Page 38 of A Matter of Time

“And do what?”

He looked confused. “You’re not just some one-night stand, Jory… That’s not what I want from you. You know that.”

I did? Since when?

“Come home with me.” He smiled, his eyes soft.

Funny that it was what I’d told myself I wanted. I’d stopped seeing Kevin because he didn’t want to be with me, but here was my friend Ben suddenly confessing that he wanted me, and Doctor Nick, who called continuously, did as well. People were ready to make commitments to me, and I was hesitating.

“Christ, I’m messed up.”

“What?”

“Nothing.” I shook my head. “I gotta go, man. I’ll call ya, all right?”

“No, just wait.” He forced a smile. “I’ll go in the back with you. Who can say no to those eyes? Just…lemme get you another drink first.”

But I was already turning to walk away. He couldn’t take back what he’d said any more than I could pretend he hadn’t said it. I had offered sex and he wanted commitment, and that was all there was to it.

“Jory,” he said, catching up to me, hand on my shoulder. “Please stay…please.”

I leaned in and kissed his cheek before patting it gently. I left him on the side of the dance floor.

On the sidewalk out front, I was pulling on my T-shirt when it was suddenly yanked down over my head, fast and rough. I looked up and found Detective Kage.

“Oh…hi.”

“Hi,” he said snidely, like it was the lamest greeting ever. “I can’t wait to hear this.”

I pointed into the club. “I was in there dancing, and I came out because⁠—”

“What part of lying low don’t you get?”

“I just wanted to have fun.”

“And are you?”

There was no snappy comeback for that.

“Did you take something?”

“No, why?”

“Your eyes are all glassy.”

“I just drank a lot.”

“A lot? Like, how much can you drink before you’re wasted?”

“You’d be surprised.”

He looked me up and down. “What do you weigh, like, a hundred pounds dripping wet?”

“More like one forty.”

“I’ll believe one twenty.”

I shrugged. “I’m heavier than that. I’m all muscle.”