Page 13 of Havoc and Humor
I nodded. “That sounds like a plan.”
His eyes narrowed. “You sure everything’s okay?”
“Yeah,” I said. “Everything’s fine. But maybe tonight we could talk?”
He groaned and leaned his head against the door frame. “I was both hoping and dreading we were going to talk once you got back. Can we go have fun first? Then we can do the boring adult things. We’re not going to let it be awkward, though, right?”
“It’s not awkward. You’re making it awkward.”
He scoffed. “You’re awkward.”
I smiled, because this was what I loved about Sawyer. It was fun, it was light, but when it came down to business, he got stuff done. We needed to discuss our relationship outside of work. Should I wait for the re-org news or not? I supposed I’d have to see how the evening went.
“All right, I’ll see you at five-thirty.”
“Yeah. Can you drive? My car is non-existent.”
“What?” I said.
He shrugged. “I’m paying for an apartment on my own now, so I ditched the car. I’ve been taking the bus to work. Sometimes Evan takes pity on me and he picks me up.”
“Okay,” I said. “That makes sense.”
The end of the day came way too quickly, or perhaps not quick enough. I did spend way too much of my time looking out the window of my office to find Sawyer out there. He would always lift his gaze and find mine and smile broadly.
Christ, this was too much.
We kept pretty quiet as we went to the laser tag place. Sawyer had changed into a pair of jeans and a T-shirt from his alma mater. Meanwhile, I wore jeans and a sweater—overdressed, maybe. I didn’t know.
“I don’t know that I’ve ever played laser tag,” I said.
“What? Seriously, it’s the best game. Come on.”
Laser tag was darker than I expected. How was I supposed to see what I was aiming at? The vests we wore illuminated with colors indicating which team we were on. Sawyer was in his element, bouncing on his feet as the teenage employee explained the rules to us.
“So you just point and shoot?” I said.
“That’s it, dude. Red means you’re hit, green means you’re active. Most hits wins. Pretty simple.”
Sawyer grinned. “Hope you’re ready to lose.”
I scoffed. “I never lose.”
“Pretty sure I’ve kicked your ass at darts and billiards for years, Mark.”
I shrugged. “I might surprise you.”
Sawyer’s eyes turned dark. “I’ve always been surprised by you.”
Inside the laser tag room was a maze of ramps and barriers, little hidey-holes where people could hide and shoot at the enemy. It was just Sawyer and me in the room. I stumbled for the first few minutes while my eyes adjusted.
Once I was hit with the first red beam square in the chest, the game was on.
“Gotcha!” Sawyer laughed and ran off.
“You little shit,” I said.
I chased him through the maze of lights, with twists and turns that led us to who knew where.
