Page 62 of Play for Keeps

Millie eyed her friend closely. Creative phrasing was a possibility. As an associate professor in the English department, Avery loved words and wordplay. Therefore, word choice was important to her. She wouldn’t have saidhypeunless she’d heard some hint of hype. Taking a sip of her drink, Millie pondered the possible outlets for said hype. Media? Whispers in the student body? Were faculty members speculating about Ty’s member?

“What hype, Avery?”

Pushing her wild curls back from her face, Avery settled a startlingly direct gaze on her. “The hype you built up in your head.”

“My head?”

“The guy was gone for six weeks. First, the two of you were burning up the mobile minutes, then not talking at all. I have to tell you, this is the weirdest game of cat and mouse I’ve ever seen.” She paused long enough to lift her glass in a mocking salute. “Including in cartoons.”

“Ha-ha.”

Avery took a sip of the scotch, grimaced, then set the glass down. “Seriously. I’m not sure which of you is the cat and which the mouse. I figure I’ll wait to see which one gets the anvil dropped on their head.” She sat back, her smile making it clear she was pleased with her deductive reasoning. “Usually happens to the cat.”

“I think you’re confusing a cat with a coyote.”

Avery shrugged. “Whatever.” She leaned in. “Tell Dr. Preston why you invited her here tonight.”

“I need to talk to you about those hideous skirts of yours.”

“Millie.”

Regardless of her opinions on Avery’s style choices, the woman could switch on the stern-professor stare when she needed to. And Millie felt compelled to tap her inner adolescent. “What?”

“Stop talking about my clothes, and tell me what crawled up your ass.” Avery frowned. “Or maybe the problem isn’t something has, but rather someone hasn’t?” Before Millie could confirm or deny her friend’s theorizing, Avery plowed ahead. “Has he cut you off?” She stared at Millie in wide-eyed wonder. “I mean, we assumed after he tossed you over his shoulder and took you back to his man cave you two were doing it like minks, but maybe not. Is that the trouble? You’re not doing it?”

“First of all, stop saying ‘doing it’ like you’re fifteen or something. Second, yes, we are.”

Avery pounced. “But the trouble is sex.” She leaned in closer. “Am I right?”

Millie didn’t answer. Instead, she stoppered the end of her straw with her fingertip, trapping some of the icy concoction in a vacuum seal.

“Don’t make me take your slushie away from you,” Avery warned.

“The sex is fine. Good. Great,” Millie amended, pulling the straw from the drink. “More than great. It’s sex like I haven’t sexed in…well, ever.” She moved her finger, and the contents of the straw slithered back into the glass.

“I’m sensing a big ‘but’ here.” Avery held up a hand to stave off any rejoinder. “Not that you or Ty have big butts. As a matter of fact, I think we could safely say you make one of the most tight-assed couples ever.”

Millie smirked, amused by her friend’s wordplay. “Thanks.”

“What’s the issue?”

Sucking in a breath, Millie tried to compose her jangled nerves before she answered. “Me.”

Avery snorted. “Oh, well, yeah. Shocker.”

She smiled as she lifted her drink, but it was a grim smile of acknowledgment. “I just… He’s all over me.”

“The horror!”

Her friend’s shocked gasp made Millie chuckle, but there was no stopping her now that the wheels were in motion. “He wants to go to dinner. Stay the night. Sit on the couch and watch movies in sweatpants, for cripes’ sake,” she complained.

“The bastard. How can a monster like this be running loose out in the world?”

“And he’s all presumptuous about us. Like I’m supposed to be waiting around until I can see him.”

“Well, you know I don’t approve of the waiting on a man thing, but in all honesty, Mil, it’s not like you’ve got something else going on right now.”

Avery’s switch from mockery to logic revved Millie’s indignation. “He probably only has about five condoms left. Six tops. Add those to my eleven, and at the rate we’re going, we’re going to burn through them all by next week, and everything will be over!”

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