Worth the Fall (13 page)

Um..."Game night?"

"Right. I'm having people over to chill out and relax after the crazy week. We're going to play Taboo. Three teams of two."

I was starting to get suspicious of where this was going. "People?"

"You know, me and Ben, and then you, Hailey, Dane, and Max."

I wasn't fooled by her casual chatter or the order she'd put the names in.

"Really?" 

"Yup. Just a couple friends hanging around, eating pizza, playing some games." She smiled that smile I’d become completely suspicious of over the past week. We should use her to gather intel. Foreign operatives would never see what hit them.

"I'm not sure, Jenna. I have a lot going on. I should probably get some more work done tonight." And avoid the matchmaking. “I’ve got this new client. She’s looking for a big overhaul of her site.”

"Oh, come on.” Now it was Jenna’s turn to roll her eyes. “You've already gotten a ton done and you have your first client. Aren't you supposed to be working to keep your clients happy? I want you to come to game night. That will keep me happy."

"Yeah, that's not going to work on me. I've already seen the need to draw lines with you. I'm not ending up a hashtag."

"You can't blame a girl for trying." She grinned. "But, still, game night. You need to come. Don't think now that you're moved in you get to get rid of us that easily. It will be fun. And you can meet Hailey. You'll like her a lot. She writes YA too. And Dane. Even if you don't like him, you'll enjoy looking at him. Come on, Kasey. Don't go all fringe friend on me already."

The truth sat there between us, as true for me as I expected it was for her. I 
liked 
Jenna. I did need more girlfriends...more friends period. And, she seemed to feel the same way. There was no reason to think that New Kasey couldn't control the situation and not fall into some type of accidental dating situation with a guy just because he was hot.

It's not like Max had shown any interest in me.

"Sure. Game night. Count me in."

I started thinking about walls and how high they needed to be as I settled back in to get the rest of my list done.

SEVENTEEN

"Jenna, what part of 
no 
do you not understand?" Max's voice pushed its way through the front door of the condo, a little more forcefully than I would have expected for a game night chit chat.

"I'm not telling you to date her. I'm just saying she's really nice and super cute. Don't think I didn't notice you checking her out."

"Checking her out is one thing. Taking her out is completely different. I'm not dating someone who needs to be managed that much. She can't walk across town without creating A Situation."

I could even hear the capitals on the last two words.

Who the hell did Max think he was judging me on a couple bad days? It's not like I was throwing myself at him like all those girls on Twitter...and probably half of them around town too.

"Right. Sure. Like I said, you don't have to date her. Just be nice and make her feel welcome." I could picture the look on Jenna's face while she humored Max and I doubt I liked it any more than he did.

"Listen to my words, Jenna. I—"

That was enough of that. I knocked on the door, thankful for the silence that fell from the other side followed by light footsteps rushing over.

"Kasey! I’m so glad you're here." She pulled me into a hug while clicking the door closed behind me with a solid thud. 

Behind her, Max stood, hands in his pocket as he leaned against a kitchen island. "Kasey." He gave me a curt nod.

Yeah. Game night. Fun.

"Kasey!" Ben strolled out of a back room, obviously comfortable with the new living arrangement after one night. "We're so glad you could come. We haven't had even teams in..." 

The fadeout wouldn't have been that interesting if it hadn't been accompanied by a glance in Max's direction.

That
was interesting.

No. No, it wasn't. I wasn't interested in anything to do with Max. No matter what Jayne said about him being hot or the weird Kitten Calendar Dream.

But then a horrific thought crossed my mind. "What about the other people?"

"Hailey got caught up writing and she's running a few minutes late. Dane shows up when he wants." Jenna started putting together a fruit tray, completely focused on not meeting my gaze. "Which will be almost on time since I threatened to post his dating history online if he didn't start being more considerate of his friends."

She was not someone to cross. Amazing how she balanced being so sweet with the tiny, little dictator who peeked out occasionally. "You guys head into the living room and make yourselves comfortable."

I smiled at Max, annoyed at how much he didn't want to date me. Not that I wanted to date him. But he didn't have to be so vocal about how uninterested he was in me. I turned toward the other end of the open set up where a set of overstuffed living room furniture made a welcoming corner.

"So..." I glanced around looking for something to say that didn't scream, 
I heard you talking about how repulsive you find me
. It was harder to come up with than you'd think. "Did you work today?"

"Yup."

"Anything interesting happen today?"

"Nope." He settled in the chair across from me. "So I'm assuming you didn't leave the house?"

I could feel my shoulders stiffening up. "No. I did. You may want to check the local banks."

The corner of his lips quirked up and he glanced back toward the kitchen. "I probably would have heard about a bank being robbed."

"I'm that good, obviously. You won't find out for another week or so. But, don't worry. I'll keep your name out of it when they bring me in for questioning."

Max shook his head, the smile still fighting those lips I definitely wasn't looking at. Just as he opened his mouth to reply, the front door flew open.

"Sorry I'm late, but look who I found hitting on one of your neighbors in the lobby."

I turned toward the voice and...stalled out.

The most stunningly good-looking guy I'd ever seen stood in the doorway behind an unconventionally pretty girl, a grin on his face that showed he was absolutely not feeling guilty about being late so he could flirt with some stranger. 

He moved into the room, a gait made to watch and hugged Jenna before shaking Ben's hand. I'd lost track of the girl who'd come in with him while watching him move. It was a thing of beauty.

"Great. Another one drops under the supercilious good-looks of the playboy." Max kicked one leg up to cross the ankle over his knee and leaned back in the chair studying me as if he’d have to file a report at the end of the evening.

"What?" I knew what he was talking about, but I wasn't stupid enough to admit to it.

"Dane. You're reacting just like every other girl does when she sees him. Now he's going to spot you, a new girl in the room, sashay over and flatter you into falling at his feet."

"I'm sorry." I shook my head at Max as he started to look surprised at my apology. "I didn't realize guys sashayed. Is that a new thing or is it just a Dane specific swagger?"

"Oh, he's got tons of swagger. Everywhere we go he manages to use it to the best of his advantage."

"Jealous?"

"That he's going to come in here and see if you're stupid enough to fall for it like ninety-five percent of the female population?" Max gave a small snort as if answering wasn’t even worth his time.
 

"Obviously you're not jealous that he might try to hit on me. I mean, why would you be interested in someone who keeps creating
situations
?"

Max's arms dropped to his side, a blush creeping up his neck.

"Listen.” He leaned forward, even as he glanced away. “I didn't mean to be insulting. I just...you're not my type. It's not you."

"Don't worry about it. It's not like I’m sitting here throwing myself at you. I think you're safe."

"No. Kasey. It's..." He glanced toward the kitchen where Jenna was mixing drinks and obviously keeping everyone very busy while Max and I sat in the living room falling in love—at least, I'm pretty sure that's what she was convinced was happening. "It really isn't you. I just got out of something a while ago and she was a bit too wild for me. I'm not looking, but when I am, I'll be looking for someone a little less...complicated than you are. Not that there's anything wrong with that. It's just not what I’m looking for."

He studied me as if I were going to burst into tears at this announcement. Who was the cocky one in the room? I glanced toward Dane, awed again by his gorgeousness and wondered.

"Don't worry, Max. You're totally not my type. I get the not-personal thing. You're the last guy I'd date, so you're safe from me."

He nodded, his smile still looking forced. "Well, good."

We sat there, awkward silence between as I watched the foursome in the kitchen. 

"Why not?"

My gaze drifted back to Max. "Excuse me?"

"Why not?"

"Why not, what?" He really could not be asking what I thought he was.

"Why am I not your type?"

"You're kidding me, right?"

"Yeah." He paused and looked toward the kitchen again. "Well, kind of. You know, I’m just curious. Nothing more. Just wondering why...you know."

"Why I'm not interested in dating you?"

"Yeah. That."

Guys are crazy. They talk about how nuts women are, but this was exactly the type of thing that proved they were far less sane than we are. 

"I don't need any more alpha male crap in my life. I'm starting over. This is my chance to be my own woman and not stand in some guy's shadow who's going to tell me what the best way to live my life is and shoe horn me into his. I want someone interested in the same stuff and looking for the same lifestyle. I don't need a guy who is, you know..."

Now he wasn't looking so embarrassed. He was looking a little annoyed.

"No. I don't know. What?"

"Come on, Max. Not only would you expect to tell me what to do all the time, but you're a cop. How much could we really have in common? You're all walking the street fighting crime and I'm more interested in designing stuff and making time for foreign films."

"Foreign films?" He was looking at me as if I'd just said I was going to fly to the moon. "What's the last foreign film you saw?"

Was this a test? 

Crap, what was the last foreign film I'd seen? I can't even remember the last movie I'd seen. Did British films count? Actually, I'd snuck out without Jason to see that X-Men film he refused to see based on it being
pop culture trash that was skewing the American view of political acceptable behavior
.

"Do you even really like foreign films?" He asked, all but calling me a liar.

That was a good question? Did I? And, why did he sound like Jayne suddenly?

"Maybe. But, if I do then I want a guy who is going to see them with me."

"Any guy you date should do stuff you enjoy with you. Even if it's a suck-it-up situation. Every once in while he'd go to the cinema with you."

"Fine. If I wanted to see foreign films, you'd suck it up and go with me. Got it."

"I like foreign films. I've been looking forward to that new French film about the Riviera in the 40s and the writer's movement that went on there."

"Great. We could go see that." As soon as I said the words, I was annoyed with myself. "If we were dating. Which we're not. Because you think I’m annoying and complicated and I'm resetting my life on my own."

"Right." He re-crossed his arms and leaned back.

"So, we'll just, you know, not date."

"Good."

"Great."

Perfect.

~~*~~

“I said,
blue
not
moo
. I don’t even know how you could confuse the two.” I glared at Max ready to throw the board game at his head. “Is it your hearing or your listening that’s the problem?”

Across the table, Dane snorted and Hailey, a sweetly sarcastic girl I liked immediately, elbowed him.

“Maybe if I weren’t wondering what type of chaos you were going to rain down any second I would be able to focus on the game more.”

A low,
oooohhhh
whispered from the silent pair at the end of the coffee table.

“And yet, the only thing that’s happened is the huge loss we seem to be having because of your inability to listen.”

“I’m listening.” Max shot back. “I’m also hyper aware of any other disasters that could strike at any moment when you’re present.”

“Oh, yeah?” Snappy come back there, Kasey.

“Yeah. I—”

“That is enough.” Jenna stood up and threw the toss pillow she’d been holding down. “If you two are going to ruin game night, you can both go home.”

Oh, no. I was ruining game night. I glanced around the group knowing I’d just worn out my welcome. I made it through almost half a week with new friends and look what I did.