Truth or Dare by C. Spencer

Author:C. Spencer [Spencer, C.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781635551471
Publisher: Bold Strokes Books
Published: 2018-01-24T16:00:00+00:00

* * *

Ryan

Mind if I sit here? She sets her fork down, wipes her quarter smile (daintily), and folds a napkin. Fingers balance a bowled glass with a wrist that slumps from its weight. It touches her mouth.

I hear nothing but myself. I’m not involved in this discussion. I’m not even listening. I’m wondering if she regrets me or if it’s a new revelation. Has she met someone already? Does she want to? I’m wondering if she found a job, where she parked her truck. Has she told anyone? I want my jersey back.

I take another bite, oblivious (but not) to this perfume-spewing goddess inches from my wrist. All I can taste is rejection. It’s sloppy and awkward. Jessie flips hair out of her eyes and looks my way. They both do. It’s a conversation I don’t want to join. I’d rather yawn through one of her cucumber spa retreats than endure any more of this.

But it beats lounging around the house in my bathrobe. I don’t feel like reading a magazine or sticking in a Blu-ray that I’ve already watched umpteen million times. It’d probably remind me of her. I don’t feel like speculating on what she’s doing, where she is. I’d much rather watch it firsthand. So being here is the most logical thing right now.

Mind if I sit here? she wanted to know. Why would I mind? Have I ever minded? She looks over just long enough to get a smile out of me that I instantly regret. Humor us, her eyes say. She wants me to join in, but they’re doing just fine without me. Then heavy voices, the rise and fall of pleasantries.

I twist my mind into a tight wad. I swirl my cup. I catch the hint of lime. My hand stops in midair and I get far too engrossed in the table tent advertising Sunday night’s musical guest.

Until, beside me, “You okay, doll?”

I’m thinking, Why would you say that?

Things get still for a while. Brie takes another drink. I watch without watching. Then I hear, “I’m with you.”

Jessie says, “In my truck, I’m on top of the world.”

They’re on something that has to do with work.

And then, “It’s not like she didn’t know, either.”

And “I don’t know about that.”

And “Do you really think?”

And “It takes one to know one.”

Hadley jumps in before too long and wants to know how everything’s going. I raise a finger. My mouth is full.

She turns her attention to Jessie, whose elbows are propped on the table. They exchange glances. A kid’s clearing the table just past her, and a band sets stage on the platform. Brie’s watching that woman carrying speakers, then a mic stand, instruments, and equipment. The woman only takes a break to check her phone. Brie checks her own. I’m wondering if she wants to go home with her.

Then Jessie’s freaking out. She unfolds a menu and ducks.

That’s when I rejoin. I ask what’s wrong. I scoot closer.

“Don’t look now, but guess who just walked in,” Jessie says.

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