Chapter 13 - Paxton
Saturday took far too long to come around, but once it did, I found myself buzzing with nerves.
It was another chance to impress—or fuck up in front of—Cal’s family, scare off Jacob, and try to make sure I convince everyone we’re together for real.
We agreed that instead of meeting up beforehand, I’d just make my way to the Sinclair house around eleven that morning, so I hopped in my truck with plenty of time to spare and headed over.
As I turned down the street, I was a little surprised to see how many cars were parked in the driveway and along the sidewalk—at least a dozen.
It was going to be a lot more hectic than I anticipated.
I parked a moment later, but sat in the truck for a bit to steel my nerves.
I took a couple of deep breaths and stepped out of the truck and onto the street before making my way to the front door.
Just before I knocked, the front door swung open, a little boy maybe seven years old on the other side, wearing jeans with ripped knees and holding a popsicle.
“Are you here for field day?”
I nodded solemnly. “I am. Are you sure you’re supposed to be answering the door?”
He shrugged and before we could say anything else to one another, a little girl ran up to him and swatted him on the shoulder.
“Tag!”
The little boy darted away.
With a chuckle, I stepped inside and looked around. I didn’t see anyone, but I did hear the shrieks of kids having fun coming from the backyard. After a second, I pulled out my phone, texted Callum that I was there, and waited in the entryway awkwardly until he arrived.
Mercifully, it didn’t take long for him to rescue me. A few moments later, he appeared, coming from what looked to be a formal dining room that connected to the kitchen. His smile was warm and welcoming, sending butterflies through me.
“Hey there.” His voice was soft and a little shy.
I grinned, shoving my hands into my shorts pockets. “Hi.”
“I hope you weren’t waiting long. Things are… a little chaotic around here.”
“That seems like an understatement.”
Cal shrugged. “It’s always like this for Family Field Day. It’s probably the most popular event besides the cookout, which is on the last weekend.”
“What’s the third weekend, then?”
“A movie marathon.”
I hummed approvingly.
“Ready to get this show on the road?”
“Ready as I’ll ever be.” I followed Cal through the house to a spacious porch that looked out on a huge backyard.
As soon as we stepped onto the porch, Cal’s mom approached us. “Oh, good. Now we can get started.” She clapped her hands together. “Alright everyone, time to team up. Teams should be four people and you’ll need a team name before we start.”
I looked at Cal for guidance and he gestured to Charlie, who was making his way over to us.
“Okay, just one more.”
The little boy who’d answered the front door ran up to us. “Can I be on your team?”
Charlie gave him a big smile and nodded. “You can be the captain if you want, Henry.”
Henry grinned and pumped his fist before turning very serious. “What’s our team name going to be?”
After some back-and-forth, Henry and Charlie came up with Sweet Victory, which Charlie suggested as a nod to my day job, and Henry agreed to, because he was sure we’d win it all.
First up was the grown-up sack race, and each team sent an adult representative to hop their way to the finish line. I was nominated for our team—as Henry explained, being the tallest in the group meant I could hop farther.
“I’m not entirely sure that’s going to work out in our favor, but I’ll try,” I assured them before taking my place at the starting line and stepping into the burlap sack.
A few people separated me from Jacob, who kept shooting daggers at me with his eyes.
When the bell rang to start the race, I fixed my gaze on my team waiting at the finish line, and started hopping determinedly, letting the noise of all the cheering bystanders fade into the background.
Eventually I crossed the finish, stumbling the last few steps but righting myself and stepping out of the sack gracelessly so I didn't fall. Henry threw his arms around my waist, jumping up and down.
“I knew you could do it!”
I looked around to discover that I had, in fact, won the race. Jacob hopped his way over the line last, anger easy to read across his features.
Charlie came over and clapped me on the shoulder. “Well, that was impressive.”
I chuckled and rubbed the back of my neck. “It wasn’t that big of a deal.”
He nodded in Jacob’s direction. “Not if you ask him.”
Before we could carry on celebrating, the kids were lining up for their turn at the sack race.
Cal and I stood on the sidelines and cheered for Henry, along with Charlie, who whooped the loudest. When Henry crossed the finish first—another win for Sweet Victory—he came over to us to get high fives.
I hoisted him onto my shoulder and carried him around like the champion he was.
Next up was dizzy bat, which we nominated Charlie for.
He competed mostly against the tween-and-under set and came in a reasonable fourth place out of nine competitors.
Once that was complete, Cal’s Aunt Lynn informed us that it was time for the three-legged race, and that Callum and I were contractually obligated to run together since we were a couple.
We were handed two lengths of twine and left to tie ourselves together.
“I…” He started to speak but trailed off, his cheeks blazing red.
I laughed and rubbed the back of my neck. “It’s fine,” I murmured. “How about we just get this done quickly?”
“Deal.”
I bent and tied us together at our calves and then our thighs, trying not to take up too much of Cal’s personal space, which was impossible, of course.
Soon enough, we were pressed against each other, our legs bound together.
I threw my arm around his shoulder and leaned in, his body heat radiating against me and making my throat tight. “Ready?”
He blushed again and looked down. “Ready.”
Lynn rang a bell and we were off, making our way across the yard. We quickly found our rhythm and hurried to the finish line. For the second time that day, I found myself on the winning end of a race, and as we cheered, I heard someone start yelling.
“Goddammit!”
Cal and I turned to see Jacob and Angie on the ground, Jacob’s face red with anger.
“You’re so fucking clumsy,” Jacob continued, louder than necessary. “I told you to tie it tighter.”
From where we stood, it looked as if Jacob and Angie’s twine had loosened and drooped around their ankles, causing them to get tangled up and fall. Angie’s face was crumpled and she looked as if she was going to cry. Jacob was shaking his head and fuming.
Angie murmured something to Jacob, something I couldn’t quite catch from the distance, and he waved her away furiously before reaching down and untying their legs.
“Well, that’s the end of the three-legged race,” Lynn announced, clapping her hands together. “We have our winners. Great job, Sweet Victory.” The crowd cheered half-heartedly before Lynn announced the start of the water games. “Next up, water balloon toss. Teams, send up your competitors.”
Charlie and Henry took point on this race, Cal and I standing to the side as they lined up. We watched as they gave it a valiant effort, tossing the balloons as carefully as possible. They were knocked out third, but we cheered loudly anyway.
When Henry approached, a deep frown on his face, I patted his shoulder. “It’s okay, bud. You did a great job.”
“We didn’t win, though. We were in fifth place.”
I shrugged. “Did you have a good time?” He nodded, his lower lip still pushed out in a pout. “That’s all that matters.”
He shrugged unenthusiastically before stepping back to watch the rest of the relay. Jacob and Angie’s team came in third, thanks to the other two members of the team, a couple of tweens I hadn’t met yet, a respectable enough showing. Jacob didn’t look impressed.
“Last pairs event,” Lynn informed everyone. “The sponge relay.”
Charlie clapped Cal on the shoulder. “How about we mix it up and give this one a shot?” After Callum nodded, Charlie turned to Henry. “Is that okay with you buddy? You can hang out with Paxton and rest up for the tug of war and the water balloon war.”
Henry grinned and gave a thumbs-up, so the two of us stood near the finish line and watched as sponges were handed out and buckets were filled. The task was to transfer water from one bucket to a second, sprinting between the two and using only sponges to move the water.
Charlie and Callum took their places. Each team had one sponge and whoever had the most water in the second bucket at the end was the winner.
Once Lynn rang the bell, the first runner for each pair took off.
I watched as Charlie ran across the yard, emptied his sponge into the second bucket, and returned to Callum with the wrung-out sponge.
Henry and I stood on the sidelines, cheering and whooping to encourage them.
Callum moved quickly, the second Charlie returned the sponge to him, dunking it and taking off. Just as he made it to the far end and the second bucket, he slipped, going down hard. My stomach lurched and I couldn’t stop myself from sprinting to be at his side.
He groaned and sat up gingerly as I reached him, Charlie coming up right behind me. “Hey,” I murmured. “Are you okay?”
Cal closed his eyes briefly and took a slow breath. “I think I turned my ankle.”
“Can you move it? Is it broken?” My heart raced as I asked the questions.
Gingerly, he attempted to move his right ankle, wincing and hissing in pain as he did. “I don’t think it’s broken, but it hurts like a bitch.”
“Here.” I put his arm around my shoulder and nodded at Charlie to do the same. Together, we hoisted Cal up. He kept his right foot from touching the ground, knee bent, and groaned again.
“Shit, that hurts.”
“Where can we go to sit down?” I asked.
Charlie nodded toward the deck, where picnic tables were set up, and the two of us helped Cal hobble over to a table and get settled. He groaned again as he took a seat and propped his leg up on the bench.
“Fuck, that hurts.”
“I’m going to get you some ice,” I said.
Charlie shook his head. “Stay here. You don’t know where anything is. I’ll get an ice pack. You just keep him company.”
While we waited, Henry came running over. “Are you hurt?”
Cal grimaced and nodded, his voice tight when he spoke. “A little bit.”
“Hey, Henry, why don’t you go watch the rest of the games and represent for Sweet Victory?
Charlie will come hang out with you in a few minutes, okay?
” When I looked around, I saw Callum’s dad and a couple of other men hauling out laundry baskets full of water balloons.
“Looks like the water balloon war is about to start anyway. You don’t want to miss that. ”
“Okay,” he said, and hurried off to gather with the other kids.
By the time Henry had run off, Charlie was back with an ice pack wrapped in a towel. He passed it to me and put a hand on Cal’s shoulder. “Going to be okay here?”
As Cal nodded, I carefully arranged the ice pack on the offending ankle, leaving one hand on his shin and absently stroking his skin with my thumb. “That good?”
He looked at me gratefully, a small smile on his face. “Perfect.”