“I can vouch for him,” Mason said. “He’s a perfect gentleman.”
“Boo,” Summer said. She was not helping my cause.
“I know this is sudden,” I said. “I’m happy to answer any questions you have about me. I work for the ATF, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Retired from the military. No criminal record. Mason’s friend.”
Cara widened her eyes. “Impressive.”
I relaxed my shoulders. Things were improving.
“But...” She started, then stopped.
Oh shit.
Cara shook her head. “I have to say no.”
Well, hell. There went a perfectly good plan. I’d have to scramble to figure out an alternative. But that was just a logistics problem. For some reason, losing the possibility of her company on the trip was more disappointing than the plan failing.
“Why not?” Gabi asked. “This sounds like a really good idea to me.”
“Sounds amazing to me,” Summer added.
“No need to explain,” I said, watching Cara as I spoke. “No is a complete sentence.”
“Thank you,” she said. For a moment, we held each other’s gaze and everything else faded away.
But the real world, where Cara and I were never going to be a thing, still existed, and it only took me a few seconds to remember that. I glanced away from her.
“I have to start the trivia game in a few minutes,” I told Mason. I smiled at each of the other two women. “Team Power Puff, good luck.”
As I left them, I felt someone watching me. Probably Summer, but maybe Cara, too. I didn’t hate the idea of her appreciating the view while I walked away. Which made me a fucking idiot for wanting someone I couldn’t have, and her a wise woman for turning down a cross-country trip with an old lech.
CHAPTER 6
CARA
An hour into the trivia game, Team Power Puff was embroiled in a nail-biter with Team WickedPedia. I’d more than held my own with the eighties’ questions. More than once, though, I’d been distracted by Nick’s voice. The man gave great trivia. Those stray thoughts only bolstered the case for my split-second decision to avoid sharing a car with him for the better part of a week.
“All right, Teams Power Puff and WickedPedia, here is your final challenge of the night,” Nick said in his low, lush voice. The room went quiet. He looked right at me. My mouth went dry. “In 1989, the Navy SEALs began using the SIG Sauer P226.” He looked away from me, which was a very good thing because it meant I could breathe again. “Name one difference between the SIG Sauer P226 and the sidearm the other armed forces chose, the Beretta 92FS. You have one minute to discuss and come up with your answer. Go!”
I blinked, then shook my head. I must have heard him wrong. I looked at Gabi, who glanced at Summer, then stared back at me.
“What was the question?” I asked.
“Something about guns,” Summer said. “A subject he probably thinks we know nothing about. And those guys are like cops or former military or something.”
“You’re right,” I said. “What an asshole move. And he’s right, we know nothing about guns.”
“This is your fault,” Summer whisper-yelled at me. “This was our chance to close out the year with the best trivia record in the bar, and you blew it.”
“I blew it?” I whisper-yelled back. “How is any of this my fault?”
“Because you were incredibly rude to him,” Summer answered.
“One, I wasn’t. Just because I don’t want to ride cross-country with a stranger doesn’t make me rude. And two, even if I had been rude—and I wasn’t—it would be incredibly childish of him to retaliate.”
“Maybe,” Gabi said, “but this is definitely your fault.”
“Thanks, bestie.”
