Present Day
She’s back within the hour. I decided to sit outside and wait for her. Two people walked in while I was doing the books, and I had to tell them to leave. And I didn’t want to lock the door on her and have her have to wait outside while I unlocked it. Not that it was dangerous for her to wait a few seconds, but it seemed rude to me.
So I wait outside on a bench right next to the door until I see her walking up. I stand and walk toward her.
“Hey,” she exclaims from afar.
“Hey yourself,” I reply, approaching her quickly.
“You didn’t have to wait outside,” she says to me.
I explain my reasoning to her and she gives me an understanding nod.
“I’m going to get food to go from Barkley’s and then head up to Bay Street for the tequila.” She adjusts the strap of the shoulder bag she’s carrying.
I reach out to her. “Can I carry that?” I ask.
“Sure.” She hands me the bag. I peer in to see its contents. Three boxes of games. I don’t study them enough to see what they are. I close the bag and drape it over my shoulder.
“Thank you,” she says.
“Not a problem. So, to Barkley’s?”
“Yes.”
We walk toward the restaurant, which is renowned for its fried seafood platters. I grab Kerry’s hand and hold it as we make our way there.
“I’m not sure if you noticed earlier,” I begin, squeezing her hand, “but I think Padraig’s onto us.”
“What do you mean?”
“I think he thinks we’re a thing.”
“A thing?”
“An item,” I clarify. “In a relationship. Or fooling around?”
Kerry purses her lips slightly sideways as if to convey she’s thinking about what I’m saying.
“We’re just hanging out, right?” she finally asks.
“Yes.”
“And kissing?”
“Yes. Hanging out kissing, for sure.”
“So does that make us an item? A thing? Does that qualify as fooling around?”
“I think fooling around involves being naked,” I retort.
Kerry laughs. “I can agree with that.”
“I don’t know if we’re an item or a thing, and I don’t really care to define it right now.” I squeeze her hand again, hoping I didn’t just sound like the biggest of assholes.
“I’m okay with that. I mean, besides the fun we’ve had and the kissing, I wouldn’t say we’ve spent enough time with each other to give whatever it is a definition.” Kerry looks at me with a soft expression. A caring expression.
So, I’m not being an asshole. Well, either that or we’re both being assholes and we cancel each other out.
Whichever it is, I’m relieved.
“And I can agree with that,” I answer, giving her statement right back to her.
“Why are you worried about Padraig being ‘onto us’?”
I shrug. “I want this—us—to go wherever, however, it’s going to go on our terms. I don’t want any . . . outside influences. Not yet. Padraig can really be a pain in the ass about things sometimes. He can be relentless. It’s exhausting. I don’t want to deal with that. Not now. I want to enjoy you. Without him in my ear all the damn time. And Stella—”
Kerry places her hand on my chest, and we halt our walking. “Hey,” she says, brushing her hand through my hair. “You’re getting really worked up about this. Calm down.”
I take a deep breath, and we begin walking again.
“And Stella,” I continue. “Well, no offense to her, but she’s a little persistent too. And I just have images in my head of them butting their noses in and wanting to know information I’m not ready for them to know.”
“Stella wouldn’t do that. Not if I asked her not to.”
“I understand. I do. And everything in my head are worst-case scenarios. I know that. But it doesn’t mean I can stop thinking about them.”
“So what is it that you want to do?” she asks with a concerned look on her face.
I take another deep breath as we reach the front door of Barkley’s. I pause and pull her to the side to get out of the way of other patrons. “It’s probably going to sound dumb, but I would really like to not talk with Padraig about whatever it is we’re doing here. Or Stella. I’d like for us to figure this out before we have to answer a million questions about our intentions with each other.”
Kerry nods. “Okay. I understand.” She presses up onto her tiptoes and kisses me.
“And, to avoid talking about it, maybe we shouldn’t be touchy-feely when we’re around them. As difficult as that will be for me, I think it’s for the best. For now.” I stand there waiting for her to tell me I’m being ridiculous.
“So no sticking my tongue down your throat during game night tonight?”
I smile, bend down, and place a quick kiss on her lips. “Something like that. But you know? No hugging or passing sexy eyes to each other.”
Her Julia Roberts laugh comes out. “I don’t know what passing sexy eyes means, really, but I think I get the idea.” She wraps her arms around me in a hug. I hug her back.
“I’m going to get all my hugging for the evening in right now if that’s okay,” she says, her face partially smushed into my chest.
“So you don’t think I’m an absolute lunatic for feeling this way?”
She looks up at me. “I wouldn’t say that, necessarily, but I am okay with keeping us a secret if that is what you want.” She hugs me again. “I don’t mind having you all to myself for a while.”
I exhale a large breath. I tilt her chin up to me and kiss her again. “You’re kind of great, you know.”
She shrugs, and we look at each other for a short moment, both with smiles plastered on our faces.
“Let’s go get some food,” she says.
I nod, then turn and open the door for her to pass through.
Kerry chooses Life. The board game. She says it’s fitting of the current situation. Stella doesn’t disagree. I don’t argue.
We eat, we take a few shots of tequila, and we play the most lively and animated game of Life I’ve ever witnessed.
Kerry and I are sitting on the floor at Stella’s oversized coffee table while playing this game with Padraig and Stella, who are sitting across from us. Her knee keeps brushing up against my leg. I want to put my hand on her thigh. Or rub my hand down her back. Or kiss her, for fuck’s sake.
But I made up this stupid rule about keeping this from the two sitting across from us.
It’s for the best, I remind myself.
“Ha! I win!” Kerry exclaims after placing her car game piece into the Finish square. She raises her hand in the air across the table, and Stella gives her a high five.
I nudge Kerry’s shoulder gently with mine. “I think you cheated,” I tease.
Padraig laughs. “You always think everyone cheats when you lose,” he says.
“Not true,” I argue.
“I bet Denny from poker night would disagree.”
I shrug. I feel Kerry tap me on my knee. I try not to react. She’s breaking the rule, but her hand against my knee was welcome. I just don’t want Stella and Padraig to know. I already notice that Stella is looking back and forth between me and Kerry. I can almost see the wheels spinning in her head.
And now my heart is racing. A little from Kerry’s light touching, a little from the anxiety of what Stella is thinking.
And this was the fourth round of Life we’d played. We never even touched the other two games Kerry brought. I don’t want to be a party pooper, but the shots are wearing off and I’m getting tired.
I decide it’s time for me to leave. What I can’t make up my mind about is whether I should ask Kerry to come with me or if I should let her stay here. My obvious choice is to ask her to come with me. But I don’t want her to make any assumptions about my intentions.
I lean over to whisper into her ear. “I’m about to head out. Do you need me to walk you home?” I think that was a good way to put things. Kerry gives me a small smile and nods.
“I think we should head out,” Kerry says to Stella as she packs up the game.
I yawn and nod, agreeing with Kerry.
“Are you going to be okay, Stella?” Kerry asks.
“Of course,” Stella replies. “I just need to sleep today off. Tomorrow will be better, somehow.”
“Yeah,” Kerry replies. “I’m not going back until she tells you to come back.”
Stella says something back to Kerry, but I tune out while I pack the game box back into Kerry’s bag. The two of them stand and hug. Kerry looks at me, and I see tears in her eyes. This job and that ridiculous boss of theirs is more than anyone should be allowed to put up with.
I follow Kerry to the door, and we say our goodbyes to Padraig and Stella. As soon as the door closes, I grab Kerry’s hand. “Are you okay?” I ask, placing my other hand on her cheek.
“Yes, I’m okay. It’s been a wild day.”
“That it has.”
We head down the stairs from Stella’s stoop to the sidewalk. As we begin walking, I make the decision to do something I’m not sure I should. But I’m going to go for it anyway. I don’t want Kerry spending the night alone. If I do nothing but sit with her and comfort her, I think it’ll be good for her.
Yes, that’s it. Good for her.
“So,” I begin and clear my throat a bit. “I was wondering if you’d like to come back to my place.”
Kerry’s smile beams at me against the darkness of the night.
“I would love to.”