Kate Sherwood - Dark Horse 2.2 - Head Shy (6 page)

 

Nicki peers around Kristen's shoulder. "Three this time? Dogs and garlic fries for everyone?"

Bridgette nods enthusiastically, and then she and Kristen both look at Dan for confirmation. He smiles back. "I'm in your hands… whatever you recommend."

"Oh, we recommend dogs and fries, absolutely." Kristen runs her eyes down Dan's torso playfully. "And sexy bodysuits."

 

"Excellent." Dan pulls out his wallet. "I can get this, okay?"

Kristen and Bridgette don't argue more than absolutely necessary, but Bridgette
does
keep an eye to make sure that Dan's giving Nikki a generous tip. When he catches her watching, she just shrugs. "I don't want to mess up our connection."

Dan has been part of dealer-level drug transactions that have less drama than this, but, whatever. He figures Kristen and Bridgette just want a little excitement in their lives. And he
can
see that it would be nice to have a way to avoid the long line-ups.

They get their snacks and Dan assumes they'll head back to the suite, but instead, they end up sitting on the steps in the stairwell. Apparently it would be insulting to the caterers to bring stadium food into their venue. A few other small groups come down from the suites and come back up with contraband. It's like a little club out there in the back hall, happily eating their fast food instead of the gourmet fare being served in the suites. Dan doesn't really care about making any of these people like him,

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but apparently once Smooth Dan is out, he's hard to get back in. So he chats and he flirts and he charms, and he even shares some of his garlic fries with some poor sucker who hadn't known enough to get his own.

The food
is
tasty, but Dan's not really that hungry, not after waffles and a plateful of scallops and stuffed grape leaves. He kinda wishes the fry-less guy would come back and mooch some more, but he's gone back to his suite. Kristen and Bridgette are finishing up, now, but still focused elsewhere, so Dan balls up his wrappings with half the food still inside. They won't think he doesn't appreciate their food if they don't know he didn't finish.

He collects their garbage and finds a receptacle; Smooth Dan is a gentleman. They head back up to the suite, and Dan excuses himself and ducks into the bathroom on the way. He doesn't really need it, but he could use a bit of a break.

Unfortunately, he doesn't get it, because when he gets inside, Jeff is there, washing his hands at the sink. He looks like maybe he's been doing it for a while.

"Hey, Dan." His voice is easy, relaxed.

"Hey, man." Dan doesn't think he'll be able to make himself pee, so he doesn't even try, because it wouldn't look good to try and not be able to. Instead, he heads for the sinks and starts washing his hands; Bridgette was right—they already smell of garlic. "Enjoying the game?" He puts as much polite interest into his voice as he can.

Jeff just shrugs. "I guess. I'm not a huge football fan, to be honest."

 

Dan doesn't bother asking why the hell they're all at the stadium, if neither he nor Jeff gives a damn about the game. "No? Not even the Seahawks?" Jeff just shrugs. "I guess Seattle probably hasn't got quite the
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same football culture as Texas, huh?" No real response this time, either, just Jeff watching him a little too closely. But Smooth Dan isn't put off by these things. "How about baseball? The Mariners?"

Dan lets that one sit there, and Jeff seems to realize that he needs to answer it or be a bit rude. "Not really the Mariners. I followed sports a bit when I was at college."

Dan nods and finishes drying his hands. "The Huskies, right?" He has no idea where he's pulling these team names out from, but apparently he has hidden reserves of knowledge. Useful. He heads for the door, waiting for Jeff to follow him, but Jeff doesn't move.

Dan turns, making sure his expression is friendly-curious, but Jeff's squint makes it clear that he's trying to see past that. "You okay, Dan?"

 

Dan lets his eyes widen in just a little surprise. "Yeah, of course… why, is something wrong?"

 

Jeff frowns. "No, everything's good. But you seem a bit distant."

Dan gives him the mildly surprised look again. "What do you think we should be doing? Making out in the middle of Evan's office party?" The door opens and a man Dan doesn't recognize comes in and goes to the urinal, and Dan shrugs at Jeff. "See you back in there?"

Jeff grabs a paper towel. "Hang on, I'll come with you."

Dan waits politely, opens the suite door and stands aside to let Jeff go through first. He disengages as soon as he's inside, heading back over to the buffet. It's a good neutral location that he can use to scout the room and plan his next move. And it has beer.
The game's back on, and most people are watching the field, but Dan

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knows that Jeff and Evan are both watching him, at least with some of their attention. Chris has apparently decided on a more direct approach. He catches Dan's eye and holds up his empty bottle. "Danny," he calls. "Beer me." The he holds up one finger to tell Dan to wait, and checks the beverages of the people he's sitting with. "Actually, two beers, one diet Coke, and… bring over that bottle of red." He smiles calmly. "And get a little something for yourself, while you're at it."

The room is about twenty by twenty feet, if that, and there's really no reason why Chris and his friends couldn't get their own drinks, but they
are
sitting down, and Dan
is
supposed to be making people like him, so he starts pulling bottles out of the cooler. It's a bit awkward to carry them all over, but he leaves the lids on so he can just carry them however works, and when he gets there Chris helps him unload. Actually, Chris takes the drinks one by one, opens them, and hands them to their new owners with as much ceremony as if Chris had personally brewed the beverage and handcrafted the bottles; he doesn't acknowledge Dan's contribution at all, although when he's done, he does hand the lids back to Dan as if he's giving him a tip for services rendered. Dan almost blows his cover in order to growl at him, but he stuffs the lids in his front pocket and forces a smile onto his face.

Chris points to the chair beside him. "You should stick around; we might need you to go get us more pretty soon."

"You're pushing it, Foster," Dan growls, but the only other seat in the place is right next to Jeff, and Dan thinks that Chris's benign abuse is probably easier to handle than Jeff's sensitive concern. So he sits down, opens his beer, and hands the lid to Chris. Chris's gang are more involved in the game than the people Dan had spent the first half with, and that's good, because it's easier to just sit and watch than to have to act interested all the time. Dan makes himself useful, too, getting more drinks as needed, and topping up Bridgette and Kristen's glasses as well. They're his first

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allies, so he doesn't want to abandon them.

The game ends with a Dallas victory, and normally Dan would have been happy to crow about that even if he doesn't really care, but it doesn't seem like the socially appropriate thing to do, given the composition of his suite-mates, so he keeps quiet. He doesn't even smirk at Evan or Jeff. And there's not much fun in taunting Chris; it's not like he cares about the 49ers.

They stick around for a bit, Evan apparently playing good host, although Dan's not sure how that works, considering that he'd been one of the last ones to arrive. Kristen stays too, and that makes more sense, if she's the one who's actually responsible for all this. Dan ends up talking to her for a while, leaning up against the wall while she perches on the nowempty snack bar counter.

He gives the room another quick look-over, and when he turns back to her, she's smiling. "You know, Dan… we've been talking all afternoon, and I feel like I hardly know anything about you. I mean… anything real…."

He's a bit surprised by that. Either he's lost his touch or she's more perceptive than most people, because usually they think they know him pretty well. He shrugs. "I don't know about that… you know my feelings on garlic fries—how much more real than that does it get?"

She smiles, and it's more cozy, more intimate than it's been so far. Uh oh. That's a bit more than he was shooting for. "I was wondering about more concrete things. I mean… you work out at the Kaminski place—do you live down in that area?"

Well, that's safe enough. "Yeah. I've just got an apartment for now, but I'm thinking about looking for something more permanent."
"And you live alone, or…?"Head Shy | Kate Sherwood

Yeah, there it is. "Uh…." He smiles, tries to look regretful. "I live alone, but, you know… I'm seeing someone." He's careful to keep his eyes from wandering anywhere else in the room, giving anything away.

"Really?" She looks a little disappointed, but mostly just interested. "Is it serious?"

 

Yeah, good question. He shrugs, and tries to make his smile mysterious rather than confused. "Oh, you know… it's…."

And then Chris is there, sliding up beside Dan and reaching up to drape an arm around his shoulder. It's almost proprietary. Which probably means that Chris is drunk, but one look at Kristen's face makes it clear that another possibility has come to her mind. She glances at Chris's arm, then back over to Dan, and she raises an eyebrow questioningly.

Dan's tempted for a second, because it would certainly make things simpler, at least right now, but… Smooth Dan may mislead, but he doesn't actually lie to people. Not because it's wrong, but just because it leads to complications, gets messy if he gets caught. He smiles at her and shakes his head. "Chris is an old friend." He shifts enough to get rid of Chris's arm. "He has some boundary issues."

Chris leans in again. "Come on, Danny, why you gotta be like that?" Dan elbows him in the ribs, and Chris grunts, then giggles. Dan tries to think back, figure out how much Chris has had to drink. It can sometimes be a bit hard to tell with the guy, but…there's no way Chris is all that drunk. He's just being Chris.

Dan shakes his head at Kristen. "He's quite an addition to your company, huh? You guys must all be so happy that he moved out here." Kristen's looking a little confused now, but she smiles anyway.
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"Well, I haven't had much to do with him so far, but I'm sure he's good for something, or Evan wouldn't have hired him…."

And that sounds a little more diplomatic than he's come to expect from Kristen. Dan smirks, and doesn't even bother to turn around to look. "Hey, Evan."

"Hey, Dan." Evan shuffles in behind him, and it's a little too close, even if the only outsider left in the room is Kristen. Dan tips his beer bottle up and takes the last swallow, then steps forward and puts the bottle on the counter.

"You guys ready to go, then? We heading out?" Dan turns to face the others, his face peaceful and neutral. Jeff and Evan look at him like he's sprouting feathers, but Chris's squint seems more appraising.

Evan eventually nods. "Uh, yeah, if you're ready."

"Sure, whenever." Dan turns to Kristen. "It was really nice to meet you. Thanks for the tips, and, you know, the… refreshments." She returns his smile, and then he heads for the door. The others come after him, and Dan drops back to let Evan lead the way. He doesn't really know where he's going.

Evan calls the driver to arrange a meeting place and then leads everyone there. They don't talk much while they're inside; it's still pretty crowded, so they're pretty much just concentrating on getting through. Once they're outside, they head for the curb and then stand waiting. Jeff looks over at Dan. "So, did you have a good time?"

"Oh, shit, yeah. Sorry. Evan, thanks for inviting me." Jeff frowns. "No, I wasn't… Jesus, Dan, I wasn't trying to…." He
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trails off.

Evan looks confused as well. "You don't have to thank me, man. Thanks for coming. And, you know, for putting up with all the work people. I didn't realize there'd be so many—last I heard, there wasn't much interest in this game."

So that half-way answers Dan's question about whether the whole thing was a set up.

 

Chris chimes in. "I think maybe people got interested once they heard the big boss man was coming—a chance to schmooze, or whatever."

 

Dan nods vaguely, as if he's interested. "Did you guys have a good time?"

 

Evan shrugs. "It would have been more fun if it was just us, really— you know, it's a bit of a pain to have to be all boss-like."

The car pulls up then, and they all climb in, Jeff and Evan sitting in one set of seats, Dan and Chris in the other, facing back towards them. Dan turns his head and looks out the window; it's a bit weird, seeing things that they've already passed instead of seeing what's coming up. They drive for a while before Dan realizes that no one else is talking. When he turns his head, Jeff and Evan are both watching him, and he raises an eyebrow. "Everything okay?"

Jeff leans forward a little. "Yeah, we're fine. Are you? You seem…." He trails off, but Chris jumps in.

"Remote? Distant? Mysteriously, frustratingly aloof?" He sounds disgusted as he turns to face Dan. "Justin used to hate it when you did this, and I'd say, 'come on, Dan's being calm and reasonable instead of being all scrappy and mental? You should thank your lucky stars.'" He shakes his

Head Shy | Kate Sherwood
head. "But he said it wasn't you. He said he hated it when you pulled away. When you
hid
."

Dan's startled, and he looks at Jeff and Evan to see if they're buying into Chris's accusations. They don't seem as put out as he is, but they aren't exactly disagreeing with him. They're not helping.

Dan can't think of anything to say to Chris, so he just shrugs, and Chris laughs. "Yeah. I see what he meant, now. It's fucking annoying, Dan."

"Come on, Chris, what's the problem?" Dan tries to keep his voice calm.

 

Chris shakes his head again. "No, Dan, that's bullshit. I think what you meant was 'Fuck you, Foster.' Right?"

"Fine. Fuck you, Foster. Is that better?" He turns and looks out the window again. They're driving past a sports field, and he can see some kids playing soccer, then getting smaller and smaller in the distance as the car pulls away.