this thing between us is, it’s too big for rules.”

She grins at that, and happiness swells in my chest. I feel lighter than air.

I lean in to kiss her, and suddenly, that floating sensation within me is punctured by the sound of a shrill, pained cry.

I feel a sudden stab of panic.

That’s Archie.