The #5Star Affair (Love Hashtagged Book 1) (3 page)

Her heart sank. Why was she disappointed? He was just continuing the tangent she started.

“—and you don’t mind if I wear my pink teddy. I don’t do hair, but I’m decent with makeup. We can all swap beauty tips.”

She laughed. Nothing for her to get hung up on after all. She wasn’t sure if she’d been trying to make things awkward he’d tell her to forget it, or just worried he was too good to be true. Either way, it didn’t seem like it would be an issue. “I bet you look amazing in eyeliner.”

“It doesn’t matter. If you’re in the room, no one’s looking at anyone’s eyes but yours.”

Her thoughts stalled at his scrutiny, and her heart skipped. “Are you like this with everyone?”

“Polite and friendly?”

This was just friendly? He definitely wasn’t worth getting her panties in a bind over, in that case. Too bad her racing pulse didn’t agree. “Full of shameless flattery.”

“Only when someone deserves it. And I don’t run into people who do very often.”

So much for casually brushing off his words this time. Her skin tingled at the implication this was only for her. Experience reminded her she could enjoy on the compliments all she wanted, as long as she remembered they were the same kind of candy as looking at him. All sugar, no substance. “You’ve already sold me on the place, you know.”

He pulled his keys from his pocket, and twisted one off the ring. He wrapped his fingers around her wrist, raised her hand, and pressed the key into her palm. “You can move in whenever you want.” He didn’t let go.

She should pull away. Do anything but linger on the warmth flowing between them. Stop focusing on how good it felt to have his hand wrapped around her wrist. She couldn’t find the compulsion to move, though. “Tomorrow’s Saturday. Is that too soon?” It would be nice to stop paying for the motel room she called her temporary home. Her eagerness wasn’t related to getting closer to Ethan as soon as possible. He was just some gamer guy she was going to live with.

His grin was back. “I’ll be here.”

Ethan stepped into his apartment, and voices floated from one of the back rooms to greet him. Concern whispered inside, until he remembered he wasn’t living alone anymore. After coming home to an empty place for almost a year, that was going to take a little getting used to. Mystery at least partially solved, his good mood rushed back.

He followed the sound, and paused in Jaycie’s doorway. She hadn’t moved much in on Saturday. A mattress, a desk, a handful of clothes, and her computer. He liked the idea of living minimalist, but something told him that hadn’t been her first choice. Maybe it was the way she’d looked anywhere but at him when she came up with the excuse for not owning much.

Now she sat at her computer, clicking through something he couldn’t see, another woman he didn’t recognize standing behind her pointing things out on screen.

“Anything interesting?” he asked, to draw attention to himself.

Two heads swiveled in his direction. “Hey.” Jaycie treated him with one of the bright smiles he was already conditioned to look forward to, even though she’d only been living there a few days. “Thinking about new menu designs for the diner. This is Gwen, by the way.”

“Thanks for letting us invade your diner the other day.” Ethan shook Gwen’s hand.

“For her, anything.” Gwen’s expression was flat, making her mood difficult to read.

“What has you grinning?” Jaycie asked.

“News at work. I was thinking about celebrating. Do you want to join me? Both of you?” It wasn’t a big thing to celebrate, just the possibility of a promotion, but it was a good possibility, and a great opportunity.

“If you can wait for us to finish up,” Jaycie said. “We might be a little longer.”

“Actually, I need to run. I have to talk to my accountant about taxes tonight.” Gwen gave Jaycie’s arm a squeeze, and then headed toward Ethan and the door. She paused next to him, voice loud enough to carry. “You know she’s not on the menu, right?”

He chuckled, and made sure to keep the teasing in his response. “It’s still early.”

Gwen rolled her eyes, and dark pink spots appeared on Jaycie’s cheeks. “Fortunately”—Gwen brushed past him—“I trust her sensibilities a lot more than yours.”

“Enough,” Jaycie called at her retreating back. “Don’t take it out on him, because quarterly taxes make you grumpy.”

“Bye.” Gwen’s farewell carried through the apartment, and seconds later the front door opened and closed.

“Sorry about her.” Jaycie wouldn’t meet his gaze.

It was tempting to push the teasing, and ask what it would take to get her on the menu, just to see how she reacted. He still had to live with her. Remembering that didn’t remove the urge. “Nothing to apologize for. As long as we’re still on for dinner.”

She caught her bottom lip between her teeth and furrowed her brow for a moment, before the look of concentration vanished again. “Sure. Just say when.”

****

Jaycie dropped into the booth across from Ethan, and he set their number on the edge of the table, so their food could find them. She was still struggling to get a handle on him in so many ways. It seemed he always had a complimentary quip at the ready, and she didn’t know if she read too much into it, and he was like that with everyone, or if there was more than teasing to his words. Except it didn’t matter. The last thing she needed was to fall hard and fast for another guy, just because he was cute and she was single.

He nodded at an old arcade game at the far end of the burger place. It was nestled between a claw machine and a zombie shooter. “Street Fighter Two. You play?”

She suppressed some of her enthusiasm and the desire to boast. Mostly. “I do okay. I’ve topped the scoreboard a couple of times.”

“Want to go a round or two, while we wait?” Challenge shone in his eyes.

She twitched her fingers against her leg. She really really did want to. Like with most things gaming related, she knew which limits to push with her male counterparts, to prove she could keep up, and which situations to walk away from before they even started. “Nah. I don’t do versus matches.”

Regret at having to turn him down tickled her thoughts. Once upon a time, she’d loved playing one-on-one. An ache spread in her chest that she couldn’t be that person anymore. Time had taught her, regardless of who won, the outcome was never pretty. Best to avoid it, before it even became an issue. “You’re welcome to play. I’ll keep an eye out for our food.”

He gave her a puzzled look, almost as if she were speaking a foreign language. “The point isn’t the game. I mean I’m not interested in playing a sucky one, but the point is doing something fun. I’m here with you, not Street Fighter.”

Longing pushed a response to her lips, and she swallowed it before it forced its way out. Maybe it would actually be fun. “Okay, I’m in.”

He stood, held out his hand, and grasped her fingers between his, to pull her to her feet. The brief contact send a shock of desire through her, and when he let go, her hand itched to be intertwined in his again. She shoved her hands in her pockets as quickly as was polite. It didn’t stop the want from pulsing under her skin. Or keep her from enjoying how good he looked in his jeans, as she followed him across the dining hall.

Ethan slid a dollar into the machine, and gestured for her to pick a side. She fell onto the left out of habit, and clicked through the character screen. She raised her brows when she saw his selection. “Chun Li?” Amusement tickled her. “Is that for the fan service?”

He gave a short laugh. “No more than you choosing Ryu. Her spinny-kick combo is easy to pull off.”

“I’m not sure that’s the technical term for the move.” Jaycie’s hovered her fingers over the buttons, as the timer ticked toward ‘Start’ Her focus tunneled into the game. She executed a perfect block on his special attack, and pride mingled with anxiety about the inevitable protest.

“Nice shot.” He bumped her with his shoulder, his character never pausing.

She bit the inside of her cheek, to hide a grin. “You almost had me.”

“Not even close.”

Her mood floated toward incredible, as they played a few more rounds. It was a close to even split of wins versus losses, but he was a good sport the entire time. She was laughing as they made their way back to the table, and their waiting food.

“That wasn’t too bad, was it?” He brushed his hand over hers, and hooked his index finger around hers.

The subtle gesture short-circuited her thoughts, and she resisted the desire to lean into him completely. She couldn’t bring herself to pull away, though. “It was a blast. Thank you.”

They dropped into their seats, and her hand protested the loss of contact. She needed to get past that. She could see them being good friends, but she needed to remember that was all she was looking for—if she had to repeat the words over and over again until they stuck. Silence settled in between them, as they started on their dinner. She fiddled with the paper sleeve from her straw, folding and unfolding it, while her mind whirred over what to say. Oh, duh. “I can’t believe I didn’t ask. Beyond it being a work thing, what exactly are we celebrating?”

He almost looked proud she’d asked. “I’m up for a director slot for one of our new titles. The decision isn’t final yet, but it’s looking good. So, premature celebration, and then once I land the job officially, we can celebrate again.”

Wow. A director had so much say in a game’s path. The feel. The outcome. All of it. “That’s awesome. What kind of game?”

His smug mask froze, and then wilted a little, before being replaced with a more forced smile. “Technically, you’re the press.” His laugh was hollow. “I can’t tell you.”

Right. She should know she couldn’t ask things like that. Nondisclosure agreements and such. So why did it hurt so much that he didn’t trust her with that information as a friend? She struggled to keep a wounded pang from slipping into her reply. “Totally get it. When you get closer to release, I’ll hook you up with someone who’ll give it a fair write-up.”

“Awesome.”

And the silence was back. If they couldn’t talk about his work without violating NDA’s, half of her repertoire was eliminated. Especially since they already avoided talking about her job. Gwen listened to her ramble about that stuff all the time, but Jaycie didn’t have to worry about Gwen spreading the information places it shouldn’t go.

What had Jaycie talked about with Nick? It certainly hadn’t been work. Oh, right. Nothing. Another reason she didn’t miss him the way someone who had left their boyfriend after so much time together should.

Less than a week of living with Ethan, and she already had more in common with him than with Nick.

A tiny metallic clink drew her out of her rambling thoughts. Ethan was playing with the charm that hung at the end of her wristlet. She’d left it on the corner of the table, since it didn’t have a strap to hang from the chair.

He met her gaze. “Venom? You know he’s the villain, right?”

She had a collection of charms and fobs she got from different companies, and she swapped them out on whims. Venom, from one of the Spider-Man games, was her favorite so far. He’d been dangling from her purse long enough she had to check him occasionally, to make sure he wasn’t coming loose. “Only a villain up front. Anti-hero after he moved to San Francisco and put his whole feud with Peter Parker behind him.”

“He’s still a psychopath.”

She rolled her eyes, but couldn’t hide her smile. This was the kind of debate she could do, as long as he didn’t take it too seriously. “So you’re more of a Superman kind of guy? Where there’s only the black and white of good and evil? Where justice is always shiny?”

“Batman, actually.”

She didn’t have a problem with Batman, but she couldn’t help teasing Ethan as retribution for his Venom comments. “So anti-hero wanna be, who’s too emo to be well adjusted. More money than is plausible. Thriving on vengeance. Really?”

“You know Venom does the whole vengeance thing too, right? That’s like his entire deal? Him and the suit.”

“Technically, the
symbiote
is Venom. Or least the combination of the two.
He’s
Eddie Brock. In
The Amazing Spider-Man,
issue three-hundred…” Heat flooded her cheeks, when she realized Ethan was watching her, eyebrows raised, corners of his mouth pulled up. “What?”

“Passionate about the subject much?”

She was used to justifying she knew her shit. That she hadn’t latched onto something just because her boyfriend had. “I guess.”

He nudged her shoe with his. “That’s cool. Once upon a time, I had issue numbers memorized. I knew when Bruce Wayne broke his back, when Azrael was the Dark Knight—like dates, and every single,
Bang
,
Biff
, and
Pow
on the page.”

Her mind stalled, searching for a reply. It was going to take some getting used to that he just accepted her fandom. But she liked it.

While they ate, conversation flowed from comics to movies, to anything and everything.

A familiar voice floated to her ears from somewhere else in the dining room, and the bite of burger she’d just taken landed in her gut with a thud. Her gaze darted everywhere, until it landed on a familiar head of wild blond curls, and a face covered in a full beard. Kent stood at the front register. Had he seen her? She sank lower in her seat, mouth suddenly dry and food souring in her stomach.

Ethan looked at her, and furrowed his brows. “Are you okay?”

She nodded when her voice refused to work. She needed Kent to not see her. She wasn’t prepared to deal with him tonight.

“You don’t look okay,” Ethan said.

Why was he talking so loudly? Except he wasn’t. That was just his normal tone of voice. “I’m fine.” She managed to make the sound more than a whisper. “Just feeling a little off.”

Ethan’s brows knitted together, but if he had questions about her abrupt shift in mood, he kept them to himself. That was something to be grateful for. “Do you want to go?” he asked.

Not if it meant walking past Kent. “I’m fine.” She didn’t even sound fine to herself. Who was she fooling?

“It’s not a big deal. We’ll leave now.”

She shook her head, and slouched lower in her seat. The seconds seemed to drag on until Kent was handed a to-go bag and walked out the door again. She almost choked on her relief. Would her paranoia about him ever fade?