Fox
As she looked at me, the whole world disappeared, and we were the only two people on the planet. Nothing and nobody existed, except us.
Her smile hovered as though she was deciding whether it should stay in place or go. In the end, she decided to keep smiling, but I didn’t miss the uncertainty flickering in her cornflower-blue eyes.
“I’m—”
“Fucking stunning.” She was. More so than I remembered, and that was saying something.
“Rose. Rose is what I was going to say. Because that’s my name.” She seemed as unsettled as I felt.
“Okay. Well we’re both right. I’m—”
“Drunk and out of line.” Kane didn’t even try to hide his irritation as he interrupted me. The look on his face spoke a thousand words, and none of them were good.
“I’m not drunk. And as for out of line, I’ll let the beautiful lady decide. What do you think, Rose? Was I wrong to call it how I see it?”
Her focus flitted skittishly between the two of us before settling back on me. Though I’d remained zeroed in on her, I could sense the raw energy emanating from Kane. He was pissed.
“I don’t think you were out of line, as such, but you have me at a disadvantage, as I don’t know your name, so it feels a little...impersonal.”
“My bad. I was trying to introduce myself when I was so rudely interrupted by my learned friend here.” I nodded Kane’s way without actually looking at him. “Then I was so distracted by you, I practically forgot my own name, anyway.”
“Wow. Pulling out the cheesy flattery, and I still don’t know who you are.”
“Fox. My friends call me Fox.”
“Oh? So what should I call you?”
“Fox.” I extended my hand. “Where are my manners? Pleased to meet you Rose, I’m Fox, Kane’s best friend.”
“Soon to be ex-best friend, if you’re not careful.” Again, I didn’t look at Kane as he spoke, instead, keeping my gaze locked in with Rose’s. She took my extended hand and didn’t flinch as I brought hers to my lips. Nor did she remove it from my grasp when I held onto it way longer than was considered polite for total strangers.
“Hi Fox, pleased to meet you.”
“Oh the pleasure is definitely all mine.” As were all the lamest pick-up lines in the history of pickups, just like she’d said.
She blinked slowly, still not retrieving her hand from mine, and I swore to God I could feel her heartbeat through her fingertips. Or was that my own as it thumped in my chest like a herd of wild horses running riot through a meadow?
“So, Kane.” She kept her gaze pinned to mine as she addressed him.
“Hmm...?” I could feel him watching us as he answered her.
“Are all your friends so...” I waited for the end of that sentence, but it never came.
“Thirsty?” Kane finished for her. She didn’t confirm that was what she meant, but continued to stare me down. “Nah. The others have girlfriends.”
“What?” That broke the spell. She pulled her hand away, and fixed her gaze back on Kane. “I did not see that coming.”
“Ha! Don’t worry, nobody is as surprised as we all were, and still are, believe me. But I guess, it happens to the best of us, eventually.”
“And those guys are the best, are they?” She turned and shot a quick glance across the room to the table where the boys were sitting, and Kane and I followed suit. I was irritated to find that all three pairs of eyes were trained on us. Xavier gave us a two-fingered salute, and in response, I flipped him off. Fuck you.
“I mean, we may not fit everyone’s description of, nor criteria for the best, but we’re solid. We have each other’s backs, you know?”
She nodded absently, as though she didn’t, in fact, know.
“Sounds like you guys are tight. That’s cool.” I didn’t miss the note of wistfulness in her voice as she turned back to face Kane. He’d positioned them so that he faced the table with the guys, while she had her back to them.
I sat down at the side of the table where I could see both of them, and the guys, and was essentially between Kane and Rose. I watched Kane closely as I sat. He was clearly still totally pissed with me. What I couldn’t work out was exactly why. I was following the plan—more or less—so what the hell was his problem?
I raised an eyebrow, silently asking the question, and got the same back. What the actual fuck? I was acutely aware that Rose was watching us closely, so there was little else I could say without taking Kane aside, which would no doubt have raised more questions with her.
“That was a little rude of you, dude. You didn’t even ask the beautiful lady if she minds you joining our date.” If looks could kill, I’d have been bleeding out on the floor by that point, for sure.
“Oh, yeah. Sorry.” I turned to Rose. “Do you? Mind, I mean? If I third-wheel?”
“Um... I’m good if you are?” She looked at Kane, and if I wasn’t mistaken, there was an unspoken challenge in her words.
“Nah, it’s all good with me.” The lie was obvious in his voice and his face, but it suited me, so I didn’t call him on it.
“Great. So Rose, tell me about yourself. How do you know this degenerate?” I smiled, hoping to lift the vibe.
“Oh, he didn’t tell you? I almost broke his legs running into him in the hall on Tuesday. He took pity on me, and bought me a coffee, and now here we are.”
“Ah, yes. No, he did mention it.” My acting skills were way better than Kane’s. “So you were in that lecture where everything went crazy? Which means you’re a fellow engineer. You must have transferred here this year, then, right? Because I know I would remember if I’d seen you before. So what’s the story there?”
“You know what?” She looked back at Kane again. “I will have that glass of wine after all, the root beer really isn’t hitting the spot. But I’ll get it this time, I insist. I’ll grab you another beer, too. And what about you, Fox, what can I get you?”
“I’m good thanks.” I raised my almost-full bottle.
“Okay, cool. Be right back.” She fled from the table as though her tail was on fire.
Kane was on me as soon as she was reasonably out of earshot.
“Dude, what the fuck was that?”
“What?”
“Don’t give me that shit. Why are you coming on so strong?” Not only was he still pissed, but he was getting angrier by the second. What the fuck was his problem?
“What the hell are you talking about? This was and is the plan. I’m sticking to exactly what we said we’d do. You’re the one acting like someone took a shit in your fucking cornflakes.”
“I’m not. We were getting on well, that’s all. There’s a spark there, and the time has flown by.”
“So?”
“So now you’re messing that up.”
“Are you insane, or did you fucking bump your head? You get the part where she needs to like both of us for this to work, right? You had a head start, don’t forget. I’m playing catch-up. All I’m doing is trying to make that happen.”