Page 17 of Play Dirty

“What?” she snaps.

“Are you that bored with your life that you need grad school to keep you busy?”

Her eyes dart over my shoulder and when I look, Alexander has finished his phone call and is standing behind me. “I’m not bored,” she says.

But she’s not talking to me. She’s talking to him.

“Want a drink?” Alexander asks me, ignoring her.

“Sure,” I say. “I’ll have what you’re having.”

I feel Alexander retreat back into the kitchen. Hear the sound of glassware and ice. Drinks being poured.

“I’m not bored,” Augustine says again. This time she’s talking to me.

“Well, why the fuck do you need an MFA then?”

“Maybe because I want to better myself?”

Alexander is standing in front of me then. Handing me a drink. I take the glass, take a sip, and shrug. “Whatever.”

Alexander sits on the couch next to her. Hand immediately on her knee. And I don’t think it’s a possessive gesture, either. I think it’s just habit.

“So,” he says, looking at me. “What have you been up to, Jordan?”

And that’s how we spend the rest of the evening. Small-talking.

I just… tell them. Because whatever, right? Who cares? And my business is safe. No feelings at all attached to my business. It’s just me, and my dad, and the law firm.

And it’s funny. Because we have an endless stream of small talk. We never stop small-talking. Some of it is memories. Most of it is catching up. But all of it is… boring.

Some time around midnight I say, “So where do I sleep?”

And Alexander says, “With us, of course.”

There’s only one bedroom in the cabin and it has a king-size bed. I’m on one side. Alexander is on the other. And Augustine is between us.

We are all naked.

We are all staring up at the ceiling like three strangers lying under a single white sheet.

We are all uncomfortable.

And then there’s a shuffling. And movement. And a hand on my bare stomach that sends chills up my spine.

Her hand. Placed there. By his hand.

“You can have her tonight,” he says. And then he turns over. Giving us permission and dismissing us in the same moment.

I turn my head. Just barely able to see her turn hers. Our eyes meet.

Then she turns over, hugs him, and sighs.

What the fuck am I doing here?

In the morning I’m the first one up. I’m not even sure it qualifies as morning, but I’m up. I can’t take it anymore.

I have several viable escape plans.