“You chose pasta, Hayden.”
“And yet.”I cock my head knowing I’m correct.
She grins over at me and shakes her head.“You and that dangerous confidence.”
“You like confidence.”
“I like it in controlled doses.”
That smile again.That terrifying ease.
By the time we walk back to my building, the sky has gone fully dark, city lights reflecting against the windows above us.I should take her upstairs.I know that.I’ve been aware of it since halfway through dinner, since she licked wine from her bottom lip and nearly ended my ability to behave in public.Instead, when the elevator opens, I press the button for the amenity floor.
Vanessa glances at me.“Not your apartment?”
“Not yet.”
Her brow arches.“That sounds ominous.”
“It’s recreational.”
“And that sounds dangerous.”
The game room is empty when we step inside, all dark wood, leather seating, a wall of backlit bottles, and a pool table centered beneath a low-hanging brass fixture.The city stretches beyond the windows, lights glittering against the black reflection of the glass.
Vanessa stops in the doorway, taking it in.“Of course, your building has this.”
“Jealous?”
“Of the pool table?No.”She turns to me and grins.“Of the whiskey wall?Slightly.”
I cross to the bar and pour two drinks from one of the nicer bottles, handing one to her before selecting a cue from the rack.
“Do you play?”
She takes the glass, eyes moving from the cue to me.“A little.”
“That means no.”
“Or it means I’m about to hustle you.”She flashes me a wicked smile.
I almost smile back.“Rack them.”
She does know enough to make the first game interesting.Either that or she’s pretending not to know more.With Vanessa, it could be either.
The whiskey warms the room around the edges, turning the day into something slower, heavier.She misses two easy shots, sinks one impossible one, and gives me an innocent look afterward that tells me exactly how innocent she isn’t.
“You lied.”
She leans over the table to line up another shot, dark hair sliding over one shoulder.“About what?”
“Playing a little.”
“I said a little.I didn’t specify how much of a little.”She shrugs like it’s nothing.
“That’s not how words work.”
“It’s how mine work.”
