CHAPTER EIGHT
Five roundslater Brodie wondered what the hell he’d dived into. Trivia was a serious business and the one time he’d attempted to make a joke, he’d been shot down quicker than a rattlesnake. From then on, he’d kept his mouth shut, answering the odd science-related question.
Most everyone at the table accepted his presence, although, every now and then, he looked up and caught Brad’s gaze flitting between him and Cerise. Each time Brodie held it. He wasn’t going to be intimidated by anyone and if the guy was interested in Cerise, well then, he should’ve made a move before now.
“Here’s the next question. Everyone ready?” A resounding yes filled the room. “Okay then ... the popular app, Trumpeting Turtles, was created by five guys in their senior year of college. Name the college they went to.”
Everything in him stilled. So far, the only person who knew he was one of those five college guys was Mitch. A quick look in the corner and he caught his friend’s eye. Mitch gave a subtle shake of his head to let him know he hadn’t said anything to anyone about who he was. Brodie doubted he’d kept the secret from Nadia, but he trusted she wouldn’t have said anything either.
“How the fuck are we supposed to know this?” asked Brad. He was a regular at trivia night, according to Cerise. She didn’t seem to see him other than a fellow trivia lover.
“I assumed they’d have to have gone to one of the Ivy League colleges, like Princeton or Harvard. Those preppy types have the money to inject into the startup costs of an app.” This came from another guy at the table, Beckett.
“That’s a great generalization there,” Cerise muttered.
“Y’all have two more minutes to think about the answer to this one before the next question,” the trivia master announced.
Looking at the blank faces around the table, Brodie knew he was going to have to step up. No way was he going to let the team not answer a question when he knew what the answer was. Besides, the team was leading, and he was nothing if not a competitor who liked to win.
“It was Rutgers. They went to Rutgers,” he interjected to the silence that had descended around the table.
“Rutgers? Are you sure?” Brad questioned, something he always did when someone gave an answer to a question he didn’t know.
“Yep. I went to Rutgers. I was there when it was all happening.” That was as close as he was going to get to admitting he was part of the party of five tech nerds.
Brad whistled low. “Nice. Did you know them?”
“Hey, are we playing trivia or gossiping?” This came from Tony who was writing down the answers. Brodie had been surprised that it was old-fashioned, pen-and-paper-style trivia. He’d expected it to be all electronic, like in most chain restaurants around the country. But no, Hunt liked to keep things traditional, and he couldn’t deny he found it pretty cool.
“Trivia. Put down Rutgers. You’ll find it’s right.” Brodie insisted, while avoiding looking at Cerise.
The next question was blasted out but he didn’t pay much attention to it. “You okay?” Cerise asked quietly. Once again, her floral scent wafted around him.
“All good. Why?”
She picked up her drink, the light catching on her glittery cheek. “I don’t know. You seemed a little tense when the question about the app came up.”
“I was. It’s not the sort of thing I expected to hear on a trivia night.”
“John comes up with some obscure ones for sure. The night of the tornado we were here for the trivia. I’d dragged Nadia along and he asked a question about what player got these stats at the combine or something related to football. Anyway, Nadia pipes up and says it’s Tom Brady. Now this is Texas, so if it’s not the Cowboys, Texans, or one of the college teams, then it’s not football to anyone round here. But she was adamant it was Tom and even said she’d buy a round if she lost, but if she won, the whole table had to call out ‘Tom Brady is the GOAT.’”
“And what happened?”
“She was right and the whole table grudgingly yelled out ‘Tom Brady is the GOAT.’ I’m not a football person but it was hilarious.” Her grin was infectious and he found himself smiling along with her.
“Sounds like a fun night.”
Her grin died. “It was, but not long after that the tornado came through, and I’d rather not think about that.”
Dammit. How could he forget what Buck had told him?
Her hand gripped her glass, and he could see the white of her knuckles showing. He brushed his own fingers against hers and leaned in, so that he could murmur in her ear. “I’m glad that you’re okay and I’m sorry for bringing up a bad memory.”
Because of his proximity to her, the gasp that rippled through her fired his simmering attraction and he wanted nothing morethan to nuzzle her neck. But he was aware they were in a roomful of people.
The round finished and conversation started up around the room.
“So back to those guys at Rutgers. How well did you know them?” Tony asked, and how ironic the guy who told everyone to stop gossiping, was the first one to ask the question. And why was he asking? Any other sane person would’ve forgotten about it. But maybe small towns worked differently than the big city.
