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Jax reached for the door. “Text Anne and Chase and tell them you’re all right. Chase wants to take you out to celebrate. Tell him you’re up for commiseration instead and he’s buying the drinks.”
“Bossy much?”
“You know you love it.” He winked, and then he was gone.
My feelings about the not-interview hadn’t changed, but I was doing better thanks to Jax’s surprise visit.
He was eye candy and taken by an amazing man. Fantasy material; not swoon-after and crush-on material. I had to remember that.
I also had to go online and tell my followers my big news had been postponed, and thank them for all the good wishes. My heart sank again at the thought of why I didn’t have a big reveal for them today. Talk about a soul-crushing reality check.
****
LYN INVITED EVERYONEto hold my commiseration party in her basement. The space had originally been built out as an over-sized den, complete with a pool table, bar, and kitchenette. I insisted she didn’t need to cook for us. She countered she had new appetizer recipes and she needed a test audience.
It was hard to argue against her cooking. Besides if we drank here, no one had to be the designated driver. The basement had plenty of couches for everyone.
Chase brought Asahi beer, because my brother was a beer snob.
Anne brought Guinness because,Chase brought that pale ass lager, didn’t he?I’d known her most of my life. When we were kids, we’d tell people we were twins, both of us the same height and build, with dark blond hair. Her hair was a shorter pixie cut now, and its natural color. We were both about five six and could share clothes, but she was more comfortable in jeans and baggy T-shirts where I preferred things more form-fitting. And she was still as much my sister as anyone ever would be.
Jax and Grayson brought champagne and flowers. There was no explanation, but daises were my favorite, and I couldn’t hide my grin when Grayson handed them to me.
Everyone offered hugs and sympathy. It killed me to keep my mouth shut. To not tell anyoneTurns out it was a massive fucking scam.I hated keeping secrets, and my job interview news, plus myit’s just casual funhook up with Jax and Grayson, were bursting to get out.
I needed more of a distraction than rounds of pity and commiseration. “We should play something,” I announced. It was almost a given that we’d split into teams of boys vs girls. We were evenly matched at all of our favorites, though some of us were better at each than the rest of us. Pool. Dance Dance Revolution.
“Darts,” Grayson said.
Chase handed Grayson and me each a beer. “Neither of you is drunk enough for darts.”
I turned wide, sad eyes toward Chase and batted my eyelashes. “But I’m so wounded and heartbroken.” I managed the perfect balance of teasing and pathetic in my voice.
“Fine.” Chase let out an exaggerated huff. “I suppose you’ve earned the right to throw sharp, pointy things at a target. But no one’s going easy on you.”
My grin was back. “Like that’s a concern.”
We didn’t play with traditional rules. The team with the most points at the end of one round won. We did have an extra set of rules we tacked on to anything we played as a group. Trying to distract the other team was both allowed and encouraged, as long as there was no touching, no stepping in someone’s line of sight, and no jump scares. When we were younger, it was Chase and Jax versus Anne and me. We stopped for a while after I met Lyn, because the teams were uneven. But once Grayson and Jax started dating, it was game on. It helped that Grayson was the only one of them who could match me at darts.
The distractions were frequently more fun and competitive than the game itself.
Anne was up first, with Lyn and me cheering her loudly.
She lined up her first throw.
“Shame we’re not playing DDR.” Chase’s tone was deceptively casual. What was he up to? “You’re always nice to watch on the dance pads.”
Anne threw. She fell far right of center, but it was a steady toss. “You just hate that you suck at this as badly as I do.” She readied her second dart.
“If we’re having a sucking contest, I want different rules. Theno touchinghas to go. A little privacy might be nice.”
“I don’t need to hear that.” I exaggerated my protest. His teasing seemed to get to me more than Anne. Her next throw hit the board and her third landed in the wall.
Pretty much what I expected. But she made me look like spastic rag doll in DDR, and I didn’t have a problem admitting it.
Chase went next. With a glance from Anne, I knew what she was up to. We gave him silence for his first two throws, with the guys cheering him on. He lined up his last shot.
Anne let out a sharp wolf whistle. “Wow. Did you see her?”
