Round 25

W ithout thinking, I followed William out to the balcony and silently watched him deliver Shaun’s tea while willing the blood in my body to return to my brain. William had left me dumbfounded and useless in a way I’d never experienced before, and I wasn’t sure I’d ever recover.

“Dad RSVPed no, by the way,” Shaun told William. “My mom said he’s got some medical conference.”

William nodded; the joy I had seen in his eyes a moment ago was replaced by pain and then almost immediately with relief. “Well, great.”

Shaun attempted a smile. “Yeah, guess so.” Changing the subject, he turned his attention to me. “Have you decided what you’re wearing to the office party?”

I searched into the depths of my being for a coherent thought. The year-end party meant nothing to me right now when all I wanted was to join a cult dedicated to William’s mouth.

“I don’t know,” I eventually managed as I sat down next to Neema, afraid if I sat next to William I would implode.

“You’re the only reason we have office parties. Plus it’s where I first met Neema, thanks to you.” He looked at Neema with all the love in his eyes I’d come to expect.

“I haven’t had time to get a costume. And I RSVP’d with a plus-one, and I don’t want to go alone because…” I didn’t have to finish my sentence. Shaun knew exactly how I felt around Mr. Markham. He also knew that Patrick had always been my plus-one.

And despite my mother’s warning, Patrick had not reached out. I checked all my social media accounts and my three email addresses. He hadn’t called or texted. Nothing.

“Take William,” Neema said, pulling me out of my thoughts. Her eyes met mine in a way that had me questioning her motives.

Maybe I was imagining it or being paranoid.

“I know for a fact he has a Batman costume.” She laughed. “One day he wore it around the house for no reason.”

“It was expensive, and I was having a bad day.” William laughed and turned to me. “Would be nice to put it to use. I haven’t cosplayed in a while, and you won’t be alone.”

He said “alone” knowingly—protectively—and I let out a breath, still recovering from what he’d done to me, for me, moments ago.

“Plus we could easily throw together a Catwoman costume for you,” Neema said. “I’m sure you have a black turtleneck and boots, and I know you have leather pants. We can make a mask—she wears, like, an eye mask, right?”

“And the cat ears!” Shaun added.

“I have cat ears, of course,” I said.

“I’m more interested in the leather pants.” William grinned, flashing his dimple.

“They were for a Grease -themed party.” My cheeks reddened at the way he looked at me. Like he hadn’t had enough. Like he may never have enough. I stood and walked over to the railing, creating more distance between us.

William laughed again. “Of course they were.”

“Oh, you’re one to talk,” Shaun teased, leaning back and wrapping an arm around Neema. “You have, what? Four or five costumes at the back of your closet?”

“I bet Rose has more,” William said, his eyes playing with me.

“Oh my goodness. She’s got one closet entirely dedicated to costumes, and a good percentage of her day-to-day clothing is costume-inspired.” Neema pointed at my outfit. “Like this dress.”

I leaned against the railing. “Why am I being roasted?”

“We both dressed up as Captain Hook for the Fun at Sea–themed party,” Shaun said. “Although hers was far more authentic than mine.”

I rolled my eyes.

“What else?” Shaun bit on his lips while thinking. “I remember a few superheroes…”

“Hobbit,” William added, clearly enjoying this.

“Two different hobbit costumes, William.” Neema cackled. “Who has two hobbit costumes?”

“You’re all mean. There are plenty of hobbits. I could have at least seven hobbit costumes, and it would still make sense.”

“What’s been your most elaborate costume?” Shaun asked.

Before I could answer, Neema said, “Probably that Spirited Away one.” She then turned to face Shaun and William and added, “And no, she didn’t dress up as the human characters you’d expect. She chose those little soot ball things.”

“Of course,” William said, laughing, and I just knew he was picturing it. When he looked back at me, he asked, “And your worst?”

“I may or may not have shown up to a Twilight -themed party dressed as Edward, glitter and all, and…” I cringed. “I may or may not have been the only one in costume.”

Shaun’s eyes widened. “No.”

I nodded. “Oh yes.”

“You were Princess Elsa too, remember? For that Frozen promotion while we were studying,” Neema mentioned.

“No. I was Olaf because they needed someone taller for the princesses.”

To this, William held his hand to his chest and looked like he may have a heart attack if he didn’t release the laughter he was suppressing.

In the end, he failed and shook with his chuckles. “Surely there were better jobs out there?” William asked after calming down. He was doing that thing where he was entirely focused on me, and Shaun and Neema didn’t exist.

“It paid well! My parents accidentally got locked up in Kenya and needed money.”

This, as usual, launched us into a conversation about my parents and their interesting lifestyle.

“Rose had basically seen the world before she got her first period,” Neema said. “She had the most interesting childhood.”

“A bit too chaotic for my liking,” I replied, shaking away the anxiety linked to it.

“We moved around a few times, maybe four times, but nothing like you.” Neema gestured toward me. “Our biggest move was from Tanzania to the States. But I was a kid, so I don’t remember much about it.”

“I lived in the same house from the time I was born until I moved out to go to university,” Shaun said.

I looked at him and then William. “Gosh, it must be nice having a proper home.”

“It wasn’t my home.” William’s jaw stiffened, and his head tilted downward.

Shaun shifted, tugging on his collar. William’s expression was hard and his scowl deep. I wanted to trace those lines and soften them. I wondered what he was like as a child. Probably a bit of a menace.

“I spent all of my time at boarding school,” William said.

I knew Shaun never went to boarding school. He gnawed at his bottom lip, and his shoulders slumped. My eyes searched William’s, and he stared down at his hands, clenching and unclenching his fists. I couldn’t help thinking about what he’d said under the influence of food poisoning. My heart ached at the distance that seemed to grow between the brothers.

I cleared my throat and changed the subject, hoping to wipe the pain from William’s face. “Anyway, has Fun&Games emailed you at all? I know you forwarded one to me. Was that it?”

William looked up, some peace reentering his eyes. “We’ve been emailing a lot, but there’s nothing for you to worry about. It’s going to be okay. We’re going to be playing a game. I can do that.”

“Promise me you’ll be nice to them,” I said, trying to lift his mood. “Even if they use the word ‘irregardless.’”

He smiled. Success!

“I can’t promise that.” He laughed, but it didn’t reach his eyes.

“William, you do come across as a jerk sometimes,” Neema said. “Took me a few months of coming over almost daily before I understood you don’t hate me.”

William rolled his eyes.

I wanted to hold him, tell him I would fix whatever was wrong, and if I couldn’t fix it, I’d find someone who could.

His eyes met mine, and he gave me a half smile. “You’re going to win this. It’s my job to know when a game is good, and this game is perfect.”

“I couldn’t have done it without you,” I said.

A warm and delicious blush crept into his cheeks, but his frown was still deep. His shoulders still tense.

Neema yawned. “I’m going home tonight, love. I have a meeting in the morning.” She kissed Shaun goodnight and turned to me. “You coming?”

I nodded before looking at William. I tried my best to comfort him with my eyes, to kiss him with a stare. His gaze kissed me back, and some part of me relaxed.

“So, to confirm, you’ll be my plus-one?” I asked him. “It’s tomorrow.”

He nodded. “Yeah. Wanna know why?”

“Why?” I asked, already knowing how he’d reply.

“Because I’m Batman.”

I would never tire of this man.

While I was sitting at my desk that evening, Neema knocked on my bedroom door with two mugs in her hands.

“Some hocho?”

She knew I would never say no to hot chocolate and handed me the mug before I could answer. “So…” she started.

I took a sip, burned my tongue, and instantly regretted not having enough patience to wait a single minute longer.

“So?” I turned in my chair as she settled on the edge of my bed.

“How are you?”

“I’m fine. How are you?”

“Fine…” Her warm brown eyes pinned me over the rim of her mug. “I’ve lined up a few dates for you.”

“I’m really not interested in dating right now. I have so much on my plate.” I took another sip of the scalding hot chocolate, hoping I appeared nonchalant.

“Is there something I should know?”

The urge to tell her swelled in my throat, but we were so close to the wedding and my nerves were growing with each stolen kiss. I shook my head. “Nope. Nothing.”

“We don’t keep secrets from each other.”

“I know… but I don’t know what to tell you…” I took a deep breath, thinking through what I could tell her. William and I were… we were…

Not dating. Nor had we ever been on a date.

We weren’t even having casual sex.

We were…

William and I were playing a game. And that wasn’t something Neema would understand. No one in the world understood games the way William and I did.

“There’s a lot going on. Give me a chance to figure it out?” There was an ache in my soul as I said it. A pressure growing in my chest.

She nodded and pushed my hair over my shoulder. “Okay. But know I’ll kill him if he hurts you.”

And with that, she left me and my burning tongue stewing in the mess I’d created.