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Yeah, she seems fun.
It doesn’t hurt that she’s hot and sexy too. And that we’re hitting it off. From our first flirtation, even though she backed off a little, to some amazing conversation all through dinner, I know now that I won’t mind spending time with her one bit.
But that doesn’t mean I’ll be pursuing anything beyond friendship. I don’t need that kind of trouble in my life. I’m still holding firm on my “no relationships” stance.
At least, not the romantic variety.
But running around with Willow, showing her a good time, yeah, I can do all those things.
Someone’s glass clinks, and I’m reminded that I’m still seated at the dining room table with three other people. No one is paying any attention to me, though.
Good, I can drink my wine and observe.
I especially like watching Willow, who’s seated directly across from me. I’m able to do so clandestinely, too, since there’s a tall candle semi-blocking my view. But not so much that I’m unable to catch when she flips a swath of her flowy strawberry blonde hair over one shoulder and starts laughing with her sister about something.
Damn, she is gorgeous.
Hayden’s not in on whatever is so funny. He’s busy checking his phone, so I allow my eyes to return to Willow.
But this really needs to stop. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I’m not so easily captivated normally.
Downing the last sip of my wine, I set the glass down on the table and let out a low sigh.
Dinner is over, and the dishes have been cleared. We all pitched in on cleanup duty, which was spent with us laughing and joking around in the kitchen.
It was good; it broke the ice.
And Willow fit right in with all of us. Not a surprise, since she is Addison’s sister.
After cleanup, we returned to the dining room. Hayden and I had already ditched our suit jackets, and the girls kicked off their high heels. Since then we’ve been sitting around the table, drinking wine and shooting the breeze.
Except for the past several minutes, of course.
But that looks like it’s about to change as Hayden just set his phone down.
Taking notice that Willow and Addison appear to now be deeply engrossed in some sort of discussion, he turns to me and asks, “Do you want to go downstairs and watch some playoff hockey? There’s a game out west that should be starting soon.”
Even though our team is out of it, I still enjoy following the other series, so I tell him, “Yeah, sure.”
We let Addison and Willow know we’re heading down to the game room, but they just nod and wave us off before returning to their intense conversation.
“What do you think they’re talking about?” I ask Hayden once we’re in the hall and out of earshot.
I’m only mildly curious, but the sudden serious expression that comes over his face piques my interest.
Quietly, he says, “I have an idea. But I’ll explain once we’re downstairs.”
“Okay.”
Huh, I wonder what’s going on.
Willow and Addison were laughing and having fun all night long. Only this last conversation of theirs appears to have turned somber.
Once we’re down in the game room and seated on a big leather sectional sofa, Hayden turns on the giant flat-screen TV up on the wall, but he keeps the volume low.
That’s okay; the game hasn’t started yet.
Blowing out a breath, I lean back and ask, “So, what’s up?”
