“Yeah.” Max nodded in agreement.
Inside the restaurant, he scanned the tables, looking for his friends. Spotting them at a flat top by the window, he grabbed Max’s hand and wove them through the tables.
“Hey,” he called out as they approached.
“Maxie,” Gonzo called out. “Glad you could make it.”
Max dipped his head and smiled shyly.
Jeff eyed the high bar stools and the cement floor and winced. Was it safe to put a kid on one of those chairs? Did they need a booster seat or some kind of seatbelt situation? Before he decided, Max scrambled up the rail of the chair and plopped onto the vacant seat beside Gonzo.
Guess that settled it.
“Are you and your dad having fun today?” Ryan asked.
“Yeah, we went to the beach and the park and then this afternoon we’re doing bumper boats,” Max told them.
“Bumper boats? Wow, can we come?” Ryan asked.
“Okay,” Max replied.
Ryan grinned back at Max, then looked at Jeff and shrugged. “Sorry man, I know it’s Daddy son time, but it’s bumper boats.”
He snorted. “No problem.”
“What’s that?” Max pointed to a basket in the middle of the table with a series of colored balls.
“That’s a game. Want me to show you?” Pete asked.
Max nodded.
Jeff leaned back in his seat as Pete pulled the wooden boards with an arm sticking up in the middle and began explaining the rules to Max.
“So, you gotta swing your string and get the hook on the end to grab hold of the one on the pole,” Pete told him.
Max touched the little hook on the pole with his finger. “Hook it on here?”
“Yep.”
Jeff looked around the restaurant, then back at the group. “Max, I need to go to the bathroom. You want to try, too?”
“No,” Max shook his head.
“You should probably come with me and try, bud.” Didn’t kids have to pee like every five minutes?
“I’m good,” Max replied as he whipped the string again and Gonzo weaved back to avoid being hit. It seemed Max’s strategy was to swing the string as hard as possible and hope it grabbed onto the hook on one of its many back swings.
“You good staying here with the guys while I go?”
“Uh-huh.” Max’s eyes narrowed and he chewed his bottom lip as he stared at the game like he was willing the string to attach.
Jeff eyed his friends. “I’ll be quick.”
“No worries, we got him,” Ryan reassured him.
Jeff eyed his son, surrounded by his friends. He was being ridiculous. Of course Max was safe with his friends.
“Okay, I’ll be back in a minute. Order me a Coke and Max? You want chocolate milk? Juice?”