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I didn’t want to leave Lea alone. Even if she was planning to spend the rest of the night in her room, I had no idea what she might need. Yet, Nolan made a good point. We were stuck with each other, no matter how much I had been in denial since he arrived. If I wanted to try and move on, find a way to regain my composure in the Guard and get back on the path I had been on, then I would need to learn to play in this new team dynamic. The only way to do that was to make an attempt with Nolan.
I wasn’t sure if we could ever be friends, but he was a good solider and investigator. All I needed to do was take a step out of my comfort zone and try…
My heart pounded as my mind ran through the pros and cons of going. It could help me move forward or it could remind me about everything I’d lost. I could learn to work with my new superior, or I could resent him even more for taking the Alpha position. So many what ifs; I needed to shut off my mind and go off instinct, even if that felt impossible most days.
“I’ll ask Lea if she’s comfortable with me leaving,” I said, the words dragging from my lips. “But if I get even an inkling that she needs me to stay, then I’m not coming.”
“Completely fair,” he said. “Call me if something changes, but if not, just ask the bartender where to find me.”
And with that, the screen went blank.
***
Lea basically pushed me out the door when I asked her if she was alright alone in the house for a while. Apparently, I’d misread how much space she had wanted today.
For a weekday, the space was packed, the bar a few people deep waiting for drinks. Lucky for me, I wasn’t planning to order anything, so I did my usual trick of standing at the edge of the bar, quickly catching Benji’s attention.
“Hey there, lovely,” he winked at me, his dark salt-and-pepper hair sticking up a bit. “I already know why you’re here.”
“Your hospitality is beyond words some days.” I smiled at him, his cheeks reddening slightly, although it was probably from the increased body heat in the space.
“Your friend is waiting for you in Room Two.” He gestured to the back hallway, lined with private rooms for different uses. “Need a drink before you go?”
“Just sparkling water with lime.”
The glass of my new usual was cool to the touch as he slid it over to me. “Have fun,” he said, turning back to the increasing crowd.
I walked down the hall, doors lining either side of the short expanse. There were six rooms in total, each one with a different size capacity and purpose. Some had game tables, others were just separate lounge areas for private parties and events. I had been in most of them over the years, the Faction taking them over to celebrate different cases closing or the promotion of trainees and other members. I swallowed a sip of water, attempting to wet my severely dried throat as I approached door two, trying to remember exactly what was in this room. Knowing Nolan, he’d chosen it for a reason.
I took one more breath before pushing open the door into the well-lit space.
The room was almost soundproof, the noises of the bar disappearing the moment I closed the door. The space had a few tables along the perimeter, but the main focus was the large billiards table in the center, the bright green top harshly contrasting with the hand-carved cherry wood base. It was perfectly lit with sconces along the wall, all of them dimmed so the occupants could properly play the game without painful lighting ruining the ambiance of the bar right outside.
So apparently, we’d be playing a new kind of game tonight.
Nolan already had a cue stick in hand, bent over the table, hitting casually. He wasn’t playing for real, just hitting any ball depending on their ease of sinking into one of the pockets.
“What’s this?”
“It’s called a billiards table, although by what a few of our colleagues told me, you already knew that.” He straightened, propping his smooth cue stick against the table before walking over to me, a pint of ale in his hand. “I thought we could play a round.”
“You asked me to meet you here to play a game of billiards? Something we could do literally any night if we wanted?” Although Lea had wanted me to leave, I was a little peeved that he’d asked me to come just for a round of a game. Granted, it was one of my favorites, but it still didn’t seem like a good enough reason.
“Besides the fact we could actually talk while we play,” he leaned his hip against a corner of the table, standing a few feet away from me, “I figured we could put a little wager on it. But instead of coin, we play for an answer.”
“An answer to what?”
He smirked at me. “Any one question the winner has been desperately tempted to ask the loser.”
Now that certainly got my attention.
A voice in my head screamed at me to run away. I didn’t want to tell him anything, even if he did win the right to a question. I had too many sensitive secrets, ones that should be off limits until I was ready to tell them. Who knew if that time would ever come?
However, I had questions of my own—ones that I had been wondering since the first day I met him. I’d never felt comfortable prying into his past even when I thought he knew mine, and now that I was aware he knew very little about the past year, it made me even more reluctant to ask. But he was offering—he knew all the questions I could ask or what I might be interested in. He was analytical enough to have gone through all of these possibilities before extending this offer to me, which meant he was alright with me learning more about him.
But was it worth the risk?
Maybe I could negotiate the arrangement more in my favor.
