The Closer You Get (17 page)

“Yep.” He didn’t want to talk about Adam and Cash.

“I haven’t seen Adam this happy in a long time. I kind of feel like that relationship is a little one-sided, though. What do you think?”

“I think it’s none of my business.”

She bit her bottom lip and still refused to look at him. In fact, she looked about the most uncomfortable he’d ever seen her. “Wanna shoot some pool?” he asked.

She instantly relaxed. Even smiled a little. “Sure.”

He put his hand low on her back, to lead her to the pool table. He also let her walk away from him so she could choose a cue from the wall, and he stood back so she could have space while she racked the balls.
 

“You sure know how to handle a set of balls, Cora,” he said, wondering if he could make her blush. Or even better, smile.

“Thanks,” she said, for some reason, not catching the innuendo.

“That’s a great rack,” he said, not even trying to be clever.

“It’s not like it’s a special skill,” she said, removing the triangle and gesturing for him to take his turn.

Rye sighed, trying not to grin. He took his shot and then another. Cora moved around the table, checking her options. “You got kind of a short stick, there,” Rye said. “Why don’t you try mine?”

She looked up at him with confusion in her eyes. Rye fought back his grin. He took her cue and set it aside. Then he grabbed her hand and pressed it around his cue. “Mine’s got a hard, straight shaft. Slick, too.”

There she was. Finally, she started to blush. He let himself smile, as he moved around her, standing behind her. “What you wanna do is bend over and grab the butt.” He moved her hand to the base of the stick. “See the perfectly formed tip? Just slide that between your fingers, there…”

“Oh, my God, Rye!” she shrieked, before turning and shoving him away.
 

He was greatly relieved to see the amusement in her shocked expression. He laughed.

“How on earth can you sexualize the game of pool?” she asked.

Not for the first time, he was stunned by the innocence of her mind. “How can you not sexualize it? We play with balls and sticks and bend over a lot. It’s just right there.”

Her mouth hung open as she came to terms with what had been right under her nose. “Oh, my God,” she groaned. “There’s something wrong with you.”

“Everyone thinks it, Cora.”

“Not me.”

“Not until now. Now, you’ll be thinking about it all the time, won’t you?”

He could see by her blush that he was right. “I’m not sure this is a good start to your new life.”

“Listen, I’m directing all my dirty sexual energy toward you, now, so you’re going to have to toughen up. I mean, before it was dispersed amongst the entire female half of the population. You’re gonna get it full power and, frankly, I’m not sure you’re up for the task.”

“Oh, I’m most definitely not,” she said.

He sighed, moved around the table, and leaned back against the wall. “Listen, I can dial it down, for you, maybe to half-power. But that’s the best I can do. And only until you get used to it.”

She laughed, shook her head, and took her shot. “I have a date on Friday,” she said.

The words acted like a bucket of ice water. Rye watched her pocket several balls with precision. When she finally missed, he realized he didn’t want to take his turn. He didn’t want to play at all. But he forced himself to. “So you’re not interested in me,” he said. The words made him sick.

He expected her to confirm his statement. When she didn’t, he stood and turned to her. She was fidgeting with her pool cue, worrying her bottom lip with her teeth, and staring at him. “I’m not…not interested in you,” she said.

“Then cancel your date and let me take you out.”

“Rye, I’d like us to be friends.”

That was it. He returned his cue to the rack on the wall, before addressing her. “When a man wants a woman like I want you, and she says to him, ‘Let’s be friends,’ it’s just as good as a slap in the face.”

She flinched. “I didn’t mean it that way.”

“How did you mean it?”

Her chest rose and fell with her quick breaths. “I…I find you attractive, but…but…”

“But?”

“I don’t…I don’t think I’m ready to take the risk.”

He nodded and pressed his lips together. “Right.”

“Rye, please don’t be offended—“

“I’m not offended. I’ve done this to myself. I just wish…” he let out a frustrated laugh. “Fuck, it doesn’t matter what I wish. I guess, no offense, I hope your date doesn’t go well. I hope none of your dates go well for as long as it takes me to prove myself.”

He left her there, staring at nothing.
 

Cora couldn’t get the image of Rye’s disappointment out of her head. At the same time, she was glad to see it. She watched his expression turn to ice with just about everyone, lately, but with her, he was an open book. It was the very sort of thing that would help her come to trust him. She only needed time.
 

She’d questioned whether she should go on the date. In the end, though she decided she wanted to cancel, she felt she owed it to Adam who had arranged the whole thing.
 

She tried to forget about Rye so she could give her attention to her date. She’d begged Adam to double with her so she didn’t have to be alone. He’d reluctantly agreed and somehow managed to get Cash to show up. They were having dinner at Over The Moon, and she was the last to arrive. Gary stood when he saw her. They shook hands and sat across from Adam and Cash, out on the deck. Adam and Gary were dressed in sports jackets and ties. Cash looked like he’d just gotten off work, his cargo pants and t-shirt dirty and his jaw stubbled. Trying not to care. What was with the Holcomb boys and their obvious efforts to put the world off?

Cash caught her studying him. “What?” he asked.

She shook her head. “Nothing. You’re just a little underdressed.”

He looked around the restaurant. “Yeah, well, if they don’t like it, fuck them.”

Adam glanced at him uncomfortably, but Cora just laughed. “You and your brother…could you be more obvious?”

He frowned. “What do you mean?”

“I just mean that everything you do, every choice you make seems to be guided by your need to show the world that you just don’t give a shit.”

Gary stiffened next to her. She wondered if it was because of her language or the confrontational way she’d just addressed Cash.

Cash, though, actually grinned. “Yeah. Yeah, I guess you got us figured out. Only Rye seems a little different the past few days. Wonder why that is.”

She wasn’t going to touch that one. She actually felt herself blushing and had to look away. Adam took the chance to change the subject. “So Gary,” Adam said, “I was telling Cora how much you like to cook.”

“Oh, yes,” Gary said. “I admit, I’m a bit of a foodie. Do you like to cook?”

“Um…” she looked at Adam to see what her answer was supposed to be. He gave her a subtle, wide-eyed nod. “I bake a little.”

“Oh, I like to bake, too. Not too many people like to do both…the rules in baking are so much stricter than with cooking. Maybe we can get together sometime, and I can cook dinner, and you can make dessert.”

“That would be fun,” she said.

“I watch a lot of food TV. Can’t get enough of it, really.”

“That’s cool.” She sat up, suddenly getting a hopeful thought. “Do you play video games? I’ve got a ton of PS3 games.”

Gary looked at her like she’d just sprouted antlers. “You mean, like at an arcade or something? The kind kids play?”

Apparently her encounter with Rye had given her the wrong impression of adult males. They didn’t all find it socially acceptable for an adult female to play video games. “Well, actually they make a lot of these games more for adults. You wouldn’t let a kid play Grand Theft. Adam loves playing with me.” She turned to him, looking for support. But Adam was also looking at her like she’d just lost her mind. He glanced nervously at Cash.
 

“No, I don’t,” he said. “That’s ridiculous. I’m a grown man.”

Cash was suppressing a grin. “Look at you. Trying to impress me.”

Adam shrugged and hunkered down in his chair a little. Great, now she was embarrassing herself and her best friend.
 

Gary cleared his throat and put on a brave smile. “Well, maybe you could show me sometime. Who knows? Maybe I’ll like it.”

She smiled, grateful for this. The rest of the evening went much the same. Gary sharing his interests and her trying to be interested. She wished she could delete Rye from her brain because she wasn’t sure how much of the failure of this date was because she wasn’t attracted to Gary; and how much was a result of being distracted by Rye.
 

When dinner was over, she asked Gary if he might want to go shoot some pool at her favorite bar. He looked uncomfortable. “Well, I’ve played billiards, but not much. I’m not sure I’d be any good.”

“That’s okay. It’s just relaxing. We don’t have to keep score or anything. You guys wanna go?” She looked at Cash and Adam. Adam had clearly given up on her making a good impression. He shrugged like he didn’t care. Cash was giving her a knowing grin. He knew Rye would be at the bar. He knew she wanted to see him. She blushed and looked away.
 

“I wanna go,” Cash said. “I’m a fish out of water in this hoity-toity place.”

So they all drove over to the bar. Cora spotted Rye shooting pool with Kent across the room. If there’d been an open table, she’d have taken it…or so she told herself. But there wasn’t. So she grabbed Gary’s hand and led him to Rye’s table. “You wanna play doubles?” she asked the two men. Rye was chewing gum, had his ball cap turned backward, and his I-Don’t-Care expression on.

“Sure,” Kent said. “Should be fun with you in that dress.”

Rye slapped him on the arm and gave a disapproving look.
 

“I don’t care how you look at me, Kent, ‘cause I’m gonna mop the floor with you.”

He grinned real big, and Gary let out a nervous laugh. She sat her clutch against the wall and helped Gary pick a cue. Rye racked the balls and gave her first break. She took her turn and was pleased, when Gary took his, to see that he at least had good form. That was as far as his skills extended, but at least he didn’t look like a doofus while he was losing the game for them.
 

“Introduce us,” Rye said, as he took his shot, splitting two balls into corner pockets.

“Oh, yeah. I’m sorry. Gary, this is Kent. He’s a manager over at the textile factory there on the edge of town. And this is Rye, my new structural engineer. Guys, this is Gary. Bank manager and chef extraordinaire.”
 

Gary blushed, and she hoped it was because he felt flattered. She certainly didn’t want to embarrass him. “Nice to meet you,” Gary said.

The other two men nodded. When Rye’s turn was over, he leaned against the wall next to Cora. She tried not to get flustered by his nearness. Rye turned his head to look at Gary. “You tried buying her a drink yet?” he asked.

Gary cleared his throat and shook his head. “No. Not yet.”

“She doesn’t like letting you pay. You’ll have to create a diversion and then pay when she’s not looking.”

“I don’t have a problem with a woman paying her way on a date,” Gary said.

Cora gave Rye a smug, arch look. But her smugness crumbled when she realized that, progressive though it might be, Gary’s statement wasn’t the sexiest thing in the world. She wound up frowning and wondering when she’d changed her stance on that particular issue.

Long before she was ready for the night to end, Gary said he was ready to call it quits. He walked her out to her car, and she wondered if it would be rude or weird for her to go back in and play some more. She decided it would, especially since Gary was standing next to her, waiting for her to get in and drive away.
 

“I had a good evening, Cora,” Gary said.

“Thank you. Me too.”

“I don’t think you’re quite my type, though. I hope you don’t take offense if I don’t call you again.”

She supposed she should appreciate his forthrightness. But it did sting a little. “Sure. I understand. Thanks anyway.” At that point, she did want to go home.

“We could go back to my place,” Gary said.

She frowned, suddenly extremely confused. “But I thought you just said…”

“Well, we could still end our date back in my bed. I mean, just because we’re not going to be living happily ever after, doesn’t mean we can’t both get a little action tonight.”

Action? Did people really call it action? “Ummm…”

He got in her space, put his hand on her ass, and kissed her.

She shoved him away immediately. “I’m sorry, I’m not going to bed with a guy who just said he wasn’t interested in me.”

“I bought your dinner!” he said, offended.

Her eyebrows shot up. “Excuse me? You think I owe you sex because you paid for dinner? No fucking way.”

“You’re a real piece of work. You know you wanna get laid just as much as I do, and I seriously doubt you’re going to do better than me…”

“I’m going to do way better than you.” She turned and marched back into the bar.
 

She scanned the room and found Adam’s table, where Cash and Rye were sitting, drinking beers. Cash’s arm was slung over Adam’s shoulder. She felt a fleeting sense of happiness for her friend, looking so comfortable in another man’s arms. But then she slammed her purse on the table, sat down, and jabbed Adam in the chest with her finger. “That guy was a complete asshole.”

Rye sat up. “Did he touch you? Are you okay?”

She blinked, surprised. “No. Yeah, I’m fine.” She turned back to Adam.
 

“Gary’s a nice guy,” Adam said. “Just because he doesn’t share the same juvenile interests that you do…”

“You did not just say that. Fuck you, Adam! We’ll revisit that issue in a minute. For now, let me just tell you what nice guy Gary just said to me. He made it very clear that though he didn’t want to date me after tonight since he did pay for dinner, I should have sex with him anyway.”

Adam’s eyes went wide. “I don’t believe that. He couldn’t have said that. You must have misinterpreted.”