Singled Out

Chapter 1

Sometimes life could sack a guy out of nowhere, leaving him stunned stupid, wondering what the hell had just hit him, trying to figure out how to get back on his feet.

Sometimes that sack was literal and sometimes figurative.

I’d experienced both.

The literal sacking had happened thirteen years ago and ended my short but promising NFL career. I’d gotten through that trying time eventually. Switched to a plan B.

The figurative knocked-on-my-ass incident had happened a little over a year ago, and most days I still felt dazed and stupid, as if I had no hope of ever being on solid ground again.

Instant parenthood could do that to a guy.

I had the men’s room at the Marks Hotel to myself, thank God, because I needed to breathe.

I needed to get my mental shit together, paste on my public-Max smile, and get this night over with.

After washing my hands, I checked my phone one more time for a text from my mom.

Nothing.

Ty Bishop, the basketball coach and my colleague at the high school, burst through the door, interrupting my anxious thoughts.

“You ready for this, Dawson?” he asked, heading for the urinal.

“Hell no.” I said it with a smile, a tone of brotherhood. Then I exited and headed down the hall toward the backstage fray.

In the past, I would’ve embraced an event like tonight’s bachelor auction wholeheartedly. I knew what the people of my hometown of Dragonfly Lake, Tennessee, expected from me. They saw me as the smart, athletic, good-looking guy who could handle anything. The guy who’d suffered a devastating setback and come out unscathed. The guy who had it all.

Privately, I was none of that, but I’d usually done my best to play the role.

These days it was harder to hide private Max, with all his fears, doubts, and anxiety.

And now I was minutes away from having to walk up on a stage, stand under a spotlight, and wait for someone to bid on a date with me.

I’d have to stand there and smile, act like the fun-loving guy who had it all, while in reality, I was worried as hell about my little boy at home with a fever and a cough.

“Hey, Max.”

I turned at the sound of my sister Dakota’s voice, relieved it was someone I didn’t need to fake it so hard for.

“Hey, shorty,” I said as we side hugged. I pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “You going to buy yourself a date tonight?”

She made a pfft sound and waved away the idea. “As if. I’ve got better things to spend my cash on.”

That worked for me. The fewer guys she dated, the fewer guys I had to give that stern, big-brother glare to keep them in check where my sister was concerned. She turned plenty of heads on a normal day. Tonight she was dolled up in a too-short black dress, crazy-high heels that made her closer to my six-one height, and enough smoky eye makeup to choke a horse. Her blond locks were up in an intricate style.

Ignoring the opportunity to give her some low-key hell, I asked, “Have you talked to Mom?”

Her expression turned sympathetic. “I’m sure Daniel’s okay, Max. He has a cold. Mom knows what she’s doing. She’d call you if he got worse.”

The rational side of me knew that was true, but the worried father side of me was having a hard time embracing it.

“Do you know how many kids have had colds before?” she asked, her tone dripping with smart-ass.

“Do you know how many of my kids have had colds before?”

“I guess that would depend on how many secret babies you have running around in the world.”

Normally that would make me laugh, but tonight it caused a shudder. I held in a growl, closed my eyes, and shook my head.

“Max.” My sister’s tone was suddenly serious. “This is supposed to be a fun night out for you, but look at you. You’re a stressy mess. Daniel’s in good hands.”

I nodded, knowing she was right and wishing I could snap out of it. “Yeah. Okay. I need to get in there. I think I hear them rounding up the cattle.”

“I think bulls is a better word here,” Dakota said. “Work on that smile so you aren’t the lowest bid of the evening.”

Hell. I hadn’t had a chance to worry about superficial shit like that. “You think I’ll go for less than Sergio Vega?”

My sister scoffed. “Shut up, golden boy.” With a roll of her eyes and a smile, she pivoted and clacked off in her ridiculous heels toward the ladies’ room.

Nothing left to do but get in there and get this over with so I could go check on my boy.

I smoothed the front of my button-down shirt and braced myself as I opened the door to the noisy holding area backstage.

“Hell, I was hoping you’d gone home,” Kemp Essex said, clapping me on the back as I joined him, Cade McNamara, and Anton White in one of the multiple clusters of men decked out in a mix of dressy-casual and casual clothes. “Thin out the competition.”

“Isn’t it supposed to be more bachelors, more money for the cause?” I asked dryly.

“Sure, but I’d prefer to get the highest bid,” Kemp said.

“Wouldn’t happen even if Max stepped aside,” Cade said.

“Sure wouldn’t be you either, bro,” Anton said.

“I guess we’ll see what the ladies think,” Kemp said as Talia Latimer, one of the organizers, whistled for everyone’s attention.

She went over the same info she’d given us earlier, about the cause, about what we were supposed to do when it was our turn on stage, what was appropriate and what was inappropriate. Stuff she shouldn’t have to go over, but with this group, it was a good idea.

The cause was one I was happy to support—art in education. As a math teacher myself, I valued education to the highest degree. Our small town had suffered multiple cuts to non-STEM programs like art and music.

What was more, I couldn’t help but wonder if people like my sister would be more productive and successful in life if our high school had an art department. Dakota had drifted through school, uninterested in all of it. As a full-time bartender at Henry’s, she did okay, but I couldn’t help but wonder when she’d start wanting more for herself. For fun, Dakota created hand-thrown mugs and other ceramics. She turned out some impressive pieces. If she’d found her art interest sooner, where would she be today?

Most importantly, though, I was a parent now. I had a kid who would grow up in the Dragonfly Lake school system. I sure as hell wanted him to have every opportunity in the world to explore his interests and become a well-rounded human.

At the thought of Daniel, that general pang of worry twisted my gut, so I pulled out my phone. Nothing from my mom. Fuck it. I typed in a message.

Her reply came right away.

Danny’s sleeping soundly. Cough medicine is doing its job, and his fever went down with Tylenol. I’ve got this, Max. Relax and have fun! That’s an order.

Easier said than done.

I thanked my mom yet again for being there for my boy, then put my phone away and tried to do what she’d suggested.

As Talia sent the first of the twenty bachelors, Elijah Watt, toward the stage like a prime piece of twenty-two-year-old meat, I wasn’t really feeling it, but I was determined not to let it show. Time for public Max to do his thing.