Game On(64)

“I know,” he said, the frown on his face now gone completely. It had been replaced by the tender smile I was growing very used to. “Come here.” He held open his arms and I stepped eagerly into them. We were in this together, weren’t we? Last night had been special. It had meant something. He kissed me on the forehead. “I’ll call you later, OK?”

“OK,” I said, reluctantly pulling away from his embrace and moving towards the door. But before I could slip into the hallway, he called out.

“Hey.” He had a big smile on his face. “Last night was amazing.”

I smiled back, feeling like I was glowing. “It was.”

He winked at me. “Then let’s plan on making tonight more of the same.”

***

I practically floated down the stairs to my room. Even though I knew that Tim was waiting for me, I took the time to wash my face and change my clothes. When I brushed my hair, I could smell Nathan, that faint scent of grass tickling at my senses with each swipe of the brush. I never wanted that smell to go away.

When I reached the lobby, however, all the good feelings I had brought with me disappeared the moment I saw that Tim was seated in the corner with a guest. A guest that looked like a younger, but equally bitter and vindictive Tim. Neither of them bothered to get up when I approached.

“Finally!” Tim’s exasperation was obvious as he waved me towards one of the seats. He then stared at my empty hands with confusion. “Where’s your notepad?” he asked.

“My notepad?”

“To take notes,” he said slowly, like I was an idiot.

I pulled my phone out of my purse and set up the recording app. How did Tim function as a journalist these days if he had been waiting for me to take notes? I had a feeling he was being especially stupid on this trip because he expected me to cover for him. I fought the urge to roll my eyes in front of our guest.

Though I shouldn’t have bothered. Tim pointed his thumb at me and sighed.

“Women,” he said, as if that was some sort of explanation for our exchange. If only I had turned on the recording app to catch that. HR could look the other way if they didn’t have any proof of Tim’s shitty, sexist behavior. They’d have a lot harder time doing it if I caught and recorded it. And to my annoyance, the stranger just nodded as if he completely understood Tim’s frustration.

But I wasn’t going to let either of them overrule my own professionalism. I leaned over the table, reaching out my hand.

“Sophie Hall,” I introduced myself.

But Tim’s new friend just stared at my hand as if I had offered him a live snake. He looked like someone who had not had a lot of experience with women. Pale and slightly oily, he gave the impression that he hadn’t eaten a meal with all four food groups in a very long time. There was a definite gut visible beneath his dirty black T-shirt and his fedora looked as though it had been left in a puddle of grease recently. Everything about this guy set my warning flags off. But it was clear that Tim thought he was fantastic from the excited way he was leaning towards him, obviously eager to get the story started.

I withdrew my un-shaken hand and pressed start on the recording app.

“So, Rob,” Tim began eagerly. “You went to high school with Nathan Ryder, is that correct?”

My stomach clenched. Fuck. Did this guy have some dirt on Nathan?

“That is correct, Tim,” Rob said in a voice that was affected and vaguely robotic. No matter what it was definitely creepy. “I was a year behind Nathan Ryder, the baseball player.”

“You don’t need to say his full name each time,” Tim said. “Just tell me the story like you told it over the phone.”

There came that uneasy feeling again. So Tim already knew the information that Rob claimed to have and wanted to get it on the record with me as a witness. Obviously he thought it was good. I clenched my fingers into a fist and prayed that I was wrong.

Rob cleared his throat and began again. “Nathan Ryder—I’m sorry, Nathan, was the boyfriend of a girl named Becca.” A look of reverence came over Rob’s eyes. Clearly he had been in love with this girl. “She was the most beautiful girl at our school. What she ever saw in Nathan, I’ll never know.”

This guy was clearly a moron that much I could tell. Anyone who looked at Nathan and wondered what women saw in him obviously had no idea what women wanted. But I had a feeling that was exactly Rob’s problem.

“Becca was the kind of girl who was nice to everyone, which is probably why she ended up dating Nathan. She had trouble saying no to people.” Once again I tried not to roll my eyes. “We were lab partners. We spent time together after school.” Rob smiled. It was creepy. So very creepy. “I could tell she liked me. She told me she was thinking of breaking up with him.”

Liar, I thought. You are a filthy, stinking liar. And my gut backed me up.

“I’m a really nice guy, you know.” Rob paused and when I looked up, I realized he had directed that creepy smile at me. “Not like those jerk jocks that just use girls and throw them away. Like Nathan did to Becca.”

“Tell us what happened after prom,” Tim urged, and I clenched my fists tighter, feeling my nails cutting into my skin.

“Well, Becca went with him, of course, because she was too nice to say no. Even though she told me that they were going to break up afterwards.” Rob’s eyes got squinty and intense. Instinctively, I leaned back in my chair, wanting to put as much distance as I could between us. This guy gave me the major creeps.