The Game Changer (17 page)

“We were just coming to find you,” Olivia said as she and Cameron approached.

“Good timing. I was just about to find you to tell you I’m heading home,” Melody said, standing and smoothing down her dress.

“No, you can’t leave, it’s still early!” Olivia cried, grabbing her hand. “Why don’t you come dance with us?”

“Because I don’t enjoy being a third wheel?” Melody suggested.

“What’s wrong with being a third wheel? My favourite bike had three wheels, remember?” Olivia nudged Melody, drawing the desired smile from her.

“It was called a tricycle, and you rode that thing way longer than any child should,” Melody said.

Olivia laughed. “True. But come on, we can all dance together. It’ll be fun.”

“You really should join us,” Cameron chimed in. “They’re playing great music tonight. I promise we won’t let you feel left out.”

Melody raised a brow and looked between the two. Olivia didn’t usually spend this much time with a guy before going home with him; most often it happened as quickly as it had with Julian a few moments before.

“Okay,” Melody said finally. “Thank you.”

She allowed Olivia to take her hand and drag her toward the dance floor with Cameron following close behind. “He’s super sexy, don’t you think?” Olivia said into her ear. Melody nodded, and out of the corner of her eye she could see Olivia grinning. “And he’s really nice, too. He would totally be the kind of guy I’d date if I was interested in dating.”

“And why aren’t you interested in dating?” Melody asked.

“Too much going on in my life right now,” Olivia said dismissively. “I need to figure some stuff out.”

No kidding
, Melody thought.

They descended the stairs onto the dance floor, and the three of them moved into a triangle facing each other. As they began to dance, Melody realized it wasn’t as awkward as she thought it would be. Cameron really
was
a nice guy; usually when men were interested in Olivia they tried to get rid of Melody. She had often wondered if guys saw her as competition for Olivia’s attention, but regardless of the reason, that was always Olivia’s signal that a guy had to go.

Cameron, on the other hand, made Melody feel welcome. He didn’t try to butt in when she and Olivia were having a conversation, and a few times during livelier songs he would grab Olivia’s hand and spin her around, then do the same to Melody.

When the bartenders on either side of the club rang the bells for last call, Olivia said something into Cameron’s ear and he nodded.

“You ready to go?” Olivia asked Melody. “We’re planning to take off, but I want to make sure you get into a cab first.”

“You don’t have to do that,” Melody insisted.

Olivia gave her a withering look. “Of course I do,” she said simply. She pulled out her cell phone and dialed as the three of them made their way to the door.

Melody breathed in deeply when they stepped outside into the cool night air. She had lost track of time inside, but knew it must be around three o’clock if they were announcing last call. She was suddenly exhausted despite the fresh air, and couldn’t wait to get home to her quiet apartment and fall into bed.

“There’s the first cab,” Olivia said, taking Melody’s hand and stuffing a bill into it. When Melody tried to protest, Olivia shook her head and closed Melody’s hand around the money. She opened the passenger side door and leaned in, instructing the driver where to go, and asking him to drop Melody right at the door and wait until she got inside before leaving.

“It was nice meeting you, Melody,” Cameron said while Olivia was still talking to the cab driver. “I hope to see you again.”

Melody gazed up at Cameron and noticed he could hardly take his eyes off Olivia. Part of her hoped that Olivia would see Cameron as more than just a bedmate. Despite the fact that Olivia claimed her life was too complicated to date, Melody thought it would be good for her—that a guy like
Cameron
would be good for her. “I hope so, too,” she said, accepting his outstretched hand and shaking it.

An almost conspiratorial look passed between them, and Melody had to smother a grin when Olivia surfaced from the car.

“I want you to text me the minute you get inside the apartment and lock the door,” Olivia said, hugging Melody tightly.

“I’ll be fine, Liv. I don’t want to interrupt…whatever it is you’ll no doubt be doing by then.”

Olivia giggled. “Don’t argue with me, Melody Cartwright. I want to know you got home safe.” She kissed Melody’s cheek as she pulled away.

“Okay, okay. Goodnight, guys.” Melody slid into the car. She bit her tongue before she could tell them to have fun, and simply waved instead as she closed the door and the cab took off out of the parking lot.

Five minutes later when the taxi stopped just feet from the back door of Green Pea’s, Melody paid the driver and told him to keep the change. He thanked her profusely, and, as instructed, waited until she had unlocked the door and was safely inside before giving her a jaunty wave and pulling away.

Melody stood on the lower landing and looked up the long flight of stairs. With a groan, she grabbed the railing and used it to pull herself up each step. Inside her apartment she locked the door, but left the bolt off in case Olivia came home earlier than expected.

“Alone again,” she said to the empty room, kicking off her shoes. She turned on a lamp in the living room and fished her phone from her purse, carrying it with her into the kitchen, where she poured herself a glass of water and forced herself to down the whole thing.

As the cold liquid made its way to her stomach, she began pulling bobby pins from her hair. She had intended to go straight to bed, but now she was wide awake. “Figures,” she muttered. She sent Olivia a quick text to let her know she got home safe, then went to scrub the makeup off her face and change into her pajamas.

Back in the living room, she sank onto the couch and flipped on the TV. She was surprised to find
Property Brothers
still on.

“I got to come home to
two
hot guys,” she said, settling into the couch and putting her feet up.

She picked up her cell and sent another message to Olivia.
Your new favourite show is still on if you get bored, although I’m sure you’ll find out that Cameron is just as handy as Jonathan, only in a much different way.

She laughed when Olivia’s reply came through, telling her she hoped to find out any minute just how ‘handy’ Cameron was, and that she was glad Melody was home safe.

Melody set her phone beside her on the couch. When it rang a few seconds later, she picked up without looking at the display. “Shouldn’t you be too busy to call me right now?”

Julian’s soft laughter on the other end had Melody straightening on the couch in surprise. “I told you I’d call you later to check in.”

“I thought you were Olivia,” Melody told him. “And I didn’t think you meant later tonight, I thought you meant…
later
later.”

Julian laughed again. “I wanted to make sure you got home all right. I texted you awhile ago, but never heard back, so I messaged Olivia and she said you’d gone home separately. I decided to finally just call you.”

“Oh,” Melody said, a happy warmth spreading through her. She now had not just one, but two people who cared enough about her to make sure she was okay. “I didn’t get your text, but my phone sometimes sends messages belatedly.”

“You should get that checked.” He sounded relaxed, unhurried. His voice was soft, almost intimate in her ear. “How was the rest of your night?”

“Good, actually,” Melody said. “I was ready to go home, but Olivia and Cameron convinced me to stay, and I’m glad they did.”

“I’m glad, too. I still feel bad about leaving you.”

“Why? We all agreed beforehand that we could leave whenever and with whoever we wanted.”

“I know,” Julian said slowly. “Still…”

Silence stretched over the line, and Melody settled back into the couch, her eyelids suddenly heavy. She wanted to ask Julian how the rest of his night had been and where he was now, but she wasn’t sure she really wanted the answer.

“I should let you get some sleep,” Julian said.

“Hmm,” Melody said, jerking her eyelids open. “I
am
kinda sleepy.”

Julian chuckled softly, and Melody shivered. “I’ll see you soon, okay? Call me if you need anything.”

Melody smiled and flipped off the lamp beside her so the only light in the room was the flickering glow of the television. “I will. ’Night, Julian.” As she hung up, she thought this was the first time in a long time she didn’t mind being alone. She knew of two people who were only a phone call away.

CHAPTER 10

Melody was startled awake by the sound of the front door unlocking, followed by low voices in the hallway. She blinked repeatedly to clear her eyes, surprised to discover it was morning, and dazzling sunlight was illuminating the entire room.

“I had a really great time,” she heard Olivia say from outside the partially closed door. Her voice was quiet, almost breathy. Melody felt weird for eavesdropping, but at the same time she was incredibly curious.

“So did I,” Cameron said. “
Really
great.”

Melody heard Olivia giggle softly before she said something Melody couldn’t hear. Then, “Thanks for everything. You didn’t have to bring me home, but I’m glad you did.”

“Hopefully next time I can come in,” Cameron said.

Next time, huh?
Melody thought with a grin.

“Definitely,” Olivia said. “I’ll talk to you soon.”

There was a long silence, and Melody assumed the pair was kissing. She wanted to peek over the back of the couch, but didn’t want to be spotted. She wasn’t doing anything wrong, she just didn’t think they needed her crazy morning hair ruining their moment.

The door clicked shut, and Olivia sighed. Melody finally pulled herself up to look over the couch and saw her friend leaning against the door, her eyes closed, and a silly-happy grin on her face.

“Good night?” Melody asked, then laughed when Olivia gasped and jumped.

“Ugh, you scared me! What are you doing on the couch?” Olivia crossed the room and sat down next to Melody, tugging part of Melody’s blanket free to cover her legs. Her dress was wrinkled, her hair was beginning to crimp, and her face was completely free of makeup, but she looked surprisingly refreshed and bright-eyed.

“I fell asleep here last night,” Melody explained. “Sat down to watch TV and conked out.” She looked at Olivia expectantly, unable to keep the grin from her face. “So?” she asked, drawing out the word so it was one long syllable.

“So,” Olivia echoed, her smile matching Melody’s. “I had a great time last night. Cameron is…amazing.”

“He seemed like it. And how was he…” Melody trailed off, letting her question hang.

“We didn’t sleep together,” Olivia said. When Melody simply stared at her, she said, “Well, we
slept
together, but we didn’t have sex.”

Melody continued to stare at Olivia. Her friend was actually blushing, something that rarely happened. “I’m sorry, what?”

A nervous little titter escaped Olivia’s lips. “We didn’t have sex,” she repeated in an excited whisper. She shifted to pull her knees up under the blanket and angled her body toward Melody’s. “I really like him, Mel. We went back to his place, had a cocktail, and just started to talk. We have so much in common, and he’s so sweet. When things started to happen, he was the one who stopped it and said he wasn’t interested in a one-night stand. I was shocked.”

Melody was, too. She always assumed that guys knew the reason Olivia wanted to go home with them. That
was
kind of the point of going home with someone, after all. Not that Melody could speak from experience or anything. “So what happened?”

“We went to his room, he lent me a shirt to sleep in, and we just laid in his bed and talked.”

“Talked? That’s it?”

“Well, not exactly. There was a lot of kissing, and we slept on and off, too. But yeah, mostly we just talked.” Olivia leaned her head on the back of the couch and closed her eyes. “I’ve never done that with a guy before. We’ve always gone back to his place or my place, had sex, and that was it. I go home, or he goes home, we might run into each other again at a club and go for round two, but nothing more.”