Page 23 of Play Dirty

“You’re living in a ten-thousand-square-foot house by yourself, Jordan. That’s how. You spend your life playing games with people because you can’t play one yourself. You feel guilty for who you were, so now you hide under the umbrella of friend to everyone. Just as long as they don’t get too close, right? No one gets close to you. Not even Ixion. I talked to him, ya know? He told me what you’ve been up to. Trying to make up for past mistakes is exhausting. So why don’t we pronounce you absolved and move on, huh? It would be so much less exhausting.”

I just stare at him.

He waits, but when it becomes clear I’m not going to reply, he says, “You don’t need that club, Jordan. Not if you have what it gives you in real life.”

The Club? This is about the Club? How the fuck?

Still, I remain quiet.

“New girl? What do you say?”

I stand up, throwing my napkin down on my unused silverware, and button my suit coat. “I think I’m leaving now.”

When I get outside and look around, still confused and stunned, he’s behind me, hand on my arm, pulling me into an alley. He slams me up against the brick building, places his hands around my neck, and leans in like he’s gonna kiss me.

But he doesn’t kiss me. His mouth finds my ear and he says, “I will pursue you relentlessly. I will not take no as an answer, Jordan. So stop fighting me and just give in.”

I slap his hands away from my face, tug on my suit coat, and say, “Go home to your wife.”

I end up at Chella and Smith’s house down on Little Raven Street. It’s one of those million-dollar townhouses just on the other side of Union Station. Planned community-type neighborhoods that attract young up-and-coming couples.

It’s raining hard when I press the doorbell and peer into the long, slim window on the side of the door.

I see Smith stop what he’s doing in the kitchen to look at the door, then put something down on the counter and wipe his hands on his jeans as he walks down the hallway, their husky dog, Joe, trailing him as he hops down the three stairs to the front door and opens it.

“Jordan?”

I hold out a bouquet of flowers as an offering. “Sorry I haven’t been by sooner to see Chella and the baby. Is this a good time?”

“Jordan?” Chella calls from the other room.

Smith looks annoyed when I smile and push past him, but I don’t care. Smith and I are only acquaintances. It’s Chella I come to see.

I find her nursing her new baby in the back living area, all curled up on their overstuffed couch with her legs underneath her. She smiles big at me. “Finally!”

“I’m sorry,” I say, leaning down to kiss her on the cheek. Then I point to the flowers and say, “I know I’m like two months past due, but things just really got busy.”

“Yes, that game was amazing. Well done, Wells. Well done.”

“Yeah.” I smile. “And you played your part perfectly,” I say, sitting down next to her.

“Well, whatever game you’re here to rope her into now, she’s not interested,” Smith says. He’s got his arms crossed over his chest, scowling at me as he half-sits, half-leans on the edge of the couch arm. “And she’s busy. So make it quick, Wells.”

Like I said, he and I… we’re not really friends.

“Smith?” Chella says, looking up at him. “Can you take Daniel and put him to bed for me?” She smiles bigger. I want to glance at Smith, because I’m sure he’s probably silently mouthing a litany of things like, Get him the fuck out of here, or No, I’m not leaving you alone with him. But I don’t dare break her spell, so I force myself not to.

Smith grumbles something about… something, but he takes the baby and disappears upstairs, their two Yorkies and the husky following on his heels.

“So what’s up?” Chella asks, fixing her nursing blouse.

I sigh, then let it all spill out as fast as I can because I know Smith is gonna come back and kick me out, and I really need a third party to give me some advice right now.

So I tell her a little bit of backstory—she already kinda knows this part and there’s no point in rehashing that shit—and then move on to explain the building, and Augustine’s offer, and how weird they’re both being.

Two minutes later she nods her head at me, understanding.

I think.