Beck gave the cup a shake, and the ice gave a death rattle. “No?”
My voice was more incredulous than outraged. “How do you always know where I am?” My gaze dropped to the camera, where the red light still blinked at me. Without thinking twice, I reached over and pressed the button, stopping the recording.
“I’m psychic.” Beck set the coffee down on the chess table, and I immediately snatched it up before its condensation could hurt the wooden surface. “Just kidding. Jamie told me.”
“Jamietold you I’d be playing chess?”
“More accurately, Jamie told me he had book clubtonight, that you usually go with him, and that he thought you had invited Pebble Brain to come play chess with you.” Beck eased himself down into the seat Carter had vacated just minutes earlier. “I don’t see him.”
“He stepped out for a moment.” I brought the coffee up to my nose, inhaling deeply, still not taking a sip. Even from the scent alone, I knew what it was. Iced brown sugar shaken espresso. “It’s convenient, isn’t it? That themomenthe had to go is the moment you show up?”
A slow smile started to touch Beck’s mouth. “What are you insinuating?”
“That you somehow got him to leave the room on purpose.”
“Me?” Beck dramatically pressed a hand to his chest. “I don’t have his number.”
I raised an eyebrow. “How do you know he got a phone call?”
Now, that slow smile bloomed in full force, sheepish but not embarrassed.Caught. Beck cursed softly under his breath and then began resetting the chessboard mid-game. “Play with me.”
“Beckham—”
“Just once, for old time’s sake,” he said, putting my white pawns back in place. “I want to do everything with you that Pebble Brain gets to do. Play with me.”
“We’ve already played before,” I reminded Beck, tamping down my budding nerves. “So, really, he’s doing something with me you’ve already done.”
“It’s been a while, though. Play with me now.”
Why should I?I wanted to demand.Why should Ido something just because you say?I knew what his answer would be. In Beck’s simple world, where things were tit-for-tat, it made sense.B-E-C-A-U-S-E.
In my world, nothing Beck did ever made sense.
I took a long sip from the iced coffee, the bitterness of the espresso washing over my tongue, chased away by the brown sugar. Beck watched me drink, and even though I didn’t actually believe it, I couldn’t help but wonder if he’d poisoned it.
“You’ll still lose,” I told him, speaking with a haughty air I didn’t feel. I set the iced coffee down on the table beside us, beside the flowers Carter had brought, away from the chessboard. “You were terrible when we used to play.”
“Let me show you how good I’ve gotten.”
B-A-I-T. I knew it was.B-A-D I-D-E-A. I knew it was that, too. “How did you know the kind of coffee I drink?”
“I heard him order it.” Beck slid his pawn forward two spaces, claiming the first move. “At Crushed Beanz. I was sitting at the front table. You didn’t see me when you walked in.”
Had he been there from the beginning? “Why were you there?”
“You know why I was there.” Beck jutted his chin at the board. “Your move.”
“Howlongwere you there?” Unease gripped me. “Were you there for hours, just waiting for me to show up?”
“No,” Beck said patiently. “Because Carter said he’d pick you up at six.”
I let out a little breath.
“Your move, princess, or I’ll move one for you.”
With an exasperated sigh, I all but flicked my pawn forward a space.
Beck sat up, pleased that he’d gotten me to cave. He looked over the board with a quickly bouncing eye, much like how Carter had. I didn’t anticipate the match lasting that long.
