Page 5 of Playing Flirty

“Patrick working late?” she asked, nudging her shoulder against mine.

I nodded.

She sighed in the way she did whenever Patrick didn’t show up. “Do you want me to give you a ride home? I’d give you my car, but I have an early morning meeting I have to get to.”

Neema and I usually drove home together, or Patrick would pick me up. But with Shaun’s arm curled around her waist and his eyes glistening with adoration, I couldn’t bear to pull her away from him.

“No.” I blew out a sigh. “You stay. I’ll take the bus or call a taxi. I’m a big girl.”

“Based on the facts we are presented with,” William said, walking onto the balcony and lifting his hand high, then lowering it until it was about level with the top of my head, “that is not true.”

I shot him a death stare.

His brows popped up before he ran a hand through his dark, tousled hair. Permanent bedhead that was impossible to tame. “I could give you a ride. I’m on my way out,” he said.

“Ten points to William!” Shaun cheered.

Neema giggled in his grip.

I groaned but William only grinned, exposing his deep dimple. “Come on, Rose, I don’t have all night.”

My name sounded foreign on his tongue, startling me. Grabbing my things, I gave Shaun and Neema one last hug and followed William downstairs to the parking garage. I looked for the latest GTI in crisp white and assumed it was his.

He climbed in and opened the passenger door from the inside. Then he stared at me while I reached for my seat belt like I was the strangest thing in existence. Not unusual for him.

“What?” I bit out, struggling with the belt.

“Why didn’t you take your backpack off?”

Admittedly, I’d forgotten because I was thinking about how we’d barely ever been alone together. But now it was too late, and I had to commit to keeping the backpack on. I turned my attention to the problematic latch and struggled for a few seconds. It wasn’t clicking in.

Leaning over, he took the buckle from me and snapped it into place. His pine and lavender scent washed over me before he pulled away.

“Thanks,” I said with an internal curse. Bested by a seat belt in front of my nemesis.

He rubbed the back of his neck and blew out a short breath before starting the car. It came alive with a deep rumble that shook my bones. Pulling out of the garage, he took the corner faster than I’d anticipated, leaving part of my insides somewhere before the bend.

“This isn’tNeed for Speed!”

A breathy laugh escaped him, but his hands stayed flexed around the steering wheel and his eyes fixed on the road.

“Where are you off to?” I asked to fill the silence.

“Nowhere interesting,” he replied, which was probably code for meeting a girl.

In all the time I’d known William, he was rarely short of a date.

With that thought, I took out my phone and scrolled to Patrick’s name. There I found a text with a promise of dinneranda movie on Friday night. I gnawed on my lip, wanting to curb my enthusiasm.

William glanced over, his eyes falling on my lit-up phone. Disdain returned to his features, and he turned on the radio, surrounding us with smooth classic rock. The unread email notifications called for my attention, and I sifted through them with one subject heading standing out from all the rest:

Calling All Board Game Creators: Original Board Game Submissions Now Open

My heart zoomed. My finger hovered over the bolded text, but before my thoughts could run to the dream hidden in the corner of my mind, the car stopped.

“We’re here,” William said.

Pulled out of my daze, I glanced down at the email and exited the app.No way. I can’t think about that.

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