Page 10 of Endgame

“Well, thank you,” Lila murmured, suddenly keenly aware that lots of eyes were focused on her and the star quarterback. It was kind of difficult not to notice the stunningly attractive Knight and his imposing frame. The contrast between his dark hair and grass-green eyes alone was positively drool-worthy.

“Honestly, it’s just my selfish attempt to round up some company for lunch,” Knight joked, oblivious to all of the attention as he motioned to a small table nearby with his head. “Shall we?”

“We shall.”

They ate in companionable silence for a minute or two before Knight took a large swig of his bottled water and then asked the question that Lila was hoping he wouldn’t ask. “So, how are things with you and King? Word on the street is that Jason interrupted a sexy moment.” He brandished his strong brows like a weapon and his green eyes glittered with something in the neighborhood of mischief and delight.

Lila gulped down the bite of sandwich she had been chewing on and waited another beat or two before she answered. “Um, so yeah, that is a thing that kind of happened. Though I’m sure Jason has grossly over exaggerated the particulars.”

“So things are going well?”

Lila had assumed that Knight and King were pretty close, so she was surprised that he seemed to be in the dark about the fact that King had gone radio silent.

“Um, he hasn’t, like, texted me or whatever since that night. So I’m assuming…no?” She quickly corrected herself so her previous statement didn’t sound so much like a question. “I mean, it’s not a question. It’s obviously a no. I think we’re done hanging out.” She cringed a bit as she shrugged. “Or whatever we were doing.”

Knight made a sound in his throat that sounded a lot like irritation. “So you’re telling me that he maybe more than kissed you and then ditched you?”

“Um. Given that fact that I haven’t heard from him, I guess?” Lila felt uncomfortable, old insecurities creeping back in. “Look, I mean, I’m probably not the typical kind of girl he goes for, so I get it. I’m not wired to just hook up, I guess.”

She shifted in her seat, crossing then uncrossing her legs. “Anyway, can we talk about something else? More football maybe? Whether or not you have a special lady in your life since we last spoke?”

Knight looked her over somberly for about half a second, and then his affable grin was firmly back in place. “Your wish is my command. How much do you know about fourth-down conversions?”

Later, after their lunch was finished and they exited the building together, Knight caught Lila by the elbow. “I consider you a friend now, Li. Almost like the sister I never had. And I’ve got your six, okay? King or no King.”

“Thanks, Knight. Same.” She leaned in and hugged him around his middle and said goodbye, heading to her next class with a smile on her face.

* * *

When Lila returned to her apartment later that afternoon, she inadvertently interrupted Becky’s newly established meditation time, which apparently took up the entirety of the apartment’s communal space, so she waded through the smell of burning incense to get to their bedroom. Vicky and Dani had wisely cleared out, and Lila luckily had a dinner shift. She made quick work of changing into her work clothes and pulled her hair back into a ponytail before slinking back out the front door with a quiet “Good-bye,” while Becky was chanting with her eyes closed.

Wren was off that night and Jason was working in the section next to hers, so she had to continue to deflect any questions he posed about King. When there was a lull in the rush and they were both wrapping silverware in the wait station, Jason poked her with his elbow.

“C’mon Alexander, you’ve gotta give me some details about what’s up with King. I mean, I was there to see all of that sexy energy happening in real time,” he chuckled and gave a fairly decent shoulder shimmy. “He never says anything about anything, so it’s up to you to give me all the dirty details.”

Lila worried at her bottom lip for a minute so that she wouldn’t break down and interrogate her coworker. She played it as cool as she could. “I haven’t heard from him since that night you came home and we were watching the movie on your couch,” she replied evenly with a slightly raised shoulder.

Jason’s face lit up with confusion, which then settled into a knowing understanding, and it was almost disconcerting to see his expression when it wasn’t filled with mischief or humor. “Ah” was all he said, his voice unsurprised but with a slight edge to it. Frustration, maybe? Based on Knight’s and Jason’s similar reactions to her response, Lila wondered if perhaps King was as inscrutable to his friends as he’d been to her.

Lila really, really wanted to ask him to elaborate, but she refrained. What King did or didn’t do wasn’t any of her business. Luckily, she didn’t have to discuss it further because she got another table. Unfortunately, they were close personal friends of the restaurant manager, Bryan Blaine, and so she spent the next 45 minutes catering to every little whim they had.

But seriously, who orders a pizza with melted cheese on the side? Monsters, that’s who.

She managed to control her eye rolls, even as Bryan made an appearance to try to flex in front of his friends. He put an unwanted hand on her shoulder and steered her toward the table. “I trust that Lila is taking care of you all tonight?” he simpered with an inordinate amount of simper.

One of the guests wrinkled her nose and said, “She did make me wait exactly 67 seconds for a Diet Coke refill, but I guess that other than that, she’s been fine.”

Lila loved it when they talked about her like she wasn’t standing right there. Creepy Bryan still hadn’t removed his damn hand from her shoulder, either.

She had to suppress yet another eye roll at the asinine response. Because she’d been hustling for that table all night. She also knew they’d use this arbitrary (and, she’d argue, totally reasonable) wait time as an excuse to tip like shit. Lila managed her best server smile and apologized once again and explained to them once again that she’d already added an additional discount on top of their friend discount.

That seemed to appease Bryan, though she knew she’d get a lecture at some random day in the future. The last time that had happened, he got upset with her about her poor service to a table that wasn’t even in her section that night. So she hadn’t even been their server. But the boss is always right and all that, at least where Bryan was concerned. Luckily, the kitchen managers and most of her co-workers were awesome, so that’s why Lila stayed. Plus, the kitchen managers were cool if they took food home at the end of a shift. Usually just something from the salad bar or a mini pizza or something, but it helped Lila keep her food costs down and made up for the shifts where she made lower tips.

At last, the table from hell left, leaving her a ten percent tip on a discounted ticket, and Lila suppressed a groan of frustration. She went to the server station and snuck a look at her phone, trying to tamp down the waning hope that King had suddenly decided to text her. Yeah, she was aware of how pathetic it was. Kissing King Spencer had kind of messed with her head. And also maybe her lady parts.

No texts from King, but a text from Wren in response to Lila’s earlier text about Becky and her “mediation station.”

WREN: I can’t believe she was using the whole room to burn incense and do headstands.

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