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Elisa’s eyes had gone wide as her gaze moved from one of them to the other. Like she was watching the weirdest tennis match ever.
“Are we still in some odd competition I don’t understand since we just figured out we were always talking about the same woman?” Van asked.
“No. I was answering her question. I don’t think it’s a cult.” He was sticking with that answer. It was better than admitting that maybe it was. But a cool one. One he kind of wanted to be a part of. Technically there would have to be a leader to a cult, and he was pointing Talbot’s way. Everyone tended to do what Talbot wanted them to. Except for Nell and Henry. Well, and Max. And the doc. And Mel and Cassidy, if they thought aliens might be involved.
When he thought about it, it was actually pretty tough to be Talbot.
Not a cult.
“I’m sorry. I don’t understand what’s going on. So you both thought you’d found a date and you were fighting?” Elisa asked. She’d shrugged out of her coat and wore an emerald green sweater that contrasted beautifully with her skin.
Van seemed way more comfortable with that question. “Yes. We hadn’t talked all day until a couple of minutes ago, and neither one of us mentioned your name.”
“But I was up front about the date. She knew she was meeting you, too.” He thought he should get credit for his honesty. “Van was counting on the fact that I’m not hideously unattractive, and you wouldn’t notice when he slipped me in.”
Her lips pursed as though she was holding in whatever she was going to say. Or maybe a laugh. It was good if he amused her. “I would definitely have noticed.” She paused as Callie dropped off their drinks. Two beers for them and a glass of Cab for her. “I’m sorry I misunderstood, Hale.”
“Don’t be sorry,” Van interjected smoothly. “He didn’t exactly lay it all out for you. Now in my defense, I understand that the idea of dating two guys can be intimidating for a woman, so I was taking a softer approach.”
“The one where I wake up asking who the extra guy is?” A brow had risen over those pretty eyes of hers, and he could see the military officer was still in there.
Van winced. “I was going to introduce you. I was.”
“I was absolutely going to introduce you to Van.” Hale liked being the good one. He got the feeling she was not as irritated with him as she was with Van. It was not a position he was normally in.
Her lips curled up in the sweetest smile. “Yes, you did mention that. You could have mentioned his name. If you had, I would have gotten clued in when I met him. There couldn’t be too many Vans around.”
“You didn’t mention my name?” Van huffed. “I was some random dude who hangs around with you?”
Hypocrite. “Uh, I didn’t exist in your scenario.”
Van sighed and turned to Elisa. “I wanted you to meet him because I’ve found when I blurt out that I come with a friend, the woman I’m interested in usually walks away.”
He was wrong about the timing, and Hale didn’t want to set unrealistic expectations. “We don’t come at exactly the same time. It’s not like it’s coordinated or anything.”
Van’s jaw dropped again, and Hale realized he’d taken that way too literally. He was pretty overstimulated and sometimes missed cues when he was anxious.
He might have fucked this up.
Except Elisa’s head dropped back and she laughed, a truly magical sound because he was almost certain she hadn’t had a lot of laughter in her life lately. When her head came back up, she was smiling and had to reach up to brush a tear away. She took a long breath. “Oh, you are going to be fun, Hale.” She sobered. “Is the awkward thing a bit? Or is there something I should know? I ask because it’s better to put everything out there. Like the cancer thing.”
“Are you asking if I’m on the spectrum?” Hale thought that was what she was interested in.
“I guess what I’m asking is if this is the genuine you. You take things very literally and you don’t mince words. You seem to say what you mean, but it wouldn’t be the first time a guy had an act,” she said quietly.
“Oh, he’s not smart enough to have an act,” Van shot back. “That is one hundred percent Hale. And now you know why I sometimes try to sneak him in.”
“He is smart.” Elisa was now giving Van a death stare.
Oh, he could lose her if he didn’t put this on the right footing. “He’s joking. It’s payback for all the times I blurt out something he would rather I kept to myself. We’re guys. We call each other dumbasses all the time. Trust me. He knows how smart I can be when I want to. He’s the one who built me up enough to get me to try to do the things I’ve always wanted to do.”
