The Games We Play (Sizzle & Burn Book 2)

by Linda Verji

  “I got paid.”

  “And you promptly used it to buy clothes?” He clucked disapprovingly as he settled on the bed beside her. “Don’t come asking me to lend you money for rent again.”

  “Hey, you can’t hold that against me,” April protested. “It’s been six months since I last asked for a loan. And I paid it back.”

  “Still, you need to learn how to manage your money better.”

  “Yes, Daddy.” April grinned. “I will.”

  Honest, she wanted to become better with her finances and she often tried to follow a budget. But there were so many pretty things out there and they always seemed to be calling her name. Hey, at least she wasn’t in debt.

  “What am I going to do with you?” Ernie shook his head as he stared at his daughter. “What will I tell my friends when they ask me, an economics professor, how I managed to produce such a spendthrift?”

  “Tell them I take after my mama,” April retorted cheekily.

  “Hey, don’t drag me into this,” Marlene protested before deftly changing the subject. “Did you find out where Antonio is staying?”

  “Daniel said he’s at a friend’s,” Ernie said.

  Marlene kissed her teeth. “What friend?”

  “He didn’t say,” Ernie said. “He probably thinks we’ll chase him down there.”

  “That boy!” Marlene grumbled under her breath.

  “He left again?” April asked, surprise clear in her voice.

  “Mm.” Her mother nodded. “Apparently, he’s sulking because we’ve refused to give him spending money.”

  “Don’t lend him any money,” Ernie said to April.

  April snorted. “What money? I’m broke. Remember?”

  “And don’t let him stay at your place,” Ernie continued firmly. “He needs to learn that there are consequences to behaving irresponsibly.”

  April didn’t respond to the order because she wasn’t sure where she stood on the Antonio issue. Of course she understood her parents’ concerns. Despite trying for six years, Antonio still hadn’t broken out as a stunt cycling star. And even if he had, it still wasn’t a viable long-term career. Already, he had several – make that too many repaired bones and scars to his name.

  It couldn’t be easy seeing your child getting hurt over and over again in the name of a hobby. Her parents often said that they didn’t even care what degree Antonio pursued in college as long as it wasn’t a direct route to the emergency room. Of course, Daniel, their responsible Math teacher, agreed with them. April, on the other hand, was divided because she could also understand Antonio’s side.

  Unlike Antonio, she’d followed a parents advice and ended up doing a degree that she wasn’t crazy about just because it would lead to a stable career. However, the moment she’d stepped into the hospital to start her internship as a nurse, she’d known she couldn’t do it. Sure, she was good with people and she liked to take care of them. But she couldn’t stand to watch people she cared about dying. Her fellow nurses told her to toughen up and not to care so much but this was who she was – someone who cared too much. After a harrowing couple of months, she’d quit because she couldn’t hack it. Thankfully, she’d found a career that allowed her to cater to people without watching them fade before her eyes.

  Antonio was just looking for something like that. Cycling was what he liked to do which was why he’d worked so hard to make himself good at it. And he was good. Though he wasn’t a superstar, he’d won several competitions and a few people already knew him. Maybe with time, he could grow the size of his fan-club. Plus, he was only twenty-two. He still had time to go to college if things didn’t work out.

  While her parents continued to discuss Antonio, April watched them. After thirty one years together and twenty-nine years married, the two’s thoughts were completely in sync. They were like two pieces of a puzzle that fit together perfectly to make one whole. They were testimony that true love existed and you could find your soul-mate as long as you were patient enough to wait for it.

  April wanted something like that, and she’d thought she could find it in Roman. Well, there went that thought…

  With a sigh, she read and reread his one word text message several times. Part of her wished that Roman would send another text. Fine, all of her wished he’d send another text, or even better a call. But a text was good too. Though she didn’t want them to be on friendly terms again, it was good to know that her absence from his life was causing him some discomfort.

  Not that she’d ever let him know that.

  Determined to act like his text hadn’t affected her, she knocked on the door to his office the next morning.

  “Come in.” Roman’s voice filtered through the thick wood.

  She pushed the door open to find him bent over some paperwork, but he lifted his head at her entrance. She could never get used to how piercing his gray eyes were, but what caught her attention was the crooked smile on his lips as he greeted, “April, good to see you looking alive and sober.”

  Immediately memories of their night at Nox came rushing in. Along with it came embarrassment about how drunk she’d gotten even after he’d warned her. But she quickly reminded herself that if it wasn’t for him trying to pimp her out to Javier, she wouldn’t have tried to drown her sorrows in whiskey.

  Her face a mask of indifference, she closed the door behind her. When she crossed the room to take the seat opposite him, she was all business. “I wanted to talk to you about the retirement group that’s supposed to come in on Thursday.”

  But Roman wasn’t ready to let the subject of her drunkenness go. “Do you even remember how you got home?”

  Oh, she remembered. She remembered well. Coolly, she responded, “That doesn’t matter now. Can we discuss the retirement group?”

  “In a minute,” Roman dismissed. “I carried you home. You got home because I carried you on my back.”

  He paused and stared at her as if waiting for a thank you. April stared right back at him.

  “Really? Not even a thank you?” When she didn’t answer, he chuckled but there was no amusement to that chuckle. Sitting back in his seat, he studied her. “Not even a thank you.”

  His stare was piercing enough that it left her feeling flustered and uncomfortable. When it got to be too much, she surrendered with a huff. “Fine, thank you.”

  “Fine. Thank you,” Roman mimicked her words sarcastically. “That’s all I get?”

  “What are you looking for?” she retorted. “A trophy?”

  “My back is still aching,” he complained.

  “Then you should see a doctor about that,” she said flippantly before trying to change the subject. “Though they didn’t book the whole restaurant, the group’s big enough that they might distract the other diners. Should I close the restaurant for that night?”

  Instead of answering her question, Roman asked, “Did you get my text message?”

  Of course, she’d gotten it but she wasn’t about to let him know how it had excited her, so she sent him a questioning look. “What text message?”

  “The one I sent you last night.”

  “Last night. Last night…” She looked up at the ceiling as if trying to remember it then gasped. “Oh! That text message.”

  “You didn’t respond.” He glared at her.

  She glared right back. “I was tired.”

  “Too tired to respond to one short message?” His eyebrows shot up. “You used to call me at one a.m. just to video chat for hours.”

  “The keyword there is ‘used to’,” April informed him. “This is the new status quo. Get used to it.”

  He studied for a long moment before he exhaled loudly. “April what happened to us?”

  I found out that you were an asshole, she mentally responded as she stared at him silently.

  “Can’t we talk about it? Resolve it?” Rubbing the back of his neck, he pleaded, “I hate fighting with you.”

  Well, he should’ve thought of that when he
was painting her as a gold-digging groupie to Javier. Who knows how many other friends of his he’d told the same thing while she was foolishly slavering over him.

  “Nothing happened between us.” She stared at him coolly. “I just decided to get over you. That’s what you wanted, right?”

  Almost as if on cue, her phone beeped then. And wonder of wonders, it was a text from Javier.

  Can I come see you tonight? the text read. April chuckled and looked up to find Roman watching her curiously. She’d never thought that she had a mean streak until she found herself telling him, “Your friend says hi.”

  “My friend?”

  By the annoyance that immediately flashed in his eyes, it was obvious that he’d already figured out who the friend was. But just to drive the knife deeper, April smiled and waved her phone. “Javier.”

  Roman’s posture stiffened and his fist clenched on the table. “What exactly are you doing with Javier?”

  It was hard to hide her amusement at his annoyance, but she managed to keep her face straight as she asked, “What do you mean?”

  “Smiling, Going out together, Exchanging numbers…” Going by the unrestrained distaste in Roman’s voice as he listed hers and Javier’s sins, one would’ve thought that they were robbing banks together, not just hanging out. “What are you doing?”

  “I don’t know.” She shrugged. “Getting to know each other. Maybe we’ll even end up dating like you suggested.”

  Roman clenched his jaw. “He’s three years younger than you.”

  She sat back in her chair and folded her arms over her breasts. “So?”

  “He’s too young for you.”

  “You’re seven years older than me.” She gave him a wide-eyed look of faux-surprise. “Does that mean you’re too old for me?”

  “You know what I mean.”

  “No, I really don’t.” This time April couldn’t keep her mouth from twitching in amusement. “If anything, Javier’s more age-appropriate for me than you are. Thank God you were smart enough not to fall for me, otherwise people would’ve said that you were robbing the cradle.”

  The vein at Roman’s temple began to tick so angrily, she was surprised it didn’t pop out of his skin. From between his clenched teeth, he gritted, “You can’t date Javier.”

  “Why not?” She narrowed her eyes. “You practically handed me off to him on Saturday.”

  “I didn’t hand you – I didn’t mean it in that way,” Roman protested, a sharp edge of frustration in his voice.

  “Then in what way did you mean it?” She gave him a questioning stare.

  “I just-” Roman started then paused with a rough exhale. “I was just mad. I didn’t mean it.”

  “What do you have to be mad about?” She harrumphed. “You’re the one who was always telling me to move on from you. Now I’m doing it. You should be celebrating.”

  “April!” Roman ran a frustrated hand over his hair.

  “What?” She glared at him. She really didn’t understand him. He was constantly saying one thing, then doing something completely contrary to his words. If he didn’t want her, the alleged groupie, shouldn’t he be happy that she’d found some other rich, famous sucker to cling to?

  The sound of her phone ringing cut into the silent tension that throbbed between them. A cursory glance at the screen showed that her mother was calling, but to annoy Roman, April said, “Oops, it’s Javier. I gotta take this. Give me a minute.”

  As she walked to the door, the heat of Roman’s anger bore into her back. She smiled wickedly.

  AS IT TURNED out, Javier was serious about pursuing her. The whole week, he incessantly bombarded her with phone calls, text messages and visits at Tellers, in an attempt to get her to go out with him. He was a stellar catch, and she should’ve jumped at the offer to go for a date. But she couldn’t. She just wasn’t into him. And as much as he was a handy tool when trying to annoy Roman, she wasn’t comfortable using him like that. He was just too nice a guy, and she didn’t want to go that low.

  Monday night found her trying to evade another one of his ‘get a date’ attempts.

  “I’m sorry, Javier,” she said into the phone as she pottered about her kitchen. “I’m just not in that space right now.”

  “Then when will you be?” the younger man persisted. “I’m a very patient guy.”

  “I’m afraid this is one of those times when your patience will be wasted,” April said as she emptied out a bowl of Vina’s delicious Yangzhou fried rice onto a plate. Javier was quiet for so long that she finally asked, “Are you still there?”

  “I’m still here.” He asked, “What are you doing?”

  “I’m about-” April’s breath hitched as she yanked open the cutlery drawer. “- to sit down for dinner.”

  “At this time?” Javier’s shock reverberated through the line. “It’s almost midnight.”

  She shrugged. “When you work in my industry you have to grab your food when you can.”

  During service, she was usually so busy running around that there was no time to eat. Afterwards, she was often so tired on her feet that all she wanted to do was rest – not eat. It was only after relaxing that the hunger pangs would start biting. She’d been known to wake up at three a.m. just to raid the fridge.

  “What did you cook?” Javier asked.

  “What makes you think I didn’t just grab something from a fast-food drive-thru?”

  “Cause you’re too bourgie for fries and a burger.”

  “I’m bourgie?” April laughed. Carrying her food to the living room, she said, “What in the world would make you think that?”

  “I don’t know. You look bourgie.”

  “I look bourgie? Are you insulting me?”

  “Fine, let’s prove it.” Javier asked, “L.A. or Texas?”

  She settled on her couch. “Duh! L.A.!”

  “Bourgie!” Javier exclaimed with a chuckle.

  “That’s not fair,” she protested. “Who would choose Texas?”

  “Everybody who’s not bourgie. Fine, let’s try this again.” He tested, “Old movies or today’s crap.”

  “Today’s crap,” she answered instinctively. “I’ve never been a fan of black and white.”

  “Bourgie!”

  “What?” She paused with a spoonful of food right by her mouth. “Why is that bourgie?”

  “You’re all gloss and glamour that’s why you chose today’s crap. You’re about the HD.” Javier teased, “I bet you’ve got pictures of Paris Hilton on every wall in your house.”

  “I do not,” she protested vehemently.

  “Invite me over and I can prove it for myself.”

  It took April only a second to figure out what he was trying and she laughed. “You think you’re slick, huh?”

  “A man has got to try.” Javier chuckled, not in the least embarrassed at getting caught trying to weasel his way into her house. “Malcolm or Luther?”

  “Luther.”

  “Bourgie,” he exclaimed at once. “Lunch or dinner.”

  “Dinner.”

  “Great, I’ll pick you up tomorrow evening.”

  This time her laughter was even louder. “Does that ever work?”

  “More often than you’d believe,” he countered with a chuckle. “But don’t worry, I wasn’t serious. I’ve got a little thing I’m hosting so I can’t go to dinner with anyone anyway.”

  “What little thing?” she asked curiously.

  “It’s just a birthday party for one of my friends.” He paused before asking, “Hey, tomorrow is your day off, right?”

  “Yeah.” She nodded. “It is.”

  He suggested, “If you don’t have any set plans, why don’t you come over?”

  Instinctively, she started, “No, I told you-”

  “This isn’t a date,” Javier cut her off mid-sentence. “I’m just inviting you over for a party. You know, to have a good time on your day off.”

  “I don’t know,” she said hesita
ntly. A party sounded good but she didn’t want to lead him on.

  As if he could read her mind, he said, “I promise – no pressure. Just two friends kicking it with other people, making new friends, eating good food… What’s the harm?”

  What was the harm indeed? If he already knew that she wasn’t interested in dating then there was nothing wrong with hanging out. She relented, “Okay, what time is it?”

  “Starts at two p.m.. It’s a white party. Bring a swimsuit.” She could hear the smile in Javier’s voice as he added, “Do you want me to send a car for you?”

  “No, just give me the directions to your place,” she said, anticipation already ballooning within her.

  Javier was a fun and easygoing guy – she assumed his party would be just as much fun. And fun was exactly what she needed right now.

  CHAPTER 9

  “This is how to live.” April took in Javier’s house in open-mouthed shock.

  She’d thought that it was gigantic when she was outside but now that she was standing in the massive living room, she was floored. Everything in this place screamed money. From the highly polished hardwood floors to the expensive rugs, from the lush furniture to the well-stocked bar set up at one end of the room, from the silk drapes to the exquisite artwork hanging off the walls, from the fully-equipped game room they’d passed on their way here to the indoor batting cage.

  Money, money, money.

  Even the numerous people who were milling around the house in various states of undress looked like well-chiseled and beautiful art-pieces invited to make the house look even more luxurious.

  April exhaled sharply. “Javier could teach Roman a thing or two about living like a celebrity.”

  “Truth,” Vina agreed as her wide-eyed gaze roved the house. “When I finally rob a bank, I’m moving into a place just like this.”

  Bringing Vina along had been a strategic choice. For one, she could act as a buffer to remind Javier that April really wasn’t interested in anything other than being friends. Also, April didn’t want to spend the afternoon trying to find someone to talk to, or worse hanging onto Javier when he was supposed to be the host of the party.