“No.” I moved aside for her and looked around for where we could sit. There was a mahogany desk in the corner with a leather rolling chair. I pulled out the chair and turned it around, but she ignored me and moved to one of the beds, sitting cross-legged on top of the down comforter. I took the chair.
“I won’t stay long.” She yawned. “It’s just, I haven’t had a chance to talk to you lately and I don’t want to let enough time pass that we both pretend everything is back to normal. Forgetting is not an apology. I don’t want you to think I’m not sorry for the way I treated you on the phone, because I am. I complained to you about my family, and when you called to check on me, I chewed you out.”
“It’s okay.” I believed she was truly sorry, but I also had no idea what to expect from her next. How could I know if her apology came with a change of heart, or if given the right frame of mind, she’d push me away again the instant she felt threatened? Were we friends again? Had we ever been?
If it was anyone else, I would have accepted the apology, backed away slowly, and severed the relationship. But Willa was different—an unattainable dream that continued to tease me with a glimpse of possibility. It wasn’t just her beauty, though I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t attracted to her. Something about her fight against the world made me want to be her soft place to land. And that was stupid. Every thought in my head right now was stupid.
I ran my fingers through my hair, a short trip, which still took me by surprise every time.
She peeked up at me through her lashes. “Doug, have I ruined your life?”
“Not yet.”
We grinned at each other, knowing there was a lot of truth in my answer. I really wanted to ask what she was doing here. She could have texted me her apology, or called, or stayed on her side of the door and explained there.
But instead I asked, “Do you want to play Uno?”
“You have Uno cards with you?” She pressed her lips together, likely in an effort to not laugh at me.
“I threw them in my bag at the last second.”
At that, she laughed—a real laugh that made her shoulders shake and her eyes water. “That’s not making it sound less nerdy, Doug. Why did you put them in your bag? Uno isn’t a one person game.”
I tried to glare at her. “I never said I planned to play it by myself.”
“Oh? With Justin and Victoria then?”
“I thought you came here to apologize, not to make fun of me.”
“Can’t we do both?” she asked, before waving an arm in surrender. “I’m sorry. Where are these Uno cards?”
I pointed to my zippered bag on the luggage stand and she got them out.
“Ooh, this is a vintage deck. Somehow, that doesn’t surprise me.”
I started clearing things away from the desk but she shook her head. “Come over here and sit on the bed.”
Nothing about the way she said it was anything but platonic, but I felt weird as I sat down across from her and straightened out the creases on the comforter between us. I should be used to this. I was always the dependable buddy. Likeable and non-threatening. After all, I was the geek who brought Uno cards as entertainment.
She dealt us each eight cards and flipped over the top card from the deck. “Let’s go over rules. If I put down a draw two, can you put a draw two down and make me draw four?”
“Of course. Are we keeping score?”
“I hope so.” She leaned over and grabbed the hotel pad of paper and a pen from atop the night stand.
I learned very quickly that Willa was highly competitive and would do everything possible to win, including distracting me so she could peek at my cards. She was very good at being distracting.
“Is this what you do with all your girlfriends?” she asked. “Play cards?”
“You’re not my girlfriend.” I pointed out. “Why, did you have something else in mind?”
That was as close to flirty as I’d ever gotten with her, and of course, her response was to laugh.
“Uno.” I put down my second to last card.
She dropped a draw four on top of it and enjoyed watching me draw out four extra cards. “I’m sort of your girlfriend. Well, I will be when Alan gives us the okay.”
I studied my cards, not sure how to respond.
