Page 135 of A Matter of Time

“Canvassing the neighborhood,” I offered as I took his hand and he hauled me to my feet.

“That’s right,” he said gently, his hand slipping around the side of my neck. “I forgot you watch TV, so you know what’s going on.”

I nodded, agreeing with him that I was a big dork as Trip stood up next to me. “Sam, this is my friend Trip Ward. Trip, this is Sam Kage.”

They didn’t shake; they just nodded at each other as Sam drew me closer.

“Let’s get some food in you.”

“Okay,” I agreed, offering Trip my hand. “I’ll see you.”

“Wait, no. Jory, I thought we were gonna⁠—”

“You’re leavin’ me hangin’ here.” I smiled wide.

Instead of taking my hand, he stepped into my arms and hugged me tight, his hands sliding over my back. “We should’ve gone somewhere, just the two of us.”

“Yeah, we should’ve.” I squeezed back because he felt good in my arms. I needed to be held, I craved it.

“We gotta go,” Sam said, and I felt his hand tangle in my hair and pull gently but insistently.

I let Trip go, and Sam grabbed the lapel of my topcoat. “Take care,” I said.

“Jory, lemme take you out tomorrow. I’ll pick you up at work and we’ll have dinner, and then we can⁠—”

“He’ll be busy,” Sam said gruffly, yanking me forward so hard I almost fell. “Get in the car before I put you in the car.”

“Oh yeah?” I teased him, shrugging off his hand, walking backward. “Ya think you can do that?”

He grunted and moved faster than I would have thought he could. I had wrongly assumed that a man his size wasn’t capable of speed, but he had a hold of my arm again before I even realized what he was doing. “Lemme show you where the car is.”

I smiled, looking down at my feet. “I can walk.”

“You’re barely vertical. How many drinks did you have?”

“I dunno.”

“Why were you drinking anyway?”

“I was sitting by myself and I got bored.”

“Why were you sitting alone?” he asked as he opened the door for me and held it. I climbed up, and he closed it behind me. I glanced back over at the club entrance, and Trip was still standing there, watching me. I waved, and he returned the gesture.

“Were you supposed to be on a date with that guy?” Sam asked when he slid into the driver’s seat.

“You asked me two questions in a row, do you want an answer to either?”

“Yeah,” he said, chuckling. “G’head.”

“Okay, so I was sitting alone because Trip, who yes, I was supposed to be on the date with, was dancing with other people.” I turned and looked at him. “He invited me for dinner but brought me here instead.”

He reached out and put a hand on my cheek. “You look confused, baby.”

“Well, he invited me to dinner but not alone. What is that?”

“I used to invite friends if I wanted the other person to think it wasn’t really a date.”

I shrugged, brushing his hand away. “Then I guess it wasn’t really a date.”