Playing the Player(50)

“I’ll text him right now.”

Sharon nodded. “Make sure he brings a friend. I don’t want to be responsible for any injuries to Super Nanny.” She gave me a knowing smile as she backed out of the room. “I’m going back into the attic to see what other furniture we can use.”

“Watch out for dust bunnies.”

She laughed. “Way too late for that.”

“We’ll finish the story later, kiddos. I need to help Sharon.” I extricated myself from the tiny arms and limbs encircling me on the couch and moved to the hallway.

Any chance you’re free tonight? As soon as I hit send, I freaked. Now he was going to think I was asking him out.

His reply was fast. Depends on what you have in mind.

Was that flirting? Or was he weighing his other options for the evening? I suspected I ranked much lower than whatever blonde he was currently into. I squeezed my eyes shut, reminding myself this was not about me.

I need you to bring a friend. Someone strong. Once again, I cringed the second after I hit send.

BB! I had no idea you were that kind of girl. Not sure I can oblige your kinky desires.

The only saving grace was that he couldn’t see my mortified face. I was considering chucking my phone into the trash when it rang. I took a deep breath before I answered.

“Trina Clemons. I’m shocked. Clearly I’ve misjudged you.” I heard laughter in his voice, and a hint of something else, something that made my heart speed up.

“Uh, no you haven’t. Misjudged me, I mean. It was, um, not the best text I’ve ever sent.”

His laughter was low, making me grip the phone tighter. “I disagree. That was probably the best text you’ve ever sent me.”

“Slade. I’m serious. I need your help.”

“What’s up? You okay?” It sounded like he’d stood up straight and wiped the smirk off his face.

“Yeah, I’m fine. But I need someone strong to um…” my voice trailed away as I realized I’d just unwittingly told him I’d noticed his muscles. I struggled to sound normal. “It’s this place I volunteer at. A homeless shelter. We need to move some heavy furniture to make room for a new family.”

He was quiet for a moment. I wondered if he was figuring out how to say no in a nice way.

“So what you’re saying is you want me for my body. You want to use me for the night.”

I cringed. “Yes that’s exactly what I’m saying. And I need to use one of your friends, too.”

“Hmm…” His voice hummed into the phone, making me shiver. “What’s in it for me?”

That snapped me out of my daze. “What’s in it for you? You’ll be doing a good deed! Helping out at a homeless shelt—”

“BB,” he interrupted. “You need a better sarcasm radar. Tell me where and when.”

My breath caught. “Really?”

“Yes, Trina. Really, I’ll show up to help you. Really, I’ll bring a friend. Really, I’m not a total dick. I just play one on TV.”

My answering laugh was almost giddy. “I’ll text you the address. And thank you, Slade. It means a lot to me.”

“My body’s always available for a good cause. You should keep that in mind.”

“Uh…I need to go. I’ll see you later.”

“Later, BB.”

I heard his laughter in my ears as I climbed the attic ladder to tell Sharon the good news.





Chapter Twenty-Nine


Slade


June 20, Thursday

“So when are you going to pay up?” Alex asked as we drove to the address Trina had texted me.

I glanced at him, feigning innocence. “Pay up? For what?”

He smirked at me. “I seem to recall we had a wager. About you. Something about falling in love.”

My hands tightened on the steering wheel, but I tried to make my voice light. “What are you smoking, dude? I’m just helping out a…friend. Besides, the bet wasn’t about love, it was about making Trina chill out.”

A twinge of guilt ran through me. Now that I knew about Trina’s brother, the bet we’d made felt wrong.

Alex tapped his forehead with his finger. “Paging through years of memories. Lots of girls. Lots of hookups. Yet not one memory of you helping out a pixie chick. On the wrong side of town. Just because.”

We were both silent as we parked in front of the ancient house with a hand-lettered sign out front: Redemption Women’s Shelter. Lives saved, one day at a time.

Trash littered most of the block, but the grass in the tiny yard in front of the shelter was green, not brown. A few straggly flowers wilted over the sides of a yellow planter on the crumbling front steps.

Alex sighed next to me. “Have you ever volunteered anywhere before? Ever been in a place like this?”

I turned off the car and glared at him, annoyed. “You think I can’t handle it?”

He rolled his eyes. “Of course you can handle it. It’s just…these places can be really sad.”

“You’ve been here before?” I was surprised.

“Not here, but another shelter. For runaways. Most of them rejected by their families because they’re gay.”

Damn. I didn’t know what to say to that.