Page 24 of Dancing in the Dark

He leans back in his chair and slides a hand into his pocket. Drawing it out again, he reveals a small, shiny black rock. “Minka said she caught you and Fifi canoodling on Sunday night.”

Canoodling. While he runs his thumb across the surface of his little rock, I run mine around the curved edge of a plastic lid. “Since when did Delicious become a gossip, huh? And when did ‘canoodle’ become a part of her vocabulary?”

“She’s a gossip when she wants to be. When it’s fun.” His sharp green stare swings back up to mine. “But I don’t hear you denying the allegations. You and Fifi?”

“Weren’t canoodling. She left the bar when I arrived, which I took kinda personally, but when I went outside to talk to her about it…” I shrug, “I dunno. She said it wasn’t about me. She needed air.”

“And then came the canoodling?”

“Shut the fuck up about canoodling!” Laughing, I pick up my ball and toss it at his chest. “There was no canoodling. We were talking. About Mia, mostly.”

“It’s okay to be rusty. You’ve been out of the game a while.” He lobs the ball back again and forces me to catch before it beans me in the face. “Next time, try not to mention your daughter when you’re trying to flirt. Kids aren’t a natural lead-in to the canoodling kinda stuff.”

I’m about to slam this ball down his fuckin’ throat.

“So you were talking in the dark,” he snickers. “Not canoodling. Then a mini coffee date yesterday.” He drops his head forward and nods. “That’s progress. Which is why your glass is half full again.”

“Guess so.” I turn the cup between my fingers, spinning, spinning, spinning purely to keep my hands busy. “I’m so fuckin’ stuck on her, I have no choice but to keep trying. Meanwhile, she’s pretty damn intent on not giving me the time of day.”

He snorts.

“So I’ll keep chipping away. If I can buy her a coffee sometimes, I will. If she wants to talk about my baby, then that’s what we’ll talk about. How long do you think I should give it until I ask her out again?”

He grits his teeth. “I dunno. We’ve gotta allow enough time for the sting of being stood up to wear off, but not so long that she forgets you exist.” He drops his feet and sits forward again. “I reckon accepting that coffee yesterday was a good sign, but what the fuck do I know? I didn’t ask women out to dinner before Mayet, and if anyone in our relationship is gonna stand the other up, it’s her.” He presses a hand to his chest. “Tough guys need love too, ya know?”

“No shit.”

Fabian’s office door swings wide and sends alerts screaming through my brain. Don’t pick us! I want a free afternoon to spend with my baby.

“Banks and Clay! You’re up.”

“Ha.” I tilt my head back and earn Drake’s cranky scowl. “It’s almost knock-off time, too. Sucks to be you.”

“I don’t mind carrying my weight.” He pushes to his feet and snatches his phone, then wandering this way, he smirks. “At least I had the good sense never to stand my girl up.” He claps the side of my face and keeps moving, dipping his chin as he passes Arch.

It wasn’t so long ago that Archer would’ve shot the man purely for breathing too loudly.

Now… their relationship is precarious at best, built on knock-down basketball and faulty emotional regulation.

“Detective.” Officer Clay nervously bustles past me, a cute little puppy chasing his owner’s heels. He nods for Archer, too. “Detective.”

“Yap yap,” Arch teases. “Catch that ball, Clay. Don’t let it get away from you.”

“Don’t be mean.” I pick up my bouncy ball and peg it at his chest. “He’s a baby.”

“He’s a grown ass man,” he laughs, straightening in his chair and checking his phone screen. “Feels weird not having anything to do.”

“Don’t jinx it! I intend to walk outta here in twenty minutes; those twenty minutes can pass peacefully, or they can fuck our entire week up. I need you not to be the reason I go on a rampage.”

“I wonder what my penguin is up to?” he mumbles. “Maybe she wants to cut out early, too, and join us for ice cream. We could make a whole day of it.”

My phone buzzes on my desk. It’s a bad fuckin’ omen. It’s witchcraft! My stomach tumbles, and my soul shrivels, especially as Sera’s name flashes on my screen. “Oh, God.” I snatch it up and spin it for Archer to see. “You jinxed it!”

“Answer it!” He slams his phone down and stares at mine. “Jesus. I can’t deal with more bad shit these days.”

“Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck.” My hands shake as I swipe my screen and press it nervously to my ear. Swallowing the heavy lump of dread determined to cut off my air, I rasp, “Sera? Is everything okay?”

“Hi, Charlie. Everything’s fine.” The smile in her voice is like attacking lava with ice. Like countering my anxiety with… I don’t even fuckin’ know! Cotton candy, maybe. “I’m sorry if I scared you. Nothing’s wrong.”