Page 98 of Playing for Keeps

“Henri’s moving back to Quebec.”

I stared at him. “Oh, really?”

“Yeah,” Simon said, dropping his voice. “Looks like someone reported him for inappropriate behaviour.”

I just stood there for a second, not saying anything. Then I nodded. “Good for them.”

Simon made this quiet, approving sound and shrugged. “Figured you’d want to know.”

We shared a look – one of those quick, silent moments where you say a lot without any words – and then he turned and walked away.

I slipped the note into my planner and froze. The dinner was on the same night as Will’s birthday party. I stared at the dates, flipping the pages back and forth, as if one of them might move.

Then I saw the loophole: the dinner was early, while Will’s party would go late into the night. I could do both. I’d go to the dinner, have a drink, do the polite thing and then head out in time to celebrate with Max and Will.

I closed the planner. Maybe it was just one evening, but still, it felt good to see that sometimes things didn’t have to be one or the other. Maybe I didn’t have to choose after all.

48

EMMA

When Simon and I walked in, the bar was already buzzing. There were low lights, bare brick walls, and music that was just loud enough to make you lean towards the person you were talking to. The doors were propped open to let in that first real warmth of May, the kind that makes everyone act like summer has already started.

I hovered at the bar with Simon. He turned when someone called his name and got pulled into a conversation, while I looked around at the crowd. Will had invited half the city – people laughing near the booths, others claiming their territory on the small space pretending to be a dance floor. I was still craning my neck for Max or Will when an arm suddenly wrapped around my waist and pulled me back against a chest I knew even before the heat of him settled.

“Hey,” Max said, right next to my ear. Then his lips pressed against the side of my neck and stayed there, warm enough to make me shiver and lean back into him without thinking. His hand tightened around my hip.

“How was dinner?” he asked, his mouth brushing my skin before he pulled back enough for me to turn towards him.

“I had fun,” I said, trying to keep my cool even though my heart was racing. “We went to this little Indian place near campus with great food and plenty of veggie options. It was nice, just swapping stories about classes and students instead of stressing over work stuff. Simon told us some stories about his students, which were almost too ridiculous to be true.”

Max grinned. “Sounds like him.” Then softer, for me, “It feels like I haven’t seen you in a while. Are you avoiding me, Em?”

It was a joke, meant to tease. But something inside me flinched because I had been… if not avoiding, then at least skirting around the conversations I knew he wanted to have. His smile faded when I looked at him. Damn, sometimes it was annoying how well he could read me.

“No, of course not,” I managed, even if I could hear the wobble in my voice. “I’ve been underwater for the last few days, finishing up the book and going through piles of papers.”

“So the book is done?”

I could tell what kind of question he was asking by his voice. If the book is done, are you?

I hadn’t told him. Not because I didn’t know the answer, but because once I said it, I wouldn’t be able to keep things the same. I could feel the heat creeping up my neck, and of course he noticed. He took a breath to ask the next thing.

“Em, what…”

“Will,” I said, too cheerfully, as I spotted him from across the room waving like an airfield marshal. I pulled on Max’s hand. “Come on, let me wish him a happy birthday before he combusts.”

Will met us halfway, loud and exuberant. “Emma! You made it!”

“Of course I did,” I said, kissing him on the cheek. “Happy birthday.”

He beamed, crown askew, the picture of a man delighted by his own party.

“I’ll grab drinks,” Max said in my ear. “What are you having?”

“A sparkling water. And maybe some water for Will before he knocks over a table.” I glanced at Simon. “And for you–”

“I’m fine!” Will objected, but then he ruined his point by almost spilling beer on his shoes while trying to hug me. “I’m having an excellent time. All my friends are here, and you’re here…”