by Kacey Shea
Before I enter the building I stop to let him in on a little Mia quality that doesn’t always win friends. “I have to warn you, as much as being eaten by a zombie sounds fascinating, I am incredibly competitive. Like, if we don’t beat this thing I’ll probably demand you take me home afterward.”
Matt’s smile only widens. “Good. Because I only compete to win. Let’s kick some ass.”
Matt wasn’t joking. I guess as a fighter he knows what it takes to win, but while I usually try to contain my competitive nature, it’s pointless with a teammate like him. We’ve already passed through nineteen different clues and puzzles. Smoked past the group of twenty somethings by the third one. They met their unfortunate fate by zombie bite within the first twenty minutes. Young’uns. We were neck and neck with the other couples until about two puzzles ago. Now it’s down to the wire. Ten minutes left on the clock and it’s between us and one other couple. Oh, and a zombie five minutes from being unchained. There’s still plenty of time, but we didn’t come this far for runner-up. We also still haven’t found the key.
“It’s got to be in here somewhere.” Matt flings ledgers from a filing cabinet onto the metal desk while I riffle through the drawers. The other couple is clear across the room scouring a bookcase. Our last clue read,
You’ll find the key
Between red and black
Pages that don’t lie
Unless you can’t count.
Matt’s first instinct was the financial records of this mock office and I agree, but the other couple thinks they’ll find it in the bookcase lined with red bound books. We can’t be wrong. We have to win this thing, and not only because we’re both competitive, but because the couple we’ve been neck and neck with all night is one of those annoying power couples. She’s a lawyer and he’s a surgeon. They have two children, a dog, and a condo in River North. How do I know this? Because they’ve shared their many successes at every possible moment. Uber annoying, and it’s only fueled my need to beat their asses at this game.
“Mia!” Matt whisper-shouts and draws my attention. He’s retrieved a leather-bound book etched with the words General Ledger and hands it over. The timer buzzes overhead signaling another five-minute mark, and lets the zombie that much closer to us and the other couple. Matt grabs me by the waist and yanks us into the corner of the room before the zombie actor can knock the book from my grip.
I flip through the pages as fast as possible and when I get to the last written transaction, there’s the key. Bingo! “Matt!” I yank it from the little paper sleeve and we run across the room to the door.
I slip it inside and the door opens. Our host, a “scientist” from a special military section studying the zombie outbreak, congratulates us both on making it to safety first. The annoying couple follows through the doorway soon after and I try not to gloat.
“Lucky guess,” she says to me with a smile so polite it must be killing her to get beat. “You two worked really well together. Good chemistry. Let me guess, you’ve been together at least a year?”
“Nope. First date.” Matt laughs, deep from his belly and I swear it makes her eye twitch.
“We all made it out alive. That’s what’s important.” Her husband pats her shoulder and smiles as if they weren’t secretly competing with us this entire time. “Come on, honey, let’s go pick our sign for the winner’s photo. Add it to our collection.”
Our scientist is back, along with those who were eliminated early in the game. A few people still remain in the escape room, lost several clues back but really good at hiding from the lone zombie. “Okay folks, we’re gonna get a photo of both our survivors and newly infected participants. If you’ve been bitten, you can find props and signs over there. You survivors, take your pick from here.”
The power couple gives us one last look and turns away to follow the instructions.
“I don’t think this is their first escape room experience,” Matt whispers in my ear. “Did you see her face? Must suck to get beat by first timers.” He laughs again, this time out loud and I can’t help but join along.
“But damn, it feels good.” I giggle and throw up my hand to meet Matt’s high five.
“Gangsta. That’s what I’m gonna call you.” He grins and I really laugh this time.
“What should I call you? Boy genius?” I say and he laughs so loud the couple glances back at us. I pop up on my toes to whisper in his ear, “Smarter than a fucking brain surgeon and lawyer.”
A guffaw erupts from his lips and he shakes his head at me, holding his finger over his lips to shush me, but his smile tells me he finds it as entertaining as I do.
“You have a great laugh.” The compliment escapes my lips before I can censor it.
Matt’s smile lights up his entire face. “Thank you, Mia.” The scruff of his unshaved face moves with his lips. “You make me laugh a lot.”
He’s laughing at me. “So glad I could be of entertainment.” Rolling my eyes, I huff out a breath.
He laughs even louder and draws the attention of everyone in the room. “Not what I meant. Mostly.” He winks with that last part. The buzzer sounds and the remaining participants still struggling to solve their final puzzle are ceremoniously “eaten” by the now free zombie. He’s playing the part well but his costume and makeup could use a little work. All in all, it’s hilarious to watch.
We walk over to the selection of props and signs. I pick one that says, “Which zombie?” and Matt digs through the stack until he comes over with one reading, “I’m smarter than a zombie.”
“And other things,” he whispers, our inside joke that makes us smile wide through the photos we take.
“We’ll email these photos out tonight. Congrats again! If you had a good time, please consider leaving a review on Yelp. That’d really help us out.” The scientist grins after taking our photos.
“Will do. Shall we?” Matt gestures to the door and I nod, stepping in front of him to take the lead. There’s a bounce in my step as we walk back to our parking spot. That was so much fun. Like the best kind of fun, and I’m still reeling from it as Matt hands me my helmet and starts up the bike.
“You ready for more?” His smile is wide. Proud. And really, he should be.
“There’s more?”
“Hell, yeah. I promised you a spectacular date, and I never back down on my word.”
I slide onto the bike behind him, wrapping my arms tightly around his waist before he surges out into the weekend traffic. This time he heads away from the city, up along the lake’s coast. Even though the sun shines brightly, the wind whips across the water and stings my cheeks. I now understand why so many bikers opt for the full helmet. Not that I’m complaining. The further we go, the faster Matt drives, and the cars on the road become fewer with each mile.
It’s beautiful here. I’m not sure I’ve ever been this far outside the city’s center, not unless it was a rare trip to the suburbs. I wonder where he’s taking me, and how it can come close to competing with the zombie escape room we just ruled. That is, until he releases the throttle and I realize where he’s heading. His bike passes through the wrought iron gates of a quaint little cemetery. How is it possible this man gets me so well? We only just met. Unless he’s brought me here to murder me, I’m pretty sure anything he has in store will be completely perfect.
Chapter Eighteen
Matt
“This okay?” I lay out the blanket from my backpack in the center of the walkway, just to the north of my mom’s headstone.
“You mean dinner in a graveyard?”
“No, I meant the spot. There are some big shade trees down that way, but I always liked this hill.” I work really hard to keep the nostalgia from my voice. This spot is special. When I set out today my plan was to take a ride along Lake Michigan, find a peaceful stop on the beach and eat there. But once I started driving I couldn’t help but steer my bike here. I’ve had so much fun with Mia, and even though it’s silly and impossible, I wanted her to m
eet my mom. I don’t think there are many women who wouldn’t be weirded out by picnicking in a graveyard, let alone love it, which only causes my admiration for Mia to grow.
“It’s beautiful here.” She sighs and sits at one corner of the blanket to look around. Anyone else and I’d think they were blowing smoke, but she means it.
Dropping to my knees, I grab my backpack and proceed to pull out the goods. “Don’t laugh but we have grapes, cheese, wine . . .”
“Those are my basic food groups. Nothing funny about that.”
Sitting on the blanket next to her, I pull out our main course, crinkling my nose as I say the rest. “And protein bars.”
She laughs and shakes her head. “Okay, that’s weird.”
“Next time I’ll do better.” I hold up a pair for her to choose from. “Peanut butter chocolate or cookie dough?”
“Mmm . . . peanut butter chocolate.” She takes the bar from my hand and studies the back of it while I pop the cork on the wine bottle and pour the liquid into two red Solo cups. She takes her glass and nestles it into the earth near her side of the blanket. “Are these any good?”
“Not bad, but I won’t lie to you. They aren’t as good as the real thing.”
“Nothing ever is.”
I raise my cup and wait for her to do the same. “To the real things in life.”
“I’ll drink to that.” She taps her cup against mine and takes a sip. I love the way she looks right now. The clouds coming in off the shore cast shadows over her face in the most mysterious way. It’s entirely fitting, and after today I’m determined to learn as much as I can about this woman.
“So, if we weren’t on this date today, how would you have spent your Sunday afternoon?” As much time as we’ve spent together, there’s still so much I want to learn about Mia.
“Probably finishing up your website.” She raises her brows a beat before laughing.
“Damn it. Really shot myself in my foot there, didn’t I?”
“Yep. Remember that when I don’t have it up and running for a few more weeks.”
“I will.” Normally that would be incentive enough to end this bet, but Mia’s not some random science experience to determine whether I can win over her beauty and brains with my wit and sheer will. She’s someone I genuinely enjoy spending time with. I don’t see that holding an arbitrary expiration date. “But after the website design, what would it be? Lounging in lingerie while watching porn?”
It’s hilarious to watch her reaction. For a second she can’t tell if I’m joking but the minute she does she rolls those eyes and shoves at my shoulder. “What is it with guys and porn?”
“So, yes to the lingerie, but no to the porn?”
Her lips pinch together with her smile but her eyes study mine closely as she narrows her gaze. “Actually . . .”
I groan. A real, tortured sound leaves my lips and it only makes her laugh.
“Yes to the porn. Tasteful, not corny. And a hell no to the lingerie. I’m more of a sweats and no bra kinda girl.”
At the mention of her nonexistent underwear my gaze drops to her chest. She’s not wearing her jacket but I can’t see a trace of nipple through that thin sweater.
She shoves my shoulder again, her laughter growing. “Eyes up here. Not now, you perv. When I’m at home alone in my apartment.”
“Sorry.” I apologize even though she doesn’t seem disturbed by my question or my staring.
“What would you be doing, Matt Haywood, if we weren’t on this outing?” I don’t miss the fact she skirts calling this a date.
“Work. I work a lot.” Pushing the cheeses and fruit between us, I’m happy when she digs in without any encouragement.
“That sounds awfully boring.”
“Yeah, well, I’m a pretty simple man. At least since I opened the gym.”
“What about before that?”
“When I was fighting?” She nods. It’s almost like another lifetime, the Matt from then so different from who I am now. “I trained, but after a fight, especially a win, I took a few weeks to indulge in the finer things of life.”
“Scandalous.”
She doesn’t know the half of it. “Yeah, but now look at me. It’s almost embarrassing to admit aloud how uneventful my days are.”
“Come on, you’ve got to do something for fun,” she says as if she doesn’t believe me.
Taking a moment to think, I pluck a grape and pop it in my mouth. “Okay, besides work I do sometimes meet up for dinner with my brother.”
Her eyes light with interest and she crosses her legs together to wrap her arms around them. “You have a brother? Older or younger? Any other siblings?”
A chuckle leaves my lips at her slew of questions. “Just the little bro. He’s what . . . twenty-three now. Lives downtown not far from me.”
“Interesting. So, did you both grow up here?”
“In a graveyard? No.” I crack a joke because she’s really good at steering the questions my way and I’d rather not talk about my fucked up family. It’s an automatic downer and she doesn’t deserve that. I’m going for fantastic first date, not stay-away-and-never-again-date. “Yeah, I grew up near South Shore. But what about you? You don’t have the Chicago accent. Where did you hail from before Chi-town?”
“Little town in Iowa. Clear Lake. My parents will live and die there but it’s not for me. I love the big city. Moved here after high school with my best friend and haven’t looked back. That was sixteen years ago. This is home now.”
We continue to munch on food, trading stories and learning more about the other for the next hour. I love that she eats and chats with an ease I’ve never seen before. As if she’s letting down her guard down. I’m getting the real, unscripted version of her.
“Another?” I point to her empty glass. I’ve hardly touched mine. Not that it would hurt if I did, but even now I can’t allow myself to enjoy the pleasure.
“I better not,” she says but then frowns. “Wait, you don’t have a top for it. I feel bad wasting it.”
“Not a waste.” I smile and shake my head, holding the glass bottle. “Can’t ride with this open anyway.” I find a nearby trashcan and dispose of the leftover wine, along with our food wrappers. On my way back to Mia, I stoop at my mother’s grave and caress the headstone, my heart both full of love and heavy with sorrow. “Love you, Ma,” I whisper and then stand to help Mia refold the blanket. I should tell her exactly why this place is so special, but part of me wonders if it’s too personal, too fast. I grab for my bag and shove the blanket inside instead. Maybe the moment is lost, or I’m just a chickenshit, but either way there’s a storm moving in and I need to get Mia home before we’re caught in the rain. That, I’m certain, would ruin this perfect first date.
The ride back to her apartment isn’t as enjoyable, the wind whipping off the water brings a chill that settles in my bones. Mia holds me closer than she usually does, her entire front pressed against my back, and I wish I could enjoy it a little more. As night draws down upon us the lights ahead shine with the cityscape. Thankfully, the storm clouds from earlier yield no rain. My focus is on the road and getting Mia home safely, but there’s also a piece of me that doesn’t want this night to end. I may let up on the gas more than once the closer we get to her apartment, simply to draw out the drive.
Usually when I drop Mia off after training I wait at the curb, but today I park and we walk together in companionable silence. Reaching for the door to her building, I pull it open and wait for her to pass. I don’t think she’ll invite me up, but there’s a need in me to be a gentleman and make sure she gets inside without any problems.
Before we reach the elevator she stops and turns to meet my gaze. “This is me . . .” She points behind her and I almost grin because I was right. She won’t invite me up. Not tonight.
“I had a really good time with you, Mia.”
Her brow narrows and lips purse. “I did too.”
“Don’t sound so damn surprised.
” I laugh out loud and it causes her scowl to deepen before she shakes her head.
“Sorry, it’s just . . . It really pains me to admit this to your face, but today was the most fun I’ve had in a long time. Not just on a date.”
“Yes,” I hiss, close my fist tight, and pull it into my side.
She rolls her eyes, but laughter teases the edges of her mouth. “Oh God, you’re gonna gloat now, aren’t you?”
My smile widens. “Just proud I was able to set a new benchmark. No more sucking monkey balls for you, sister! All thanks to Matt Haywood.”
“Wow. Third person. Not at all arrogant.”
“Confidence. Confidence, Mia.” I wink and she shakes her head, but I can see the smile she tries to hide. Taking one step closer I put the joking aside to tell her how I really feel. “I’m glad you had fun, because I did, too. I can’t wait to wow you again. Next Sunday?”
“You’re really determined to drag this out.” I know she’s teasing, but the truth is, I’m not. I wish we could do this again tomorrow. If I didn’t have a failing business and two stupid side jobs, I’d ask her to have dinner with me every night this week. Probably a good thing I can’t, because even though she’s obviously had a good time, I don’t want to upend the trust we’ve built today by being overeager.
“Well, of course,” I smart. “I need at least a week to plan something that lives up to today.”
“I don’t even know how that’s possible. You did good.” She sighs like it really does hurt to admit, but I’m thankful for her honesty.
“You make it easy.”
Her gaze snaps up and just like that the fire in her eyes appears. “What is that supposed to mean?”
I want to laugh because it’s almost too easy to rile her up, but that’s not my intent. I need her to understand how much today meant to me, too. How she affects me. “I enjoy your company. You’re smart. We laugh. It’s uncomplicated.” I shrug and it must be enough because her defensive posture is gone.
She nods once and her gaze lands on my lips. I’m almost certain she’s thinking about kissing me right now and that causes my dick to jump to life. If I could roll my eyes at him, I would. Talk about easy.