Page 7 of Drop Shot
“It’s okay.” I wipe the corners of my mouth with a paper towel. My eyes sting with tears courtesy of my coughing fit. “Let’s stick with easier questions for now, though, if that’s okay.”
“Yeah, that’s probably for the best.” He opens a container of what looks like soup.
“I know your favorite pizza toppings are pepperoni, sausage, and onion.”
I expect him to ask what mine are, but instead he says, “You like green pepper and onion, but if they have a margherita you’ll always pick that instead.”
I look at Elias like he’s a stranger and not the man I’ve worked for the past few years. I didn’t think he noticedanythingabout me. He’s always so focused on work. But he might know more about me than any of my exes.
I grab my vegetable roll and he passes me a packet of sauce without my even asking.
“I don’t know about you”—he leans his back against the couch cushions— “but I think we’re killing this fake dating thing already.”
As if to accentuate his point, Craig climbs into his lap. “Look.” His grin has his eyes squinting. “Even Craig likes me, and you said she doesn’t like new people.”
Craig’s officially labeled a traitor.
When she starts purring she’s dead to me.
“I didn’t know I was a cat person.” Elias’s smile is genuine as he scratches Craig. “But I think I like this one.”
“It’s only because she’s sucking up to you,” I defend.
He gives a shrug. “Maybe.”
We eat in silence for a few minutes.
“I was thinking,” he begins, and I put down my container of chicken like somehow that will help me listen better. “Since we’ve already established that we know each other pretty well, we should go on a date.”
I stare at him, trying to discern if he’s serious or not. “A date?”
“Yeah, a practice one.” He sets down his empty container of lo mein. He scarfed that down in record time. “I’m sure Jackson and team are going to make us go on dates anyway, so why don’t we get one out of the way that has nothing to do with them? Shake out the first date jitters if you will.”
I mull over his words, my lips puckering as I think. It’s not a half-bad idea.
“What do you have in mind?”
He leans back on my couch, the picture of ease. His fingers absentmindedly stroke Craig’s ears. “I figured something simple like dinner.”
I don’t see any reason to say no, even though I want to. If we’re doing this thing, I’m going to have to get used to more than just dates.
Like sleeping in the same bed as him.
“Okay.”
“You done?” He flicks his fingers to gesture at the takeout boxes.
“Yeah.” I press a hand to my stomach. “I don’t think I’m capable of eating another bite.”
He picks up Craig and sets her down on the couch. His fingers make quick work of picking everything up.
“I can do that.”
“I’ve got it.” He dismisses my help.
I sit there uselessly on the floor while Elias cleans up our mess and disposes of it in the trashcan. He even cleans my coffee table with the spray cleaner I keep under the sink.
“I can go,” he says, plopping down on the couch and promptly picking up Craig and depositing her in his lap. “If you have stuff you need to do.”
