Page 30 of Dead Serious with Benefits
“You’ll have to ‘crow’ a lot harder than that to offend me.”
“Mmm, is this because of your siblings again?”
“You catch on with remarkable speed.”
“I have my moments,” he said with a chuckle. “Now, let’s return to the original subject.”
“We seem to have gone through a great deal of original subjects,” I pointed out, finding that I was enjoying the verbal sparring. I generally avoided that sort of thing, again because of my siblings. I had learned what Milo never did, and probably never would; neither of us was good at it. That was important to understand about yourself when people like Moira and Mason treated verbal sparring as a full-contact sport to be won at all costs. Ward seemed to enjoy the sparring for the game’s sake rather than winning or dominating. “Perhaps you could circle back to whatever subject you want to discuss.”
“More the original question, the one you left unanswered when we last saw one another.”
“Ah, your other...party.”
“Indeed.”
“Is this a request for a date?”
“Do you want it to be? Because I would love it to be, but I’m willing to let it be platonic if you’re not interested in romance.”
It was time I gave it some thought. Or at leastmorethought than I had.
I was not the party sort, though I felt that whatever party he had in mind wasn’t the sort I’d initially found him hosting. That narrowed the field a bit...except he struck me as the sort to call a street riot a party. At the same time, he wanted to spend time with me, and people tended to be on their best behavior when they wanted to spend time with someone.
And why shouldn’t I enjoy myself? It had been ages since I’d gone on a date, and even I knew it was necessary to feel wanted or desired occasionally. Even if the entire thing was as doomed as all my other attempts at romance, it had been far too long since someone had shown an interest in me romantically. And when had I last been asked out rather than doing the asking?
Someone was eagerly asking me out on a date, and I was...hesitating? Had it been so long since I’d let myself have fun that I hesitated when the offer was made? An offer made by someone I was interested in spending more time with?
My eyes drifted to the thick, plastic strips of the curtain and frowned. In there was a woman who had a story, one I would never understand or really know. Maybe it wasn’t fair to say she had probably passed up opportunities in her time. After all, her loved ones said she had no real close friends, no boyfriend or girlfriend, and hadn’t gone on dates. She had died unhappy and feeling more alone in the world than anyone should ever feel.
Is that how I wanted to die? It wouldn’t be by my own hand, but my death would come one day. Did I want a life lived without risk, without trying?
I was surrounded by death, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t let life in.
“You win,” I said, smiling. Not just because it was the right choice, but because I saw relief from Ward.
“A fine choice,” he said, recovering quickly. Based on what I knew, he was used to adjusting his personality on the fly. “I would ask if my charm was enough to seal the deal, but I have a strange feeling that isn’t what won out here.”
“No.”
“Mmm, then what?”
“Not what, who.”
“Okay, who?”
“You can thank Olivia,” I said, glancing around the room thoughtfully.
“Hmm, the young woman with her whole life ahead of her, theoretically, considering what she did.”
“She had…family, a growing career, and I assume she made decent money. No medical issues were brought to my attention.”
“Ignoring whether it’s okay for you to tell me,” he said wryly. “What prompts someone with such a promising future to decide she doesn’t want that future?”
“I don’t know,” I admitted, looking at her file and frowning when I saw another name on the list. “She had a twin brother.”
“Is that important?”
“Not to you,” I said, thinking of Moira and Mason. Anyone would be hard-pressed to find siblings who seemed so unlike each other and prone to antagonizing the living shit out of one another without crossing too many lines. I couldn’t picture one living without the other. Someday I’d have to ask them, but I’d bet neither could picture a world where the other no longer lived. “Apologies, I was thinking of my siblings.”
