“This is Kevin.” Zoey grabs onto the arm of a lanky-looking guy with glasses wearing a Nintendo T-shirt and a pair of jeans.
Kevin shakes my hand, and the blonde steps forward. “I’m Ava. The favorite daughter.”
“Oh, whatever.” Zoey smacks her across the arm, and they make ugly faces at each other playfully.
“I’m Claire,” I say. “It’s so nice to meet you.”
There are three other people in the group—a woman named Kendra, her husband, Brandon, and another woman named Talie, who gives me the chilliest greeting of the bunch.
I’m put on a team with Zoey, Kendra, and Kevin, while Miles has Ava, Talie, and Brandon on his team. As we get situatedaround the table, a waitress appears and hands me a drink. “Oh, I didn’t order this.”
“I got it for you,” Miles says. “It’s a Dr Pepper.”
Zoey and Ava exchange a glance, pursing their lips and raising their eyebrows, but I pretend not to notice. Instead, I pick up the drink and cheers Miles. “Thank you.”
He nods and gives me a thumbs-up.
If there’s any sign that he’s still offended, he’s not showing it.
The waitress also hands Zoey a drink, and then a woman with pink hair jumps on the stage and taps a microphone. I take a drink and listen to her as she explains the rules of trivia, which is apparently a call-and-response activity.
It’s obvious to me that everyone at our table has been here before.
Round one starts, and Miles looks directly at me. “You’re going down, Cake Boss.”
If I had my Cubs hat on, I’d turn it backward and wipe my nose with the back of my hand. Instead, I narrow my eyes, glare at him, and say, “Bring it on, Lawn Ranger.”
Best I could think of in the moment. Nicknames for a landscape architect don’t just roll off the tongue.
By his expression, he’s still impressed.
The pink-haired woman, whose name is Gina, is the owner of the bar and an enthusiastic host. She’s also clearly obsessed with three specific trivia categories: the TV showFriends, the Chicago Bulls, and rom-coms of the early 2000s.
Lucky for my team, I’m an expert on two out of three of those categories.
There are other categories—geography, history, pop culture, music, science, and it seems, a whole lot of wild card questions that have nothing to do with anything, like “What was the first brand of bubble gum to hit the shelves?” (Dubble Bubble, for anyone who cares.)
After three rounds, our team is winning by one point.
That’s when Gina tells everyone it’s time for a break. “This is when you all go buy drinks and where I make some money. We’ll be back in ten!”
Everyone starts mingling, moving around the space toward the bar, the bathrooms, or outside for a little fresh air.
I don’t move and neither does Kendra, who’s been sitting beside me this whole time. Miles is talking with Brandon and Kevin and a few guys from other teams, and I get the distinct impression that this man has never met a stranger.
“He’s pretty great, huh?” Kendra is watching me watch Miles, and I feel like I’ve just been caught.
“Miles?” I know it’s stupid for me to pretend her comment needs clarifying, but I do it anyway. “Yeah, he’s a good guy.”
She goes back to looking at him. “Everyone loves Miles.”
I can see that. There’s a crowd around him, and he’s telling a story that has both the men and women around him completely engrossed.
I know she doesn’t mean for it to, but the comment is a welcome reminder for me. The wake-up call I need to keep my feelings in check.
He could be with any single woman he wanted, but Miles doesn’t do relationships.
Think about Duffy. He’s perfectly nice. And stable. And kind, and nerdy, and endearing. And so very enthusiastic.
