Page 64 of Raging Fires

“Yes, but…” Kelli trailed off. She wasn’t sure exactly what raised her suspicions; it was just that some little voice in her brain was screaming that whatever he was talking about, it was a bad idea.

“You’re not the same, either. You just said so,” Jake went on persuasively. “We could be like strangers. Forget about all that old stuff.”

“I’m not sure that’s possible.”

“Sure it is. You forget the bad throw and move on.”

“Jake… emotions aren’t the same as football.”

“Maybe not, but you can still put them behind you. Give yourself a do-over.”

“I don’t know exactly how this would work,” Kelli said, frowning. “We live together.”

“Yeah, but, see, we could start like strangers sharing a house, like you were renting me a bedroom in your place—except I wouldn’t be pissed off because that room is the size of a postage stamp.”

Kelli tried not to smile, but she couldn’t keep from it. This was always the way he’d talked her into one of his ideas, making her laugh so that she forgot about the all the reasons she shouldn’t do it. Although she had to admit that most of those times had turned out to be fun. “Okay, so we don’t know each other.”

“Right. Or maybe it’s like somebody you haven’t really liked in the past, but then your best friend starts dating her, so you make an effort to like her.”

“So your plan is that we’ll just be roomies? Because we’ve tried that, Jake, and even if we do forget all the old animosity, there’s still the, you know…”

“The really hot sex?”

Kelli rolled her eyes. “The fact that there’s some attraction to each other.”

“But that’s the thing. It’s a new beginning… so it’s the whole process all over again. We could go out on a date. Get to know each other. Check each other out.. Like you’re attracted to me but unsure whether you really like me.”

“Usually, Jake, I like the men I’m attracted to.”

“Did you like me as soon as you saw me? As I remember, you were pretty cold.”

“When I first saw you…” Kelli smiled reminiscently. “I thought you were the hottest guy I’d ever seen—and that you were probably a total player and arrogant as hell. So, yes, I was attracted to you, but I didn’t like you.”

“There you go.”

“I’m not sure what that proves,” Kelli told him. But she could feel herself weakening. That little voice was still in there telling her no, that it was an awfully slippery slope. But… what if Jake was right? What if they could get along now? What if they could have nights like last night and her world wouldn’t implode? It might be nice to be like Jake, finding things out as you go, setting out without a road map, not worrying about all the things that could go wrong and just having fun. She sighed. “Oh, all right. We’ll go on a date.”

He grinned and took a last drink, then set down his bottle and began to talk about the crowd at the Blue tonight. As if nothing had happened. As if she hadn’t just made an impulsive decision that might upend her world.

“Do you always draw that many customers when you have a band?” Jake asked.

“No, this is one of the most popular bands that plays here. But we do always have more when there’s a band.”

“Maybe we should have more shows then. These guys said they could come back in a couple of months if we’re interested.”

“Really?” Kelli said in surprise. “You asked them? They’re usually pretty heavily booked.”

“Well, I didn’t say anything definite. I was just talking to that girl who seemed to be their manager—I think she’s married to one of them—that guy that looked like Voldemort, only with a nose—and she said that she could find an open date.”

Ah, that explained it. He was talking to a female; no wonder he would get an open date out of her. “You mean the guy with the snake tattoo on his left arm? Yeah, that’s Herb. He’s the only one I’ve dealt with before.”

“Herb? Death metal lead guitar, and his name is Herb?” Jake cocked an eyebrow.

“Hey, I’m not responsible for his name. He calls himself something else onstage. I don’t remember what—something that sounds like a wrestler.”

“Destroyer? Death? I’m pretty sure it began with a D. Decimator? Destructo? Defiant?”

Kelli laughed. “Dissonance would fit.”