Round 16

M y deadlines had me fully booked over the next few weeks even though all I wanted to do was see William. I considered sneaking out for a quick kiss, touch, lick—I’d take anything. I was seconds away from sniffing Shaun to see if he smelled anything like his brother.

Addiction. Surely that’s what this was? I wanted to live and breathe William. I wanted to spend my days in his lap, feeling his hands caress my body and my lips drag across his skin. Any part of it. I needed to catch him looking at me, the way his gaze ate me every time our eyes locked, one small bite at a time, regardless of what I was wearing.

But I was here. Working on my MBA. Staring at my laptop screen, my mind drifted to my game— to our game —as I inhaled a slab of chocolate. I remembered when my father quit smoking and took up chocolate in its place. If it could work for nicotine, it should work for William.

How did he manage to infiltrate my every thought?

It didn’t help that William had started texting me too.

Memes mostly; he was terrible at texting. But every now and then, a message would come through that only I would understand.

William: I have some more ideas for the game.

Rose: Like what?

William: I think to make it a more immersive experience, we should extend gameplay between rounds.

Rose: I thought you said we need to shorten the game.

William: I was wrong. It’s too short. Players get frustrated. So frustrated they may not be able to eat, sleep, or work until they get to finish the game.

My heart beat so fast that I felt it in my flushed ears. If I called a taxi, I could be at his apartment in twenty minutes.

But I’d never do that.

By the time game night rolled around and I walked into his apartment, I worried I may need to be restrained. Predictably, William was in his usual place on the couch—lounging in those damned sweatpants I remembered all too well.

“What’s up?” he said.

“Nothing, what’s up on your side?” My gaze dipped and I cocked an eyebrow.

A flash of white teeth appeared as he smiled and shifted to create space for me. I scooted next to him.

He shook his head. “Wait until it’s my turn.”

The underlying threat in his tone tickled every part of me, but before I could question what he meant, Claire and Lincoln arrived. Well, I assumed it was Lincoln behind the tower of pizza boxes and the 30 Seconds booster pack resting on top of it. They greeted everyone and set the pizzas on the table.

I grabbed the booster pack to investigate. “You’re picking 30 Seconds, but with a booster?”

“Yep, because you and William have memorized the other set.” He held up a long finger to stop William from protesting. “And we’re doing unlikely pairings.”

“We’ve never been partners,” Claire said to Shaun. “Lincoln and Neema and…” She turned to William and me.

“I’ll trade with any of you.” William grabbed two slices of pizza.

As he lifted one slice to his mouth, I swiped it, and our fingers grazed. The casual contact ignited whatever it was inside me that burned for him.

Brain, focus. It’s game night.

And it wasn’t just any game. It was 30 Seconds, the game that had us at our most competitive. Each team had thirty seconds to explain as many terms on their cards, ranging from places to musicians, as possible.

And the unlikely pairings were causing a stir. Shaun and Claire made a terrible team with neither understanding the other’s hints. Whereas Shaun preferred using facts, Claire gave hints in the form of personal anecdotes.

On the opposite end, Neema and Lincoln flourished where Neema’s creativity complemented Lincoln’s engineering brain.

While they were busy, I walked to the kitchen and opened a cupboard high above my head. Eyeing a box of cookies far outside my reach, I raised my arms and shouted, “Come!”

Unsurprisingly, the cookies didn’t heed my command.

From across the room, William’s eyes met mine. Grinning, he dragged himself away from the game and joined me in the kitchen, where he grabbed the cookies with ease.

He opened the box and held it out to me. His voice dipped low. “If you want something, you could ask.”

“It’s polite to offer.” I took a cookie and popped it into my mouth.

“I am not polite.”

And I nearly choked.

“You two, stop conspiring,” Neema called. “It’s your turn.”

Final round.

It was William’s turn to describe, and mine to guess. We returned to the game, and he rolled a two.

He cursed.

We needed five correct answers to win.

William blew out a breath and turned to me. “Ready?”

I nodded.

Bouncing from one foot to the other, he geared up for his first hint.

Shaun touched the timer, and William rounded on him. “Hey, hey, fast fingers! I haven’t looked at the card yet.”

“Sorry!” Shaun threw both hands up in surrender.

No one smiled. Once upon a time, this game had nearly caused trouble between Shaun and Neema, and Claire and me. There were a few months where we’d banned it from game night.

William glanced at the card as Shaun flipped the timer.

“The capital of Turkey,” William stated.

“Next!” I shouted.

He frowned.

“Next! Next!” I shouted again.

“She’s the actress in that movie you love about the blond doctor with the pink—”

“Ray Loffel!”

“Correct.” He grinned. “You have like three concert ticket stubs from this band.”

He’d noticed.

Not now, brain.

“Lime Park!” I shouted.

“Correct! It’s a fizzy drink, you seem to hate it.”

“Coke.”

“The full name,” he bit out, his tone urgent.

“Coca-Cola,” I replied, and then added, “Ankara. The capital is Ankara!”

“Correct and correct. The winners of the last UEFA.”

I shook my head.

“It’s soccer,” he added.

“Liverpool?” My eyes widened. “Manchester?”

“You had a colleague with the same name. You were really sad when she resigned.”

“Chelsea!” I jumped up, as if that would get the answer to him quicker.

“Yes!” he shouted as the last grain of sand fell through the timer.

We were already standing from sheer excitement and broke out into our own individual winning dances. His dance was way worse than mine, but he looked better doing it.

Shaun took the card and shook his head. “Nope, Chelsea F.C.”

“What?” I turned to him.

“Chelsea F.C.” he repeated. “You only gave half the answer.”

While I wanted to win, I was a stickler for the rules, and everyone knew it. With a deep grumble, I watched as Neema and Lincoln ended up taking the gold, and William and I sulked over our almost win.

After everyone made peace with one another, I went to the balcony, hoping William would follow me again.

He did.

“Those jeans are against the rules.” His soft words, so close behind me, sent a shiver of anticipation down my spine.

Glancing over my shoulder, our gazes locked as he tilted his head to one side.

I giggled, spinning fully around to face him. “We should have won.”

A strange sense of weightlessness filled me, scaring me… like I might float away.

“I’m counting it as a win.” William closed the space between us and handed me a sheet of paper. “I sketched this last night while we were texting. I think this is what you’re imagining?”

I unfolded it and couldn’t hold back my grin at the squiggly lines and scribbles with made-up names of regions I’d created for my game.

“I love it,” I managed.

“Awesome. I’ll get someone at work to make it look good.”

I took him in, absorbing the sound of his soft, sure voice when he spoke about my game, the twinkle in his eyes when he’d challenged me only moments ago, and the way he leaned against the wall in that moment, just looking at me.

I stepped toward him. “How did you know about Chelsea?”

He bit his bottom lip. “Like I said, you were really sad when she left.”

I stood on my toes and kissed the underside of his jaw. His head dipped, reuniting our mouths as his large hands slid across my back and pulled me closer. Hot lips trailed my neck, and the ache within me grew deeper, tighter. His urgent kisses lingered on my skin, pausing to savor me.

“Rose?” Neema called.

We jumped apart, each of us moving to opposite sides of the balcony. My heart pounded, and my head spun with a need I could barely understand.

The door opened, and Neema poked her head out, her gaze darting between us. “I’m heading home. You coming?”

“Yeah.” I swallowed hard and glanced at William, who’d managed to close his gaping mouth, but his cheeks were flushed bright red. “I’ll see you tomorrow?”

He nodded. “And the day after, and after that, if you so wish.”

My already hot cheeks flamed.

William whipped out his phone and opened the Candy Crush app. Long after I’d given up with that game, he’d continued playing.

He was nothing if not determined.