Page 26 of Royal Games (The Royals of Monterra)

We were extremely limited on options. There wasn’t much to do here—going to the diner was about it. All the outdoor choices like the lake or hiking were out of the question given the weather. Iowa City had much more variety, but that was an hour away, and I didn’t like to be that far from Aunt Sylvia without letting her know first. Not to mention that it might be expensive. I didn’t know what Tommy’s financial situation was, but I guessed that if he’d wanted to drive into the city he would have already decided on it.

“I don’t have a preference. Whatever is fine with me.” I was glad I hadn’t dressed up more.

“Want to hang at my place?” I knew he lived in an apartment in the center of town.

“S-sure,” I said. I didn’t know if that meant something more, but I had to hope it didn’t. That he really did just want to hang out. Because I hadn’t ever been inducted into that particular club, and I didn’t know what all the code words were for various activities.

“Hey, I heard this really cool song today. Want to hear it?”

I nodded, rubbing my arms. I had left without a coat. He didn’t seem to notice, and then the sound of metal filled the cab of his car, making me wince. It didn’t sound much like music—more like multiple cats being tortured by electric guitars. “Isn’t this awesome?” he yelled over the sound.

Trying to smile, I nodded back. I was already miserable, and I blamed Rafe. First, for kissing and confusing me. Then for being a much better date than Tommy. Whenever we’d gone out, he always planned something amazing. Not that we hadn’t had our quiet nights in, watching movies or playing video games, but he always thought of me and what I might like. And when he took me out, he took me out. On real actual dates. Like the kind you read about or used to see on old television shows.

But that was during a dating reality show, which made it unfair. Rafe had had unlimited resources and a staff. Tommy Davis didn’t. I decided to try to make the best of this and give him a chance, and not think about how Rafe had spoiled me.

Unfortunately, things did not get better from there. Mistaking my fake smile for enthusiasm, Tommy Davis took me into his apartment to show me his “music” collection. He played song after song very loudly, yelling to make himself heard as he explained songs and what he liked about them.

He had a very old couch, a coffee table made out of cinder blocks, and an actual beanbag, along with expensive visual and audio electronics. He had graduated a while ago, and it wasn’t like he had just gotten divorced. That was years ago. Maybe he didn’t care about how his apartment looked. Some guys didn’t. Technically, I was still in college, but apparently I didn’t want to date guys who decorated their homes like they lived in a frat house. I didn’t care if he was poor. I was poor. But our home didn’t look like a flea market had thrown up in it.

He offered me a beer, but I declined. So our date consisted of me sitting on his couch while he played records and drank.

Yes, it was just as thrilling as it sounded.

Things were not going to get better unless I did something about it. “Hey!” I shouted, right as one of his songs ended. Modulating my voice back to normal level, I said, “Maybe we could just talk.”

Tommy, who at some point had lost the right to the “Davis” part of his name, stood up and then came to sit next to me on the couch. He put his arm along the back. He had on a smarmy smirk. “I like talking.”

He said “talking” like it was in quotes. Code word?

“I don’t even know what you do,” I responded, as his fingers reached out to play with the ends of my hair. Would it be totally obvious if I scooted back out of his reach?

“I’m sort of in between things right now. I have my alimony checks.”

Wait, he lived off of alimony checks from Brooke? Maybe I’d misheard. I wasn’t sure I could respect someone who was physically able to support himself and chose not to. “Brooke pays you alimony?”

He moved closer to me. “Yeah. But don’t worry about her. She’s past tense.”

My throat was starting to close up. I hoped he didn’t see me trying to move away from him. “As in you two have a past and now it’s tense?”

My attempt at humor fell flat. “No,” he said. “It means we’re not together anymore, so you don’t have to worry about her.”

I wasn’t at all worried about Brooke right then. I was, however, more than a little worried about myself.

“Maybe we could watch a movie?” I suggested, still backing away while he kept advancing.

“Or maybe we could move this into my bedroom,” Tommy said. Acid burned at the back of my throat as I hit the arm of the couch. Limbs shaking, I stood up and moved myself to the opposite side of the room. How had I ever thought he was cute? Or imagined that I was attracted to him? Right now he just disgusted me.

I was about to tell him that he needed to drive me home when there was a hard knocking at the door. Tommy answered it, and my entire body sagged in relief when I saw Rafe over his shoulder.

Tommy straightened up, but he was nowhere near as tall or as imposing as Rafe. Maybe Nicole’s theory did have some merit. “Can I help you with something?”

Rafe didn’t even look at him and pushed into the room, walking toward me. “Hey!” Tommy called after him.

Handing me my purse, Rafe said, “You left this at home. Your phone’s been ringing nonstop. Dr.Pavich needs your help at the Montgomery ranch. They have a mare about to give birth, and he’s busy with another delivery.”

His kisses had so addled my brain that I’d left my purse behind. Along with my phone and my keys. I had come out tonight totally unprotected, and that disturbed me more than I would have cared to admit. I took my purse, checking the contents. My phone had several missed calls and texts from Dr.Pavich.

“I’ll let you say good night, and I’ll be waiting outside to drive you to the ranch.” Normally I might have protested about him driving me, but I was so thankful for his interruption that I didn’t care. He could have informed me he was going to throw me over his shoulder and walk all the way to the Montgomery place, and I probably would have been okay with that too.

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