Tossing her phone on the couch, Rori went to get changed.
Chapter 31
Kris gave her brother a high five as he put his phone down. “Perfect, bro.”
Mike’s side of the high five was half-hearted, at best. “Are you sure? It felt a little rude.”
His sister waved that off. “That’s the beauty of it. If she doesn’t like you, then she’s back to what she was doing without a thought. If she does like you, she’s pissed and throwing her phone at a wall right now.”
Somehow Mike couldn’t imagine Rori doing that. “How can you be so sure?”
Kris draped a longsuffering arm around her brother. “Because I danced this dance with Luke my whole life.”
Mike couldn’t help but pull a face of disgust.
“Cringe all you like, but the fact is that I’ve been in love with Luke for a long time. And every time he ever called the house, no matter how many times I answered the phone, he never wanted to talk to me. Always you. So, yeah, I know exactly how it feels to be excited to talk to someone, only to have them blow you off. It’s beyond infuriating, and you never get used to it. Not really.”
Mike could see how that would be the case. “So she’s either mad at me, or already forgotten that I even called?”
“Basically,” Kris agreed.
He considered that, his hopes dipping down a bit. “Well, she didn’t seem mad.”
“Overly perky?”
He shook his head. “Not that either.”
“Hmm. Well, we’ll be able to tell more on the next call. If she prolongs it or tries to cut the call off before you can, we’ll know that she was bugged this time around.”
“And if she doesn’t?”
Kris shrugged. “We’ll go from there.”
Mike stared at his phone for a moment then looked back to his sister. “For the record, it’s totally weird having you help me out with this.”
Kris grinned. “I know.”
“Can you not tell Luke?”
“Oh, he’s cool with it. He’s even starting to bend the story so that it reads that he brought Rori back just so you would meet her.”
This time it was Mike who smiled. “That’s a convenient rewrite.”
“Tell me about it,” she grumbled.
“But still, stay mum about this with him? I don’t want him to feel like he needs to—” he made air quotes with his fingers, “—help.”
“Totally. Just you and me. I won’t say a word until the day you two go public.”
Mike offered her a fist bump. “You’re a pal, sis.”
She smirked and pressed her knuckles to his. “Worth my weight in gold, and don’t you forget it.”
Chapter 32
Going clubbing made Rori feel old. What had been so exciting just a few years ago now felt tired and a bit dirty, like a carnival that was shiny in the nighttime but turned drab and a little sad in the light of day. Although she was clearly in the minority in her sentiment. Certainly Fredrik didn’t share her thoughts as he flirted away with a fireman on the other side of the booth. How the two of them were able to hear each other over the deafening music was beyond her.
Rori had a fireman of her own sharing a seat with her. Handsome, athletic, great smile, but no spark. Dark skin. Dark eyes. Her type. No spark. Here she was trying to do an exhibit on connecting and she was having trouble connecting with one of the most beautiful men in the room. Then again, he was just another man looking to get laid and move on. That was the only connection he was looking for. And while that might have been exciting in college, Rori considered more practical things these days. Things like disease, reputation, and self-respect. And there wasn’t much self-respect to be had in becoming a tick mark on a man’s tally sheet. Rori may not believe in love, but she did prefer if the men she let inside her had an ounce of respect for her when all was said and done.
As a rule, men who pushed their tongues in a woman’s mouth within fifteen minutes of meeting her weren’t overflowing with respect. They wanted one thing and one thing alone.
Connection.
This was the primal part of her theme, Rori thought as her tongue jousted with the fireman’s. Miles. His name was Miles. Not that he cared if she knew that or not.
Primal connection would certainly have to play its role in her exhibit. It merely came down to level of taste. How literal should she be? She’d never taken her art to an overtly sexual place before. Yes, she’d done sensual, but that was very different. One implied, the other depicted.
Was she at a place in her life where she was prepared to depict the act that sent millions to bars every night? The thing that made pornography the most lucrative industry on the planet and prostitution the oldest profession in the world? And if she was ready to depict it, was she also ready to capture the shades of that connection—both the intimate and, well, what she was currently experiencing? Basic, detached friction.
While she considered that, Miles guided her hand under the table and to the bulge in his pants. On instinct, her hand explored what it found there. The man was hung and he knew it. He also seemed to know that the first thing Rori would do after feeling him would be to imagine him inside her, and his kissing technique adjusted to help her imagine just that.
Yes, Miles had been around the block. No doubt sex with him would be eventful. But would it be worth it? Mutual orgasms, and then what? They both thank each other for the freebie, grab their clothes and go?
Only then did Rori realize that what Miles was offering her wasn’t a level of connection she was looking for anymore, no matter how much Fredrik teased her about it. So Rori hadn’t had sex in a while. So what? Was it a sin that the only man she wanted inside of her from here on out was a man who was willing to deal with what the sex act was intended for.
Kids.
Rori wanted a baby, not just the act of making one. And she needed to act on that realization while she was still capable of thinking.
“I need to go,” she said, pulling away.
Miles foggy eyes registered the words, but not their meaning and he smiled suggestively. “Yeah? Want me to give you a ride?”
Nice double entendre. No doubt he had used it many times before. “I’m sorry, but no. The night is young, though. I’m sure you’ll find someone else.”
Rori slid out of the booth before Miles could reach for and sent a little wave to Fredrik. The music was way too loud for him to hear anything she said, so she simply mouthed Sorry and headed for the door.
“Is she serious?” she heard Miles say, and kept on walking. The man was mad. Maybe he had a right to be, but he would certainly get over it. Rori had made it all the way to the exit when Fredrik caught up her.
“Honey, are you high?” he said as they stepped outside. “You landed yourself the cream of the crop in there.”
“I know,” she said. “But I’d seriously rather be working. This isn’t my scene anymore.”
Fredrik pressed his hand to her forehead. “Are you ill? Do we need to go to the doctor?”
No, I’m just not in college anymore. She nearly said it out loud, but she didn’t want to offend her friend. “No, I’m just a few months away from one of the largest shows in my life. That’s where my head’s at. Not in navigating one-night stands.”
Fredrik’s eyes narrowed on her, lips pursing. “I see.”
Did he? Because Rori wasn’t sure she liked how he was looking at her.
“Your heart’s just not in it,” he added.
Okay, maybe he did have an idea. “Exactly. I can’t play this game anymore. Not when I’m looking for something real.”
He nodded sagely. “Say no more. Fredrik sees all.”
Well, that had been easier than expected. “Are you going to be okay here without me?”
“Honey, I was just about to ditch you. Trust me, I’ll be just fine. Let’s get you a cab.”
Rori smiled. “You’re a pal. But no more clubbing for me, okay? Parties, sure. Dates, fine. But not this scene.”
“Understood,” he said. “Not until September.”
Rori meant to correct him, but he stepped out into the street to hail a cab with immediate results. “Your carriage, m’lady.”
Chapter 33
Closure. Rori was pretty sure that neither she nor Luke wanted it, but it looked like they were going to get it anyway thanks to Kris. It made sense to have a conversation that made their “break up” official, of course. It was just going to be unbelievably awkward.
When her phone rang at 9:10 p.m., Rori took a steadying breath then picked up. She skipped the hellos. “First you insist on this call, and then you’re ten minutes late making it? Nice, Luke.”
“Yeah, well, that’s how long it took Kris to find me tucked in the back of Mike’s SUV, so blame her.”
After everything Rori couldn’t believe that got a laugh out of her. “You hid? From a phone call?”
“I didn’t mean to. It kind of just happened that way.”
“Wow. And to think I almost married you.”
“I know, right?” he said. “Seriously. What were you thinking?”
Rori’s smile faded. “That you weren’t in love with anyone else.”
There was a beat of silence. “In my defense, I totally didn’t know that was the case. I mean, I knew I loved her, but I never thought in a billion years that Kris would want me back. She always gave me so much attitude.”
“And hopefully now you know why,” Rori said. “Are you going to marry her?”
“I—well, I mean, I want to.”
Rori shook her head, running her fingertips over her paint brushes as she sat on her studio stool. “You said that about me, too, but you let me walk out the door without a fight then hid in a car to try to avoid talking to me again.”
“Dude, you make me sound like a total loser.”
She grinned. “If restating facts makes you look bad, Luke, don’t blame me.”
“Now you sound like Kris.”
“She’s obviously a smart woman.”
“Yeah.”
The silence that followed was filled with all the words neither of them was saying in the midst of the small talk. Rori was going to have to be the one to say them. Luke was too much of a chicken to make the first step.
“So I know that Kris wants us to make our break up official, so I’ll make it official by saying that while I don’t need a man to love me, I definitely need him not to be in love with someone else. So on that premise alone, Luke, I decline your offer of marriage. We’re done.”
On the other side of the phone, Luke breathed an audible sigh of relief. “Kris was right. It does feel way better to have it all official. I kind of felt like I was cheating before. I mean, I totally didn’t care, but things didn’t feel clear. They do now.”
This guy was a head case. Rori could only imagine what her mom would have said if they’d ever met. “Well, I’m glad it’s now clear that you’re not cheating, even though you didn’t care in the first place.”
“I know that sounded bad, but you know what I mean, right? The heart wants what it wants.”
“Sure,” Rori agreed, placing a blank canvas up on the easel and trying to decide how she would depict the connection between her and Luke. Something twisted, for sure.
“Like you and Mike.”
Rori froze. “Excuse me?”
“Like you and Mike,” he repeated. “Kris was talking about how you always stared at his mouth when you spoke. She thinks you like him.”
“I don’t even know him.” The words came out of her mouth even as her brain stuttered over other denials. Luckily none of those made it to her mouth.
“You don’t have to know someone to like them,” Luke said easily. “In fact, sometimes it’s easier to like people you don’t know.”
The guy was smart at the most inconvenient times. “I’m not interested in your friend.”
“I’m just saying it’s okay if you are. Kris and I talked about it, and I’m totally not weirded out by the thought of you two together. In fact, you two kind of make more sense than me and you.”
Why was he saying any of this? And why were his words pulling up graphic images in her mind? “Well, Luke, while that is very generous of you, I guess I should clear the slate by stating that I have moved on as well. As we discussed my plans for marriage in Thailand, and my matchmaker has already found me a great, new candidate.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“Are you two engaged?”
Well, considering she hadn’t actually received his file yet, no. But Luke didn’t have to know that. “Steps are being taken. We won’t finalize everything until the Fall, but I think it’s safe to say that both of us should be on the path to getting what we want by the end of the year.”
“Oh. Well, that’s…cool, I guess.”
It struck Rori then exactly how frustrating it would have been to be married to Luke based on his communication skills alone. “I’d say we both dodged a bullet.”
“I guess. I mean, you’re nice and all, but you kind of freaked me out.”
“I freaked you out?”
“Yeah. It’s the eyes, I think. All dark and old soul-y. And you don’t blink very much. You just look at things like you’re trying to see into the heart of them and you don’t say anything when you’re done. It always made me feel stupid.”
“Uh, good to know, I guess.”
“Anyway, are we done? We broke up, right? It’s official?”
Rori laughed, deciding that her ode to Luke should be more scattered and less twisted. Maybe even a collage. “It’s official.”
“So you’re moving on to the dude that your matchmaker is lining up for you and I get Kris?”
“Well, that last part is up to Kris, but the rest is true. Yes.”
“Awesome. Well… thanks for not crying or anything. That would have been way uncomfortable.”
“No offense, Luke, but the loss of our relationship doesn’t really merit tears.”
“Ouch. But okay. Totally agree.”
“Goodbye, Luke.”
He actually took a breath before replying. “Bye, Rori. It’s been an adventure.”
“Indeed it has.”
“Oh, and Kris wants me to make sure I make it super clear that I’m totally okay with it if you hook up with Mike.”
“Not in my plans,” Rori said without hesitation even as her heart hammered at the lie. September was looking more and more promising.
“Right, but I just had to say it. Her little sister radar went off on you two, so I’m just throwing it out there as ordered.”
“Well, tell Kris I can handle my own sex life.”
“I, uh—”
“Bye, Luke.”
“Yeah. Bye.”
Rori hung up before he could get another word out. It was done. Their break up was official. She deserved a drink for making it through that car wreck of a conversation unscathed.
You, me, wine, and story time, she texted to Fredrik. You in?
While waiting for his response, Rori stared at the blank canvas in front of her. She definitely couldn’t use oil to capture the essence of Luke. Watercolors were a better fit as far as the properties of the medium, but the final result wouldn’t look right. In reality she would be better off just buying a bunch of video game posters and using portions of them to create.
Rori grinned just as her phone beeped with a message. Fredrik was headed over, plus one. And while Rori waited for him to arrive, she hopped online and looked up the posters she could remember from Luke’s walls back in Utah.
Chapter 34
Not enough could be said about the importance of timing, and the consequences for having a lack of it.
On the surface it might seem like Mike had a charmed life, but it truth the one thing he’d always lacked was timing. The reason he was stuck in Utah shooting hoops at his parents’ house was because every time an opportunity came his way to take him to the next step, somehow he misse
d it. Either it came and went before he could get to it, or someone else got it while he wasn’t looking. Whatever the case, he was left wondering “What if?”
What if he had gone to Thailand with Luke? What if he had cancelled his work projects and just gone? Then he would have met Rori at the same time as Luke, and they would have had a chance.
Then again, maybe not. She seemed pretty attached to the idea of marrying a rich man and having that marriage arranged by a professional. Luke had let that much slip out while they’d been playing Halo. Rori was already practically engaged to some guy she had never met. Her days of dating based on personal attraction were done and Mike had missed the window. Rori was officially out of reach.
All because Mike had never found the timing.
I need to let it go, he thought as the ball swished through the net.
At least he had timing when it came to sports. Put him in a party with all the most influential film producers on the planet, and somehow he’d miss every one of them and end up talking to a sound guy all night. But put a ball in his hands and he could bring home a state championship.
Such was Mike’s luck. And at his rate he would be making wedding videos and dating flirty blondes until he died. It was all he had been able to accomplish to date, so why should he imagine that any of that would miraculously change in the future? If you kept doing what you’ve always done, you’d keep getting what you always got. And while Mike could get plenty of girls, it now seemed that rotten timing would keep him from getting the girl.
It sucked.
His next shot banked and went in. Of course. Such was his curse. Everything he cared about air-balled, while everything everyone else cared about was a synch.
“It’s easy to make shots when no one’s guarding you,” his dad said from the porch, pulling Mike from his thoughts. He hadn’t even known his father was home. “You up for some one-on-one?”
“Sure,” Mike said, lobbing the ball in one-handed. Swish. “First to twenty, and old dudes get spotted ten points.”
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