Page 109 of Till The Sun Dies (Checkmate 2)

23

Laine

Time To Get Serious

“Ifeel like a fool! He doesn’t even notice me.” I throw my hands in the air and glare at the couple across the booth. The second Angelo declared he was going to the toilet, my smiling demeanor and ‘everything will be okay’ attitude vanished. “I look like a spastic mule trying to give him thecome-hithereyes, but he doesn’t even know I exist!”

“Come-hither.” Snorting, Kane fusses with the sugar packets on the table. “Trust me, Twink, he knows you exist. He definitely notices you.”

“He doesn’t! I don’t know how to do this. I feel like an idiot every time I talk to him, because my flirting is more like a mentally defunct rhinoceros trying to tap dance.”

He chuckles. “Rhinoceros trying to dance. You know how to paint a picture. Ever consider writing children’s books?”

“No!” Petty – because that’s who I am when not getting the attention I’m looking for – I mess up his neatly lined packets of sugar. “I don’t wanna write books. I want to go home, because this entire vacation is ruined!”

“Ruined?” Jess rolls her eyes. “It just began, dummy. How is it ruined?”

“I shouldn’t have invited him. Ang and I are friends, we’regoodfriends, but now I’m making it weird, because my flirting is stupid and he probably thinks I’m having an epileptic seizure. He’ll take me to the hospital before he takes a hint.”

Jess shakes her head and gently pries Kane’s sugar packets away when he begins lining the granules up in straight lines. Her eyes never leave mine as she digs around in her handbag before setting the permanent marker in front of his hands. “He’s a man. You’re a woman. I have it on good authority we’re sexy as fuck.”

“Yeah you are.”

“I’m a little sister! He doesn’t see me.”

Kane lifts a brow. “He sees you, I promise. He’s just not sure what to do with you.”

“I don’t believe you.” I let out a sigh when our waitress delivers our drinks; milkshakes for the ladies, soda for the guys. “I think this was a giant mistake, because now you two are going to have an amazing vacation, and I’m going to feel like a fool and probably hide away until it’s time to go home again. I shouldn’t have asked him to come. I should’ve just left the status quo, maybe dropped him a text or two while away. Flirt via text; that’s way easier.”

“No, Baby. Text is in writing, and once you send it, it’s out there forever. That can never be undone. In person iswayeasier, because if you fuck up or trip over, it’s forgotten three seconds later.” Jess leans across the table and takes my hand. “Body language is powerful. You can do all the flirting you need without a single word; shake your ass, smile, tuck your hair back. Then watch the magic happen when you tuckhishair back. Touch him. Touch his arm. Bat your lashes. I promise, it works.” She turns to Kane and flutters her lashes, which results in an instant laugh and a noisy kiss. “Just keep doing what you’re doing, Baby. We’ll keep doing our thing, so then he’ll feel bad that you’re out in the cold.”

“Awesome! A pity hang. He’s obligated to be nice to the third wheel, lest I turn suicidal again.”

“Stop it!” No longer smiling, Jess smacks my hand against the table. “Pull your panties up, grow a pair of ovaries, and stop whining. He likes you, Laine! He’s a man, he has a dick, and you’re beautiful. If you stopped feeling sorry for yourself for half a damn second, you’d notice the way he looks at you. The way he sits with you. The way he feels just as awkward as you, because he doesn’t know how to flirt either. Jesus.” She turns to Kane. “We never had these problems. We didn’t flirt, we skipped a bunch of steps.”

Kane remains unaffected by my public breakdown. He simply flashes a grin and presses another kiss to Jess’ lips. “We had other shit to focus on, so banter and flirting just wasn’t something I thought about. I was more concerned with keeping you alive.”

“And I was trying to get you a job flipping burgers.”

He snorts. “So maybe we need to make this more dangerous.” Kane’s eyes meet mine. “No time for overthinking when bullets are flying. Let’s turn the stakes up higher.”

“You can’t shoot him, Bishop. You don’t have my permission to do that. He’s clueless, he’s blind, but he doesn’t deserve to die.”

“No.” He winks when Ang steps out of the restrooms across the diner. “Don’t sweat it. I won’t shoot him, I’m just gonna nudge you virginal idiots in a direction that might end with dancing rhinos.”

“Shut up.” I lean forward and take my straw between my lips. “No more words. I’m leaving tomorrow, you guys keep going without me.”

He scoffs. “Not fuckin’ likely. Ang!”

I allow my long hair to curtain my face and hide my eyes when he drops down in the booth beside me.

He smells good; he smells like the garage, but in a pleasant way.

“Did you guys order yet?”

“Nope.” Kane sits back and pulls Jess against his chest. “So it’s getting kinda late. We were gonna put in another couple hours tonight, but the girls are tired.”

“Yeah?” Ang turns toward me and works to catch my eyes. “You’re tired?” I refuse to look. And I absolutely refuse to acknowledge the boot that slams against my shin.

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