Playing Passion's Game

by Lesley Davis

  Trent gave him a tired look, her mind made up. “I’m going to ask Juliet to accompany me to Zoe’s birthday party.”

  Elton handed her the coffee and doughnut. “Like in a date?”

  Trent nodded, quickly taking a big mouthful of her doughnut.

  “Good for you. Do you realize that Zoe has invited my family as well?”

  “Mama Simons will be there?”

  “Yes, Mother is gracing us with her presence along with a sibling or two. You know how they love a party, and Zoe invited the whole Simons clan.”

  Trent’s tightness in her chest eased. “I’ll do it. I’ll ask her this week. Maybe she can bring Kayleigh along.”

  “A little chaperone to keep you two in line?”

  “That woman just bowls me over, Elton. I’ve never experienced anything like it.”

  “You need it, Trent. You’re too wonderful to be alone in this world.”

  Trent held out her doughnut to share, and Elton took a sizeable bite. “You’re slightly biased.”

  “I know you better than anyone. My word stands.”

  “I suppose you want a share of my coffee too?”

  “Just some of the whipped cream off the top. You can have the rest.”

  Trent dutifully handed it over and experienced her first peace in hours.

  *

  Managing to find a quiet spot in the day, Trent tucked herself away in the locker room to text Juliet. She hesitated only for a second before sending the message. She sat staring at the screen for a moment, then raised her eyes heavenward. “She’s working. She isn’t waiting for you to call.” She was just slipping her cell phone away when it announced an incoming text message.

  Yes 2 bday. Will CU tonight.

  Trent left the locker room with a massive smile on her face. Elton instantly sidled over to her.

  “The fair Juliet said yes, I take it?”

  Trent nodded, both nervous and excited and at a loss to explain either feeling. “Now what do I do?”

  Elton patted her on the shoulder comfortingly. “Welcome to the dizzy world of dating for dummies.”

  *

  The yard’s overgrowth had been ripped out and the bareness was quite a contrast to what Trent had been used to seeing from her window. She sat on the back doorstep, handheld console in her grasp as she split her attention between the game and the women in her yard. One woman in particular, Trent had to admit, as she paused her game for the umpteenth time just to watch Juliet move something or reach to push a branch aside.

  “Are you really playing that or just using it as cover to ogle my coworker?” Monica spoke so only Trent could hear.

  Trent jumped at being caught staring. “I was not ogling, merely admiring her dedication and commitment to the work in this yard.” Trent shaded her eyes to look up at Monica. “She’s really taken to it, hasn’t she?”

  “She’s marvelous in the yard, as I knew she would be. But your eyes aren’t following her every move because you admire her work ethic.”

  Trent stared at her. “Haven’t you got something to dig?”

  “I’m too busy tripping over your line of vision going straight to her ass.”

  “Monica, I can’t lift this slab up.” Juliet’s voice cut through Monica’s taunt. Trent gave her a toothy grin.

  “I’ll be right there. Don’t pick it up on your own.” Monica turned her attention back to Trent. “The party this weekend, Zoe’s birthday bash? Elton tells me his sisters will be there.”

  “Stevie and Anne and their assorted kids plus husbands, no doubt.” Trent realized Monica was uncomfortable. “They’re going to love you. The family needs another splash of darkness so it’s not all on Elton’s shoulders to carry the Goth banner.”

  “Thank you for that reassurance. I’ve met his mother. She’s a sweetheart, but siblings are…” She searched for the right words.

  “Judgmental, overbearing…nosy?” Monica nodded at Trent’s assessment. “They’re all that and more, but you’ll do fine. Once they understand you like kids, they’ll just foist their offspring on you and go enjoy the party.” Trent considered for a moment. “Or is that just me they do that to?”

  “So I shouldn’t be nervous?”

  Trent turned back to her game. “They give you any grief, you come straight to me and I’ll tell you tales about them as teenagers. But I assure you, they won’t be any problem. They’ll love you as much as Elton does.”

  Monica blustered. “We haven’t got that far yet.”

  “Yet,” Trent said simply. “Just enjoy the party. Your friends will be there if you need us.”

  “Monica,” Juliet called again. “Needing help here, please.”

  Trent immediately went to get up but a hand stopped her. “You’re in your work clothes. You’re not stepping anywhere off your back step and touching stuff that could damage those game-playing hands.” Monica pushed her back down. “I am reliably told your hands are like a surgeon’s, not to be damaged or else.” Monica stepped away. “Personally, I think that’s your and Elton’s excuse to get out of any hard work.”

  “I could go change,” Trent said.

  “Yeah, like you’d be any use whatsoever. All I’d hear is how you got a splinter and then Elton would start grumbling, and it’s not worth the hassle.” Monica walked away to aid Juliet.

  Trent kept an eye on them while still playing her game, but she lingered too long on Juliet’s face set in concentration, and the level she’d been working so hard on in her game slipped from her grasp. Trent stared at the screen as the taunting “Game Over” message played. “Well, that was unfortunate.” She started the level again. The level wasn’t as difficult as Trent’s inability to keep her eyes from Juliet, so she saved her progress, switched the machine off, and conceded defeat for now in both playing and observing.

  *

  The nightmares mercifully stayed away for a few nights and Trent got to catch up on her sleep. She was still wired, edgy, and almost hyper by the time the weekend drew close.

  “Geez, will you turn it down a notch? You’re like a ten-year-old who’s been force-fed additives and fizzy orange pop!”

  Trent skidded to a halt in front of Elton. “What? I’m just stocking the shelves with the new releases.”

  “It’s your way-too-happy face while you are doing it that’s going to scare the customers away.”

  “I can do serious.” She hardened her face, but the grin soon broke free. Elton sighed and swatted at her playfully. “I can’t help it. I’ve actually slept three nights in a row, my yard no longer looks like the Amazon, and I have a date this Saturday.”

  Zoe and Rick seemed amused at Trent’s unusual giddy enthusiasm. “Dad’s getting the barbecue all fired up,” Zoe said. “It’s going to be a great party.”

  “She’s invited all the neighbors so no one can complain if we get too rowdy,” Rick added.

  “So you’re bringing Juliet? Actually bringing and not just tagging along with?” Zoe leaned back against the counter, regarding Trent with a fond look. At Trent’s confirmation, Zoe beamed. “Good, we like her. I wonder if Kayleigh would like a sleepover with Sam? That way you wouldn’t have to worry about getting her home and having to leave early.”

  Trent grasped Zoe’s face between her hands and placed a loud kiss on her forehead. “I knew there was a reason why I liked you so much.”

  Zoe laughed at Trent’s silliness and looked over her shoulder at Elton. “Keep her away from the doughnuts.” She got her cell phone and began typing away. “I’ll get Sam to invite her. They’ve been e-mailing each other daily since Kayleigh’s birthday party.”

  “So you gonna use not having the kid to worry about as an excuse to get all up close and personal with this woman when the stars come out?” Elton asked.

  Trent just shrugged. “Who needs an excuse when the lady is so damn hot?”

  Chapter Thirteen

  The weekend arrived without a cloud in the sky and the temperature in the upper seventies
. Trent had no problem dressing for this party. She pulled out a pair of surfer style shorts in camouflage grays and matched it with a T-shirt emblazoned with a character from a war game. She picked up her solid silver dog tags that Elton had brought for her, suitably inscribed with her name and rank from their favorite game. Then gathering up her sunglasses, she hung them from the neck of her T-shirt. Finally lifting the large present that was Zoe’s gift from the Gamerz Paradise employees, Trent set her house alarm and closed the front door behind her.

  “Trent, you’re doing some gallivanting these days. It’s a blessing to see.”

  Trent peered over the fence at Mrs. Tweedy, bedecked in a wide-brimmed hat that dwarfed her head. “Mrs. Tweedy, I’m not always stuck in the house. I do venture out to work.”

  “I know you do, dear, but now you’re accompanied by that pretty blond girl. That’s different.”

  Yes, it is, Trent admitted to herself.

  “You look happy, my dear.”

  Trent peered over the fence. “Thank you, must be the weather making me smile.”

  Mrs. Tweedy snorted. “Of course it is, not the thought of your sweetie whose car I can hear turning into the top of our road.”

  “Why is it you can hear that but not the cats fighting on your front lawn ripping up your pansies?”

  “Selective hearing, my dear. You’re automatically equipped with it once you hit seventy years of age.”

  Trent looked up as, sure enough, Juliet’s car pulled up at the bottom of her drive. “No loud parties now, Mrs. Tweedy. You know the neighbors will talk.”

  “Back in my day, I’d have given them something to talk about, mark my words,” she replied.

  Trent returned Kayleigh’s wave as she got closer to the car. Juliet leaned over to open Trent’s door. It afforded an all-too-brief flash of cleavage that Trent immediately grew hot over. And so it starts.

  “Good afternoon, ladies,” she managed to utter as she slipped into the car. “Are we ready to party?”

  “I’m staying over at Sam’s house tonight,” Kayleigh said. She held up her bag. “I’ve got my pajamas and everything.”

  “But have you brought your DS? I know Sam has one too.”

  “She never goes anywhere without it,” Juliet answered. She looked Trent over. “You look like you’re ready for battle. Is the line for the barbecue going to turn into a skirmish?”

  Trent managed to fasten her seat belt under the large box she rested on her lap. “I’m ready for any battle in order to get my share of Zoe’s dad’s spare ribs.” She smacked her lips loudly. “He does the best barbecue ever, and we would fight over it. War is never pretty.” Trent cast an eye over Juliet. “Now you, on the other hand…” She admired the pale skin that emerged from thigh-length shorts. “Nice weather for shorts, isn’t it?”

  “It’s too hot for anything else.” Juliet pulled away from the curb.

  “That’s a very big present, Trent,” Kayleigh said. “What is it?”

  “You’ll see when Zoe opens it, squirt. It’s a big present because all of us from work chipped in to get her something she really wanted. I think she’ll be pleased.” Trent settled back to watch Juliet drive, her eyes firmly fixed on the way Juliet handled the steering wheel in her hands.

  “Stop looking at me,” Juliet whispered from the corner of her mouth.

  “I can’t help it,” Trent whispered back. “That shirt looks really good on you.”

  Juliet glanced down at her pale lilac top. “Zoe said it was strictly casual.”

  Trent nodded. “Barbecue parties are for letting your inner scruff out. You just know whatever you wear is going to get covered in drippy sauce.”

  “Trent, you have lots of muscles in your arms,” Kayleigh said matter-of-factly from the backseat. She leaned forward and lifted the cuff of Trent’s T-shirt. “And you have a tattoo! Juliet, Trent has a tattoo!”

  “And before you even ask, no, you’re not old enough to have one,” Juliet said swiftly, her eyes on the traffic as she drove up the main road.

  “Did it hurt?” Kayleigh asked, keeping Trent’s T-shirt lifted so she could see the pattern that ran around her upper arm.

  “No, I was very brave,” Trent answered, then said under her breath for Juliet, “and more than a little drunk thanks to Elton.” Kayleigh poked at a muscle.

  “Did you get this strong playing games, Trent?”

  Trent coped with Kayleigh’s endless stream of questions. “I work out, Kayleigh, with weights and stuff, but the Wii has some fitness discs that I use too to keep me in shape.”

  “She looks great, doesn’t she, Juliet?” Kayleigh asked.

  Juliet’s eyes left the road for just a moment and seared Trent with their heat. “Yes, she does, Kayleigh.” Trent’s stomach clenched at the husky cadence to Juliet’s voice and she swallowed hard. It was with some relief that Juliet pulled into Zoe’s road and parked her car on the street outside the house.

  Kayleigh was instantly getting out of her seat belt. “There’s Sam!” She scrambled from the car, leaving Trent and Juliet behind.

  “Good thing you’d put the parking brake on,” Trent said as the girls met in the middle of the pavement and squealed their hellos. She jumped as warm fingers touched her skin. Trent’s eyes followed Juliet’s fingers as they traced the tattoo that was inked into her skin.

  “What’s with the Space Invader theme, Trent?” Juliet’s fingertips traced the familiar blocky artwork of the alien characters as they wound their way around Trent’s bicep in a band. “Is this your favorite game?”

  “No, just the one that survived with me.” Trent knew she was being evasive, but she didn’t want to explain now. “Maybe one day I’ll tell you the story behind the tattoo, but for now I just want to go enjoy the party with you by my side.” She met Juliet’s eyes. “Please?”

  Juliet leaned forward and kissed her, slowly but with a gentle pressure that promised of passion to come. Trent’s whole body shivered when Juliet finally drew back.

  “I like how you say please,” Juliet said, touching her lips with her tongue as if tasting Trent there.

  Trent couldn’t look away as Juliet reapplied her lipstick. She followed every sweep of the color as it was spread on Juliet’s mouth. It only served to make her want to kiss it all back off again.

  “You ready to go join the rabble I can hear from here?” Juliet asked.

  I’d rather spend the day kissing your lips Passion Pink free. “Sure, like I don’t see them enough at work.” She forced herself from the car, away from the temptation of Juliet’s lips.

  *

  Juliet was startled when Trent shifted the large box in her grasp and reached out with her free hand to hold on to Juliet’s. Trent led the way up the path toward the front door that had been left wide open by the two younger girls. Juliet loved the feel of Trent’s strong hand in her own. It was comforting and she liked what it signified. She was with Trent. Juliet wondered if Trent realized her own actions. She was letting everyone know that Juliet was with her, staking a claim. Entering the house, Juliet spotted a small woman bustling her way from the kitchen and making a beeline toward them.

  “You’re here at last!” The woman imperiously waved a hand for Trent to dutifully lean forward so the woman could pat her on the cheek in welcome. Her gaze fell on Trent’s occupied hand and her eyebrow rose.

  “Miranda, this is Juliet, Kayleigh’s big sister,” Trent said.

  “Glad to meet you, sweetie. Everyone is out in the backyard.” She guided them through to where there was already a crowd growing. “Go make your presence known, Trent.”

  Juliet felt Trent’s hand tighten on hers as they walked out into the backyard. Everywhere was strung with balloons, streamers, and Happy Birthday banners. Zoe came bounding up and gave Juliet a sideways hug seeing as Trent still hadn’t released her hold.

  “Happy birthday, Zoe,” Trent said, brushing a kiss on Zoe’s forehead.

  “Yes, happy birthday.” Juliet handed
over her gift.

  “You didn’t have to get me anything. It’s just cool you and Kayleigh are here.” Zoe looked pretty in her sparkly shorts and top, her eyes shining from all the attention. She held the small present to her chest. “Thank you, though. Can I open it now?” At Juliet’s nod, Zoe tore open the wrapping and exclaimed over the necklace Juliet had picked out for her. “This is gorgeous.” Zoe quickly swept up her hair and handed the chain to Rick. “Fasten it on me, honey.” The gold chain rested just below her neck and the attached pendant shone in the sunshine. “Juliet, thank you. I love it.”

  Juliet was thrilled to have her gift so well received. She’d taken a long time choosing the exact piece she’d wanted for someone she didn’t know all that much about. But she knew Zoe liked Juliet’s jewelry from the things Kayleigh had said via Sam so had sought the perfect piece.

  “Where is the littlest Sullivan? She came in with us, then disappeared with Sam.” Trent looked around the yard but couldn’t see either girl.

  Zoe rolled her eyes at them both. “She and Sam are upstairs making sure Kayleigh’s stuff is put just right for tonight.”

  Juliet could see all the Gamerz Paradise crew converging toward them, Elton included. They circled around Trent, and Juliet was disappointed when Trent finally had to let go of her hand.

  “Now that the gang is all here.” Trent seemed to be counting heads, then obviously satisfied, took a deep breath. “Happy birthday, Zoe, from all your friends at Gamerz Paradise who all chipped in to get you this present.” She held out the box for Zoe. Zoe tested the weight of her present, then lifted her eyes to Trent.

  “You didn’t?” she asked hesitantly, her voice barely above a whisper as she clearly recognized the shape and weight of the box.

  “Open it and see,” Rick said, urging her on.

  Zoe ripped off the paper and her face told them all how pleased she was with her present.

  “Your old Xbox succumbed to the red ring of death. I’m not facing the online clans without my best sniper beside me.”