His head made a little sideways motion that said eh, not really, and that worried her. Yes, really.
The four-wheelers started firing up, so Drew started theirs. The engine sounds were loud while they were all sitting there idling, so Liz relaxed against the seat and let the conversation go. Something to talk about on another day.
*
Drew was pretty sure the only thing that saved him from having Water Ball Game of Doom printed on his death certificate was the fact Ryan tried to spike the inflatable beach ball at him so hard he popped the damn thing.
Drew had known as soon as they got back from their ride and everybody started clamoring to go in the pool, that he’d be a target. Mitch was doing a really good job of respecting his sister’s wishes, but that didn’t mean Drew wouldn’t pay. He had red splotches all over his torso, more than a few bruises and he was getting better at holding his breath by the minute.
“You broke it!” Bobby yelled at Ryan. “You broke the water ball.”
“Do we have another one?” Danny asked.
Drew hoped like hell they didn’t. He wasn’t going to cry uncle, but he’d had enough water ball. He wanted to grab Liz, whose body in that swimsuit was one of the reasons he sucked at water ball, and go “take a nap” as some of the other adults did.
“Mom, do we have another water ball?”
“No,” Lisa called. “That was the only one.”
There were groans of disappointment, and then Bobby came up with a solution. “We can use the volleyball.”
“No!” yelled every adult within earshot.
“What are we going to play now?” Bobby wanted to know.
“You could just swim around,” Drew said, and he was pretty sure he heard Mitch and Ryan snicker.
He didn’t care. Making his way to the edge of the pool, he sat on the middle rung of the ladder and let the small waves wash over him as the kids turned swimming around into some kind of water wrestling of doom match.
Liz caught his eye, twitching that swimsuit skirt at him, and he smiled when she winked at him. She was standing in the shallow end by the steps, watching Brianna splash around in her pink life jacket, and he tried not to feel anything at the sight of her and the little girl.
He hadn’t been oblivious to the change in her mood when he was joking with her cousin about having a hockey team. He’d realized too late he pulled away from her a little bit when they were talking about babies, and he knew she’d noticed. But there was no sense in hiding how he felt because it wasn’t a secret. He wanted kids and, judging by the way he’d pulled away from her without conscious thought, he didn’t think she did.
She arched an eyebrow at him now and he realized he’d been staring at her. Pushing away from the ladder, he swam down the pool and ducked under the buoy line to float over to her. Her aunt reached out and pulled on Brianna’s float so it moved like a boat. The little girl laughed and Drew also had a little bit of privacy to talk to Liz. He was starting to like the Kowalski women a lot more than the men lately.
He sat on the step and pulled her down next to him. “How much longer do you think everybody will be in the pool?”
“If you think we can sneak out of here and be inconspicuous, you haven’t been paying attention.”
Drew laughed, knowing she was right. They’d been very careful about public displays of affection so her family could get acclimated to their situation, and trying to sneak off for a quickie while they were all in the pool wasn’t going to happen. “I was thinking we could go for a ride.”
“On the four-wheelers?” She wrinkled her nose. “I just started feeling clean again.”
“In my truck.” The big SUV with the seats that folded flat in the back and made for a nice amount of space.
“To where?”
“Wherever. Down some back roads.”
He knew when she got his meaning because she laughed and slapped his leg. “You’re so bad.”
“Is that a no?”
Her eyes met his and he saw the same desire in them that he felt. “It might be nice to get away for a little while.”
That was all he needed to hear. “I’m going to go clean up since I have no interest in any more attempted drownings. Once you’re done, we’ll head out.”
She gave him a look he was surprised didn’t make his swim trunks go up in flames. “Half hour, tops.”
He took some heckling for leaving the pool area but, since Liz didn’t go with him, everybody lost interest before he’d gone twenty feet. After the fastest shower in the history of running water, he put on his flannel pants and a T-shirt. No buttons or zippers to slow him down.
Then he got to work on the SUV. He had a lot of work crap in the back, but he stowed what he could and set the rest in his tent so he could lay the backseats down. Then he threw in his sleeping bag and, after a moment’s hesitation, his pillow, too. Then he waited.