by L. A. Fiore
“Are you sure you don’t want some?” Candice offered, holding out the brownie.
She did, but it wasn’t her cheat day. “I’m good.” Her salad tasted like sawdust though, so she pushed the plate away and reached for her iced tea. Her phone buzzed, and reaching for it she saw a text from Luke. Not surprising, he was going to be late… again.
Candice took another bite of brownie and talked around it. “Let me guess. Luke won’t be home for dinner.”
Tilly replied to Luke then dropped her phone in her purse. “Yep.”
Moving closer, Candice dropped her voice and asked, “When was the last time you two had sex?”
It had been so long Tilly couldn’t remember. “Two months, maybe three.”
“Shit. I’m getting more than you, and I’m not even married.” Candice reached for her Coke, studying her friend. “Don’t you have needs?”
Tilly tried to brush off Candice’s question, but inside she wasn’t feeling so cavalier. She did have needs. How didn’t her husband? Or did he? And if he did, it wasn’t in their bed he found satisfaction. It wasn’t a thought she dwelled on. And the fact that she didn’t dwell on it, didn’t get downright pissed, was a problem in and of itself. “I have toys, and I’m becoming rather creative with them too.” Lowering her voice she shared, “Bought those panties with the remote. I thought Luke and I could have some fun, a night out, build up the anticipation.” She wanted spontaneity, wanted Luke to want her so badly that he couldn’t wait to have her, fucking her against the wall or bent over the sofa, but he was always working. “We never used them, but I wore them one day…” Tilly grinned at the memory. “Never had so much fun cleaning the house.”
Candice threw her head back and laughed but sobered and asked, “Have you talked to him?”
“When am I supposed to do that? He’s never home and when he is, he’s sleeping or spending some rare time with the kids. I don’t think it’s good timing telling him I’m lonely and horny when he’s actually acting like a father.”
“But, Tilly, you don’t leave the house much. Your life revolves around your family. What about you?”
Tilly looked down at the table, playing with a scratch on it. It was a good question. She was usually so busy there wasn’t time to think about where she was in her life. It sure wasn’t what she imagined as a kid or even a very young newlywed. But that was life. It rarely turned out the way you wanted, but you made the most of what you had. Her life could be worse. She knew from personal experience. A child of divorce, falling through the cracks of her parents’ dysfunctional marriage. Luke wasn’t around, but he was a good man. He could be a more attentive one to her and the kids, but he was a good man. “I’m alright. I have the kids to keep me busy, the house.”
“You won’t always.”
She wouldn’t, but she’d cross that bridge when she got to it.
Candice wiped her hands on her lap before she picked up her phone, swiping the screen. Changing the subject she asked, “Did you play that game I told you about?”
It took Tilly a second to catch up. “No. What game was it?”
“Friendly Words. It’s a word game, you love that shit, and what’s fun about this game is that you can play with other people,” Candice said and continued, “You can even select to play with people who are local, if you want.” Candice knocked her shoulder into Tilly’s. “Who knows, maybe you’ll make a few friends.”
That comment rubbed Tilly the wrong way. Was spending time with Candice, as little time as they did, becoming a problem for her? Was she cramping Candice’s style? Tilly didn’t call her on the comment; she, instead, shifted her thoughts.
She rarely used social media, only posting updates on Open Book about her kids’ accomplishments. Games on her phone, never, but she humored Candice and pulled her phone out, found the app and downloaded it.
She turned her phone to Candice to show her the app. “Okay?”
“Try it.” Candice said. “I think you’ll have fun. It’s distracting. You’ll get sucked in.”
_______________
Gage started down the driveway of a customer’s house, his eyes roaming the yard they had just finished when he saw Dom with his head down, looking at his phone.
“Fuck.” Dom grated out, violently tapped at the screen and shoved his cell in his pocket.
Gage lifted his chin toward Dom, “What’s that about?”
“Damn game.” Dom kicked a rock like someone just took his candy away. “I keep losing to my sister. And you know that bitch will keep at me, teasing me.”
Gage chuckled because he knew Dom’s sister and she would proudly roast him on anything. Arty had just gotten done blowing the fresh cut grass off the sidewalk when he walked over. “You play that word game too?”
Dom’s expression changed with excitement. “Yeah, you too?”
“Yep,” Arty said while putting the blower in the enclosed trailer. “Gets addicting.”
“What game?” Gage asked, flipping through the pages on his clipboard. Next was Kelly Kelsy’s house. She was bound to be out sunbathing in her skimpy bikini, always seemed to be on days she was scheduled for.
Arty opened the back door to the truck and pulled out a bottle of water. “Friendly Words. It’s like Scrabble, can play with anyone—”
Dom cut him off, “Yeah, but if you put in your location, they match you with players in your area.”
Gage looked up from the clipboard. “Hmm.”
“Hmm,” Arty repeated. “That’s all you have to say?”
“Dude,” Dom drawled. “You gotta download it.”
Gage shook his head and pulled his cell from his back pocket, tossing the clipboard through the truck window to land on the driver’s seat. “Fine, show me, you pains in the ass.”
Dom stood over one shoulder while Arty stood over the other as they watched Gage type into the search bar. The app appeared and he hit download.
Arty patted him on the back, walking away, he said, “It’ll change your life.”
Dom chuckled. “Yep.”
Gage’s phone alerted him the app had been installed. Change his life...it wouldn’t be until later that he’d learn just how right his friends’ words were.
Gage pulled up into his driveway from a long day only to find it empty. It was the third night this week his wife chose work over her own family. He parked in the gravel area next to the house. Heather had complained that his work truck and trailer had been leaving marks on the driveway; to not make a big deal over it, Gage dug out a spot next to the house and filled it with gravel. Twisting the knob, Gage found the door locked, meaning his daughter wasn’t home either. Apparently, the least amount of time a teenager spent at home, the cooler they were, and his daughter was trying for the gold star in that achievement. Gage unlocked the door, an impatient Velvet zipped between his legs to the first patch of grass, relieving herself while looking up at Gage with a look of thanks.
“Sorry, princess.” He apologized to the dog, for reasons he didn’t even know. Maybe he felt like he needed to since only having her for a year and a half, the girls had lost interest in her.
He waited until she was done doing her business before they both went inside. Gage went to the cabinet, grabbed her a treat, then snatched himself a beer from the fridge. Sitting at the island, he pulled his cell from his pocket and connected to his wife.
“Hello.”
“Hey, baby, when you due home?” Gage asked as he spun the bottle around in a circle, watching the condensation collect on the granite.
“Sweetheart, I’m sorry, forgot to tell you we have a meeting tonight. I should be home by nine at the latest,” Heather said, before moving the phone from her mouth. “Use the green folders, goes with the coloring on the logo.”
“Gotcha,” Gage muttered, looking at the clock above the sink that read six-fourteen.
Gage’s voice matched hers. “Oh yeah.”
“Yeah,” she breathed into the phone. Then in a distant voice said, “No, Marie, the hunter green ones.” Returning to Gage, she reminded, “Honey, I have to go but your parents are coming Sunday for cake, don’t forget.”
“Got it. Go,” he expressed. “Love you.”
“Me too.”
The line went dead. He looked to the fridge but didn’t see it; they were actually doing something for his birthday. It wasn’t on the day, but it was something. Taking a hefty pull from the bottle, he placed his phone in front of him. He looked at the home screen, then swiped it left, eyes focused on the little icon for the new game he downloaded. Tapping it, the screen changed, and Gage began entering his information, including his location. The game automatically matched him with a player named, Lucky Lucy. He spent the next thirty minutes kicking her ass in the game before his stomach growled. Gage moved to the fridge and snatched the leftover spaghetti. Back at the island, he opened the container and dug into the cold noodles. Not long after he finished his game with Lucky Lucy, who didn’t live up to her name, Friendly Words matched him with another player, this one close to his area.
“Let’s see what skills you have, Tilly,” Gage muttered around a mouth full of pasta, tapped play and waited for her to accept the game.
_______________
Tilly checked on the kids before she went to bed. Standing at Justin’s door, she couldn’t believe he was in high school. Time was moving so quickly, too quickly. Pulling his door closed, she walked to Ashley’s room. Once done in all pink, the walls were now gray. The castles and unicorn posters replaced with images of her favorite bands. Her baby was a teenager.
Retreating to her room, she got ready for bed before she pulled the comforter down on the king size bed that her husband rarely slept in. He crashed on the sofa a lot, getting home so late and not wanting to wake her. Resting up against the headboard, she reached for the remote, but nothing appealed to her. She had a book she’d been reading, but she didn’t really feel like reading. Her phone was in the charger next to her bed. Reaching for it, she swiped the screen, and saw the icon for Friendly Words. Launching the app, she saw she’d been paired with someone named Gage. He was waiting for her to accept a game with him.
She accepted. It was late, the chances that he was on was unlikely, so she was surprised when she saw a green dot appear next to his name a few seconds before the word Equate showed up on the screen. Tilly looked at the available letters, found a word and typed it. Not too long after she did, Gage had one. They went back and forth, a comfortable kind of flow to the game, so when she glanced at the clock she was shocked that an hour had passed. She’d won the game. Not just won, she had slaughtered him. Candice was right, the game did suck you in.
_______________
Gage kept his eyes on the screen that said ‘You Lost.’ “That bitch took me to the fucking cleaners.” Gage chuckled.
“What?” A groggy Heather grumbled next to him.
“Nothing, go back to sleep.” She rolled over causing the covers to slide down to her legs, exposing her bare ass. She’d kept her promise and made it up to him by giving him a quicky when she got home, then she crashed. He reached down and covered his wife before returning to the game.
The “challenge again” circle lit up across the center of the screen. Damn right he was going to challenge her again. He tapped it and waited to see if she’d accept. While he did, he went to her profile. All she had was Tilly F as her name, a picture of a sunflower as her icon. If he was correct, her location told him she was roughly two hours from where he lived. As he was scouting her profile, a banner popped up across the top of the screen that notified him that Tilly F had accepted the game.
“Game on, Tilly.” Gage whispered and watched as Tilly entered a word worth eighty-two points. What the fuck. She and Gage played back and forth for an hour and a half before Tilly stopped playing and her green dot, notifying him she was online, disappeared.
Gage checked his alarm on his phone and placed it on the charging dock before he rolled over and fell fast asleep.
CHAPTER TWO
Tilly stuffed a pack of cupcakes in her son’s lunch bag before handing it off to him as he hurried to the door. If there was a morning that they weren’t all scrambling to get ready and out the door before the bus came, something was wrong. She waved them off, cleaned up the kitchen then poured herself a cup of coffee before settling at the kitchen island with her phone. She had laundry to do, needed to hit the market for the bake sale, but for the first few minutes of her day she pulled up Friendly Words. She’d fallen asleep playing last night. The home screen appeared, her friends, which consisted of only one, the man whose ass she’d been kicking, wasn’t active. She added a word worth fifty-eight points to their game, grinning as she did, before she accepted one of the two others that had challenged her. The game dragged. Her opponent was clearly doing other things while playing. She should be doing the same, but for the half hour she gave herself, she wanted to play. She logged out after twenty minutes, losing interest in the game and got ready for her day.
_______________
Five dozen cupcakes didn’t seem like all that big a deal. Looking around the mess she’d made of her kitchen, she wouldn’t pledge that many again, but they did look pretty with the pale pink icing.
She glanced at the clock. Luke was going to be home at normal time tonight, and it was a Friday. They’d have the weekend, at least she hoped they would. It had been some time since he was home all weekend. She wanted them to have dinner together. They didn’t get to do it often, so when he was around she insisted. She cleaned up the cupcake mess, managed to get the cupcakes loaded in her car and delivered safely to the school for the bake sale that evening before returning home and starting dinner. She even uncorked a bottle of wine. After the kids went to bed, she had plans for him. Smiling to herself, she grilled up the chicken and sauteed the onions and peppers for the fajitas. She was just warming the tortillas when she heard the door close.
He strolled into the kitchen, dropping his keys on the counter. Tilly glanced over and smiled. She loved looking at him: hazel eyes, brown hair he always wore the same, cut short around his handsome face, tall, big in the shoulders and chest. “You’re a sight.”
“Smells good.” He said, walking to join her, pulling her close and kissing her like he hadn’t in a while. Which he hadn’t. He didn’t release her, just held her. “It’s good to be home.”
“It’s nice to have you home.”
Before he could kiss her again, Justin came walking into the kitchen. “Do you have to do that here?”
Luke’s focus never left Tilly’s. “One day you’ll understand it, buddy.”
“I don’t think so,” Justin said before he yanked open the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water. “Smells good.”
“Can you get your sister and set the table?” Tilly asked.
He grumbled, but she heard him shouting for his sister.
She sipped her wine and watched Luke with the kids throughout dinner. How their faces lit up when he was around. They didn’t see him enough. She knew his job was important, but his kids were, too. She waited until dinner was over and the kids had gone back upstairs to work on their homework before she broached the subject.
“They miss you,” she said.
“I miss them,” Luke replied, drying a dish and putting it in the cabinet.
“We don’t have them for very long. You’re missing out on so much.”
She knew she’d hit a nerve when his shoulders tensed. “I have to work, Tillian.”
“I know that, but you’re never here. I miss you. I know the kids do, too.” She chose her next words carefully because she knew how he was going to react, but this was important. Work was o
nly part of a life. There had to be a balance. “I know we’ve discussed this before, but the kids are older now. I’d be happy to get back out there, even if it’s just a part-time job, so I’m home for the kids, but one that gives us a little more wiggle room with our finances.”
He barely let her finish the thought before he replied adamantly, “No.”
“I wouldn’t mind getting out of the house—”
“I said no,” He cut her off and kept on. “The kids need someone to be here for them and that’s you.”
Anger stirred at his words, but she took a deep breath before she replied, “I am here for the kids. A part-time job doesn’t have to change that, but you need to be here too.”
Luke leaned against the counter, looked to his feet and let out a huff before looking at his wife. “I’m here when I can be. Listen, can you just let this go? I come home early, have dinner with my family and this isn’t how I wanted it to end.” He crossed his arms over his chest as if he was challenging Tilly to rebut.
She hated that her concern for him was always made to sound like she was being difficult. She wouldn’t press the point because she knew him well enough to know the conversation was over. It didn’t keep her from feeling that prick of anger, though, the urge to shake him out of it, but he’d made the choice a long time ago and what came first for him was his job. “I’ll let it go, but I only brought it up because seeing you with them, I hate all you’re missing out on.”
Luke spread his arms out wide. “What exactly am I missing, Tillian? Because from where I’m standing not much except that Ashley has gotten taller and Justin needs a haircut.”
It wasn’t a prick of anger anymore. What was he missing out on? What wasn’t he? Soccer games, choir concerts, outings where it was just him and his kids. All he could say about his children was Ashley was taller, and Justin needed a haircut. A fucking haircut again. She could argue, she could scream, but she’d be right back where she was. With a husband who was only a part-time husband and father. It wasn’t how it was supposed to be, but it was what it was now. She reached for the bottle of wine. “You’re right. You’re not missing out on anything.” She didn’t wait for an answer and walked from the room. Going to her craft room, she closed the door, even though she wanted to slam it shut. It wasn’t how she wanted the evening to end either, but fuck, she was getting tired of the bullshit.
