I casually headed toward the living room. “That doesn’t sound so bad.”
“How about you, any flaws hiding behind that pretty smile?”
I considered this another question that sounded much easier when I was the one doing the asking.
“Foozle?”
He raised an eyebrow, prodding me to answer his question. “Okay, let’s see... I stutter when I’m nervous and I can be quite indecisive, especially when the stakes are high... I let my empty shampoo bottles sit on the edge of the tub for a while before I get around to throwing them away and I can’t hold my liquor, as you’ve seen. I haven’t always been the best daughter...” Thinking of my grandfather, I sadly added, “or granddaughter—and I’m very sorry for that. I wander aimlessly around the city when something is troubling me... I can get a little carried away when I’m with Cory and Charlotte and I have this little... well, not so little scar on my back.”
As if he sensed my discomfort, he quickly put me at ease, by saying, “And, you have a habit of calling strangers by the names of cartoon characters.”
I laughed and stole a glimpse of his beefy arms. Almost speaking to myself, I said, “How could I have forgotten that flaw?”
He motioned to the couch and I sat, leaving enough room that he didn’t have to sit any closer than he wanted to. Surprisingly, he chose to sit on the floor, slouching enough that the back of his head was resting on the cushion, almost touching my leg.
I had such an urge to bury my fingers in his sandy hair and stroke it softly, but of course being dull, boring, predictable Meg, I didn’t.
This was one of those rare moments in life when, presented with an opportunity to do something so daring, so utterly out of character it would take pictures of the event to convince anyone that I had actually done it, I was going to blow it in the name of good judgment and rational thought, cursing myself for... well... probably forever.
“Well, it doesn’t look like your friends are coming for us tonight, so-o-o, any ideas how we can pass the time?”
I thought, ‘This is it, without fear or doubt, my one chance to be totally audacious and bring my fantasy to life,’ and said, “Cards?”
I felt a chill of excitement run up my back when, almost as if reading my mind, he strained his neck in order to look at me, and replied, “For fun, money... or favors?”
Eighteen
...Our worlds were colliding on a very eerie, but very real course and I didn’t know how to escape the collision. Confusion, shock and pain were all elements of an ending that began as a perfect evening, and I couldn’t run fast enough or far enough to separate myself from it...
We had each found comfortable spots on the floor and took turns choosing the stakes. ‘For fun’ meant making the loser do something silly. Con made me cluck like a chicken the first time I lost and I made him impersonate Elmer Fudd once and attempt a cartwheel another time. ‘For money’ was a freebie because neither of us would take the money when the other lost and ‘for favors’ consisted of retrieving drinks and adding logs to the fire, simple errands that were much less thrilling than what my runaway mind had imagined before we began.
It was getting rather late and I was certain I had mistaken clubs for spades on more than one occasion. Con was either too tired to notice or just pretended not to. I was beginning to get the feeling that he was stalling, avoiding the ‘end of the night’ formalities. The fire had died enough to keep him from detecting my frequent blushes as I could feel a sexual tension beginning to thicken in the air around us. He may dream about another woman, but for now, he was here with me and his willpower was deteriorating so fast, I could almost hear it chipping away.
There I go again, standing in the cloud of white smoke left behind by my vivid imagination.
“It’s getting late; I think I’m going to head up.”
He glanced at his watch, and said, “Yeah, I guess I should do the same.” Concentrating on the deck of cards while he shuffled one last time, he added, “Thank you. I had a good time tonight.”
With his attention on the cards, I couldn’t see his expression well enough to know if his words were sincere or if they were an obligatory compliment but if I’ve learned nothing else from Cory, when in doubt, rely on humor.
“Aw... I’ll bet you say that to all the girls you find yourself stranded with.”
He stood, shaking his head in an exaggerated motion, and teased, “Never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d find myself...” Laying the cards on the coffee table, he continued in a more serious tone. “I have to hand it to your friends. I mean, all I did was ask for you number and they ran with the ball. I admire their nerve, even if they did take it to extremes.”