She took a drink.
That got a laugh from both of them, and she couldn’t help but smirk as well. Warmth from the liquor radiated through her nerves. Okay. She needed to pace herself. Ezra wasn’t going to go easy.
“Aren’t you supposed to answer, too?” She aimed the question at Ryker. “What is your job anyway?”
He looked down at the floor. “Uh, I paint houses.”
Was he ashamed of that? Why? “And no… I don’t exactly like the job. But it helps with you know… the other one. I can get into more places when wearing my work clothes.”
“I see.” Again. She had to remember these were dangerous men. Even if they were wrapped up in ridiculously hot packaging.
It was Ryker’s turn to ask them a question. “Worst hookup. Go.”
“Damn, Ry,” Ezra scoffed. He tipped his chair back. “Really just going for it? Not even gonna get us warmed up?”
Ryker spread his hands. “Answer or drink, man.”
He rolled his eyes. “You already know it, dickhead.” Then his gaze flicked to Willow, and he muttered, “A girl puked on me.”
She couldn’t help the laugh that forced its way out of her. “Oh, my god.”
Ezra fidgeted with his glass. “Yeah, so it’s your turn.”
Sensing that the questions would get worse the longer the game went on, she decided to answer. “Nothing that funny.” He shot her a playful glare. “Sorry, unfortunate. Just the standard experience of a guy finishing faster than a football play.”
Ryker burst out laughing. “Wow.”
Ezra smirked and scratched at the stubble on his chin. “Hope no one disappoints you like that again, baby girl.”
“I hope no one pukes on you again.” That earned her another mischievous laugh from Ryker and a kick under the table from Ezra.
“My turn to ask,” she said, clearing her throat. “What’s your favorite hobby?”
Ryker snickered. “What the fuck are these questions? You have free rein to ask whatever!”
“Well,” she said, “maybe I want to get to know you beyond what I can see.”
“Do you like what you see?” Ezra tested.
“I don’t think it’s your turn to be asking questions,” she replied with a subtle flirtatious glance at both of them. “But I think you know the answer.”
Oh no. The alcohol is working.
She could feel her inhibitions loosening, and a dull panic of losing control fought for its place beneath the dulling effects.
“Fishing,” Ezra said. “Haven’t done it in a few years, but yeah. Fishing. When I’m not playing games with this dickhead.”
The photo she’d found earlier made that admission all too real. Maybe he had stopped once his uncle was no longer around. Perhaps the memories were too painful.
“I like fishing too,” she offered. It wasn’t a lie. “I used to go out on the lake with my dad a lot.”
“Why’d you stop?” Ryker asked. “There are lots of places to do it in Lakeview.”
“I moved away and no one to go with,” she said simply. Also, not a lie. Willow turned to Ryker. “Your hobby. Go.”
A glint of something devious flashed in his eyes, like he wanted to show her what his ‘hobby’ was. What a flirt. Though she wasn’t about to complain. She wanted to make use of the hobby he was hinting at right fucking now.
“I’m a simple guy. I just like video games.”
