Page 70 of Kismet

“I, uh, I just wanted to stop by and—”And what? Where the fuck was I going with this? Jesus.“And say hi. We haven’t seen each other much since Fort Worth, so I wanted tocheck in.”

That sounded fucking stupid.

His eyebrows scrunch together as a rare grin splits on his face. “Because we talked so much beforehand?”

A laugh bubbles out of me, and I hate how awkward it sounds. “Okay, no. But… I don’t know. Want to go grab drinks tonight?” That has his eyebrows shooting to the sky. “As friends… or as coworkers, if being friends is still off the table.”

“You want to grab drinks… with me… as coworkers?”

“Yeah. It doesn’t have to be weird. We got along before.”

“Yeah, but—” His head cocks to the side as he studies me. For what, I’m not sure. Several awkward seconds go by before he finally says, “You know what? Sure. Why the hell not? Let’s do it. Where to?”

Holy hell. I wasn’t expecting him to say yes. “Uh, we can go back to Bar PM? It’s a lot more chill during the week than it is on the weekends. Say, five?”

He studies me for another moment, unease flashing in his eyes before it’s gone. “Okay, sure. I’ll see you then.”

The walk back to my office is quick. I practically jog there, with my mind reeling. He fucking agreed to have drinks with me. Once I’m back in the confines of my own area, I shut the door, heading to my chair, and sitting down.

I grab my phone, unlock it, and dial the first number on my speed dial. It rings a few times before my sister’s chipper voice connects.

“What’s up, baby bro? What’s with the midday call?”

“Uh, so I can’t come to dinner tonight.”

“What?!Why the hell not? You’ve never missed a Monday dinner. Is everything okay?” She’s right. I’ve religiously gone to her house for dinner every single Monday since I moved out of her house. Which kind of makes me feel like shit.

“Well… I kind of found myself in some plans I didn’t think would actually happen.” Molly doesn’t do vague. I can practically see the quizzical look on her face as she listens to me half explain shit.

“Yeah, I’m gonna need more than that, Stone.”

“Okay, well, you know how I ran into Cash at the convention in Fort Worth?”

“You didn’t run into him, Stone. You tricked him into going under false pretenses, but go on.”

I let out a harsh sigh before continuing. She isn’t going to make this easy. “Anyway, I ran into him today and—”

“Did you actually run into him? Where did you run into him?”

“Molly… Jesus fuck. Shut up for five seconds. I ran into him… in his classroom and—”

“Again, not running into him. But continue. I don’t have all day.”

“Okay, if you’d stop interrupting me—no. You know what? Never mind.Anyway, I randomly, on a whim, without expecting a yes, asked him if he wanted to grab drinks tonight after work as friends.”

“Wow! And he said yes?!”

“I know. I wasn’t expecting that. I don’t even know what came over me. It just blurted out before I could stop it.”

“Damn. Well, of course you have to go. Let me know how it goes.”

“I will. Thanks, Mol.”

The rest of the day goes by in a blur of staff meetings and academic appointments. It barely seems like any time has passed by the time I look at my watch and see it’s four forty-five.

Shit, better get going.

Bar PM is only about three minutes from campus. I grab my helmet, lock up my office, and stroll out toward my bike. It roars to life, vibrating underneath me, as I take off out of the parking lot. It’s a warm evening, even as the sun is setting.

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