Even the Score(77)

“What took you guys so long? I’ve been out here for like fifteen minutes already,” Dani gloated with a huge grin as she winked at me.

I held my hands up, defending my loss. “The odds were stacked against me. I had to get myself and two kids ready.”

She tilted her head to the side, rolling her eyes skeptically at me.

“And.” I argued again, “I had to feed Becca’s doll, because apparently she was starving, so I get credit for all of that.”

“Speaking of starving.” She stood up and flung her purse over her shoulder. She had on denim jean shorts and hot pink T-shirt and black flip-flops. It never ceased to amaze me how sexy she was, whether she was all made up with her hair and makeup done and in work clothes or with her hair tossed in a ponytail, going casual with barely any makeup. I constantly was changing my mind about which I liked better. “Who else is hungry?”

Hungry for what?

“Me!” called Becca and Logan in unison, raising their hands in the air.

“All right, let’s go.” I turned back real quick to make sure the door was locked, and we were off.



We scarfed down breakfast in record time, barely even talking because we were so busy stuffing our faces. Of course, Becca was attached to Dani’s side, but thankfully, Dani didn’t seem to mind. Those two were quickly becoming two peas in a pod.

After breakfast we all plopped on the bench outside of the restaurant, trying to figure out what to do next.

“The Bouncy Bandit. Pleeeeeeeease,” Becca pleaded.

Dani took her sunglasses off the top of her head and slid them onto her nose as she turned toward me. “What’s The Bouncy Bandit?”

I took a deep breath and exhaled through my nose, not wanting Becca to hear me. “It’s one of those bouncy house places, but they also have extreme trampolining in a separate room.”

“Fun!” Dani exclaimed.

“Seriously?” I stared at her incredulously.

“See, Dad! Dani wants to go to,” added Becca.

“You don’t really, do you?” I mumbled to Dani quietly.

“Sure. Why not? You fuddy-duddy.”

I jerked my head back. “Did you just call me a fuddy-duddy? What are you, ninety-five years old?”

She arched one eyebrow at me as she rolled her tongue in between her top teeth and lip. “Call me what you want, I’m not the one who doesn’t want to go jump around for a couple of hours.”

“Is that so?” I asked playfully. “Bet I last longer than you do.”

“Oh boy!” She threw her head back and laughed loudly. “Now you’re on. What’s the wager? I mean, you already had to buy me breakfast, so I really don’t want to take any more of your money today.”

The feistier she was, the more I wanted her. “Tonight, after I put these two knuckleheads to bed, let’s watch a movie. Whoever bounces the longest without stopping gets to pick the movie.”

“Hmmm.” She tilted her head to the side and pressed her lips together tightly, thinking about my offer. “I like that. And I hope you like movies like Gone with the Wind, Steel Magnolias, and Beaches.”

“As a matter of fact, they’re my favorite,” I joked. “But when I win, you’re going to be spending the night with Jason Statham and Arnold Schwarzenegger.”

“I think I’m gonna beat both of you,” Logan teased with a wicked smile.

“Oh man, it’s on.” I laughed and shook my head.

While they all went to the car, I made a quick detour to let Gavin and his partner for the day, Samuel, know what our plans were.



We got to The Bouncy Bandit, and luckily for us, the place was pretty dead. Everyone else was outside enjoying one of the last few beautiful days of the summer, which we would have been smart to do, too, but we had a bet to settle, so no going back now.

None of us were wearing socks, so we just tossed our sandals into one of the lockers together.

Before I even had a chance to tell them to be careful, Becca and Logan were off, bouncing around the room like a couple of kangaroos.

“So.” Dani walked over with her arms crossed over her chest. “Do we have any ground rules, or are we just going?”

“Let’s just go . . . unless, of course, you’re chickening out?” I challenged, wiggling my eyebrows up and down.

“Not even close, my friend,” she scoffed. With a wicked flick of her eye, she stuck her hand out for me to shake. “May the best jumper last the longest.”

The first half an hour was pretty easy. Logan came over and bounced around with me. We made a giant hopscotch-type game with a detailed point system that helped pass the time for a little bit. Even during our game, I kept a close eye on Dani, who was jumping around with Becca. Not only did she not look as winded as I felt, she looked like she was going to be able to keep going for a long time. It was then that I realized I might have bitten off more than I could chew.