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With that, Maya shot a loving glance and a wink to a woman at maybe-not-an-asshole-guy’s table.
“This thing is clearly rigged,” I muttered to myself.
Maya cleared her throat. “Okay, wagers are written down? Here we go.”
Everyone listened with bated breath.
“Which season ofThe Bachelorfeatured said bachelor sharing his last name with that of a well-known tire and rubber company?” she asked.
I sucked my bottom lip excitedly. I knew exactly who she was talking about. I could see his face clear as day.
I wrote down my answer, thought it was pointless. Even if I bet everything, I wasn’t going to win. But I submitted my paper to the bartender anyway.
I turned my barstool around to see how the rest of the room was faring. Sasha and Fireball guy were making out in one of the back booths, having abandoned the game hours ago. But most of the trivia players seemed to have settled on an answer.
Except for five-o’clock-shadow guy.
Yes, same guy. I just figured that he needed a different nickname. I’d also decided that he was probably not an asshole. I mean, sure, he had a loud laugh and a large presence. But he had friends. People seemed to like him.
And, for what it was worth, I couldn’t stop staring at him.
He clearly didn’t know the answer. And neither did anyone at his table. But that wasn’t what was tripping me up.
He was wearing a forest green polo shirt with an emblem on the sleeve. It looked like a work shirt. It matched his eyes. I narrowed my eyes and tried to read the words stitched into it and…
Fuck. He caught me.
And now he was staring right back at me.
I tried to look away and pretend I wasn’t staring at him. Just… looking in his general direction. But he wasn’t letting me off the hook. He raised an eyebrow. And he stared back.
Heat coursed through my veins as I placed three fingers against my cheek. Like I was trying to coyly and subtly give him the answer to the question.Season three.
He squinted. Okay, I was being too subtle and, therefore, kind of weird.
I did it again, dragging the three fingers down the side of my face and glancing at his answer sheet, still on the table. It was a risk. I mean, I definitely looked strange. If he didn’t understand that I was trying to help him cheat at trivia, he might think I was developing a nervous tick or something.
Thankfully, it clicked. He got it.
He winked at me and smirked.
And I turned back to my sauvignon blanc blushing something furious.
After makingsure that Sasha wasn’t about to go home with Ted Bundy, I paid my tab, thanked the bartender for being cool, and headed home. Five o’clock shadow and his team won the trivia night. Part of me wanted to go over there and tell him he owed me a drink for helping him cheat like that. Then maybe ask him to stay and hang out with me till last call.
But I wasn’t that kind of person. Not anymore. Party Zoe had left the building.
In her place was Responsible Mom Zoe whose night was coming to a close. In the morning, I would pick up my six-year-old son from my ex-husband’s place in Harbor Bluffs and go back to regular life. Packing school lunches. Washing a never-ending pile of laundry. And trying to be the best mom I could be. You know how Cinderella’s ball gown turned back into rags at midnight… yeah, this little dress was going to be turned into sweatpants by 11:30.
But it was nice to remember how fun I used to be. For a while.
As I turned onto Main Street and stopped at a traffic light, I noticed a black sedan stopping right behind me. I caught the driver’s reflection in my rearview mirror. My breath caught. It was five o’clock shadow.
I smiled even though I wasn’t sure he could see me.
I pulled onto Gregory Street, my new street, passing the row of connected townhouses that I, and my son every other week, called home.
Something strange happened. He turned too. Was he following me?
