Page 82 of Again, In Autumn

His eyes go wide.

The distraction gains me access to my body, freedom to run and an easy grab of his beach ball. Maggie and Francesca cheer me on as I join them. Diego still stands in the center of the grass, hands in the air, and Kate runs in circles, screaming at Grayson to stop trying to kick her in the ankles.

Francesca blows her whistle. “Points to Team Francesca! We have three beachballs and Team Loser Crybabies have a measly one ball. Grayson, let her go! This round is over!”

As my team disperses, Adam walks over to me, and I laugh at the shock still displayed on his face.

“You really thought I was going to knee you in the nuts?” I ask, crossing my arms. I feel the need to cover my body. To prevent others from seeing how his loopy grin makes me feel.

He gasps. “Yes! You people are brutal. And you scare me.”

“I wouldn’t do something like that,” I chuckle. “I won’t hit you below the belt. I know you want children one day.”

I toss him the ball. He steps up, the brim of his cap casting a shadow over his face. “Yep. Thanks for the forethought.”

“I’m also too gentle to cause you actual harm.”

He throws the beach ball into the air. “And you’ve already hit me where it hurts.”

We both watch the ball gently fall into my open arms.

Adam blinks. I look away.

We play two more rounds each of the game, switching sides each time, and Adam doesn’t detour from his game plan. Whether he has the ball, or I have the ball, we find our way to each other. He throws me over his shoulder with ease, lets me dart past his legs, and hoists me to his hip, cheering his team’s victory as though we didn’t tie the game.

I loved every second of it. And hated it at the same time.

It was very conflicting.

“What’s next?” Adam pants, scratching at his stubble.

My eye catches David’s curious gaze as it moves back and forth between me and Adam.

“Um, my thing.” I run my fingernails along the bumpy edges of the plastic ball and gesture toward grass. “You better go find Katie. She wanted to partner up and get weird.”

He teeters, nodding his head and kicking an acorn. “Sure.”

I pair up with Alice.

“The rule of the game,” I say to the group, “Is that you must mirror your partner’s movements completely. You’re competing against your partner. They decide if you’re still in it or you’re out.”

I get down on my knees. I swipe my nose across Alice’s, and she giggles.

“This is trippy,” David calls out, waving his hands slowly in wide circles.

“Every time, I feel like I’m on shrooms or I’m doing tai chi,” Francesca laughs, copying the movement.

David snorts, “Or like we’re whales at the aquarium waving through the glass to school children.”

“Set me free,” she chants. “Set me free…”

David says, “Wax on. Wax off.”

They both bowl over in laughter and they’re not the only ones.

I match my hands to Alice as she breaks our imaginary glass pane and tries to touch my eyelashes. It’s not worth explaining the game to her.

Caroline kneels in front of Grayson. “We’re pretty good at this,” she comments. “I feel like a mime.”

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