Page 11 of Never Always
He sighs long and heavy. “That’s why she’s with someone else, and I’m here kicking your ass at chess.” Grange stays quiet, holding his chin in his hand as he stares at the board and makes his move.
“You aren’t kicking my ass,” I retort.
He nods, self-assured. “I am, but you won’t see it for another three moves.”
Narrowing my eyes, I look at his pieces. “If it really was a drunken mistake, why aren’t you trying to win her back. You were supposed to marry her. When you’re at that level, don’t you fight for it?” I slide my rook up the open file and raise one brow before releasing it.
“If you can believe it, the woman wanted nothing to do with a man who can’t remain faithful. Add in the assault conviction, countless deployments, and I’m not first choice marriage material.”
He makes his move, and I still can’t see what he is planning. “Would it happen again? If you found yourself in the same scenario again, would you cheat on her?”
His beautiful eyes meet mine. “Yes. I would.”
I wrinkle my nose. “You are the worst, you know that? There’s literally nothing redeeming about you or this situation.” I pull my bishop back to add a defender to a weak square.
“Maybe that’s the redeeming thing. That I’m not redeemable. Sierra has been with that dude since the second we split. That’s what we were arguing about tonight.” He swallows hard and looks away from the board for the first time in a while. “Among other things. It doesn’t matter though, because I’m the cheater. I got dressed, went to the bar, and ran into the guy with a bad attitude. I don’t remember beating him. At all. The whole thing was hazy.”
“You sure open up when you feel like it.” I make a move that I try to disguise as casual. Mate in three.
He picks his knight up, sets it down gently, and taps it twice. Unexpected. “Only when I’m trying to kick your ass.” He lifts his eyes and waits for me to see it.
I widen my eyes. “How?” Sure enough. He has me. Too busy with my game to see his.
“Discovered check. Double check. Checkmate.” He chuckles. Leaning back in his chair, folding his arms behind his head. His cell phone rings in his pocket. He pulls it out, sees who is calling, and his wide, white smile slips. “Hey,” he says into his phone.
“Yeah, she was there with him, and you know what happens when I see that dude’s ugly face. I’m cool, man. Promise.” Standing from the table, he walks over to stand in front of the window overlooking the lab. “Yeah, she’s ah, she’s a friend. I’m good. I promise, man. We’re still on for tomorrow night. I’ll be there at seven.”
Twirling the trapped king between my forefinger and thumb, I try to look like I’m not hanging on to his every word. So many things about this night have surprised me. Mostly I’m shocked that I’m actually enjoying hanging out with him. He’s beaten me at my own game. Taken what I thought I knew about him and backed it up into a corner. After telling whoever is on the phone that he will call in the morning, he tosses his phone on the couch.
“I won, so I get to choose what we do next.”
“Who was that?”
Grange won’t answer, but I want to know anyway—to piece together a man who I am so obviously confused about.
“Depends on what you want to do,” I add.
“It was Rexy.” He rounds the corner and grabs the water bottle I left sitting on the counter and drinks. He wipes his mouth on his arm after downing the rest. “He checks up on me a few times a day. Bad news travels fast. He’d heard about the encounter with Sierra and wanted to know if he needed to pick me up at the police station.”
“You could have gotten your own glass.” I scowl at my bottle.
He shrugs. “Yours was more convenient.” Grange licks his lips. “Let’s go swimming.” He tilts his head to the window. To the bay.
“Oh, no. Are you on drugs? It’s night! It’s fall!”
He laughs. “So, what? You can’t swim at night? You lose the ability?”
“I know what’s in that water down to the microscopic level. Hard pass.”
He pulls his shirt off in one fluid movement. Air lodges in my throat. I open my mouth to protest, but nothing comes out. “Remember what I was talking about earlier? Confidence?”
“Bravery has nothing to do with swimming in that water at night. It’s gross.”Your body is not gross, I think. It’s perfect. Magazine worthy. Sue-Ellen worthy. I close my eyes.
“We swim in that water year-round, Fire. I’m still alive.” He sits on my sofa and takes off his shoes while talking about a training exercise they do in the bay. I’m a little impressed. I can’t lie. “Go get your swimsuit on. Unless you want to skinny dip. I shredded you at chess. This is what I want to do.”
Surprisingly, I want and don’t want to swim in that water in equal measure. “Listen, there’s an indoor pool here. How about we swim there if you’re dead set on liquid. Chlorine is safe. I’d really rather challenge you to a rematch.” My bedroom door is half open, I walk to it and push it open. Grange cranes his neck to see in—eyes lighting as he studies the things he can see from his vantage point in the living room.
He rolls his eyes, talking to me through my open door. “No sense of adventure. Rematch later. Plus, maybe you can give me an hour for community service. You are a bit of a charity case with that showing at chess.” I tear a pillow off my bed and throw it out my door. It hits him in the head. “Okay, you get one point back for a direct hit.” His laugh makes me smile.
