Chapter Eleven
Game night tonight.
Seven.
Don't pretend you forgot.
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Jace was halfway through alphabetizing a new shipment of records when his phone buzzed in his pocket.
He ignored it. A second later, it buzzed again. Then a third time.
A sigh escaped him as he pulled it free and read the messages before snorting.
Across the store, Ellis looked up from the used vinyl section and pointed accusingly.
"You got my texts."
"You sent three."
"Because you ignored the first two."
"I didn't ignore you. I’m working." Jace couldn't help the smile that formed on his lips.
Ellis gasped dramatically. "Issaky, did you hear that?"
From the back room came Issaky's deep voice. "I heard it, baby. Maybe we should dock his pay?"
Jace shook his head and returned his attention to the records. Game nights weren't new. Once a month, usually at Ellis and Issaky's apartment, the three of them got together and played whatever board game, card game, or party game Ellis had become obsessed with that week.
There was pizza, trash talk, and usually at least one argument about rules. It was familiar and comfortable, the kind of thing Jace had always liked.
His phone buzzed again, but this time it wasn't Ellis. A smile tugged at his mouth as he read the text.
Myah:
A pigeon deadass just stole my muffin.
Jace stared at the message, slightly confused, slightly entertained, before typing back.
Jace:
That's unfortunate.
Three dots appeared immediately.
Myah:
UNFORTUNATE?
Myah:
I was attacked.
Another message followed.
Myah:
I’m never feeding these fucking birds again.
A laugh escaped before he could stop it and of course Ellis caught it immediately. His eyes caught with Jace’s and he narrowed them.
"Oh my God."
"What?" Jace stuffed his phone in his pocket. Real smooth.
"Nothing." The grin spreading across Ellis's face suggested otherwise. "I mean, you smiled at your phone."
"No I didn't."
"You did."
"Okay, so? I saw a meme." Jace shrugged, not entirely sure why he was getting so defensive.
Myah was hot and funny, and in all honesty would get along great with El. So why was he so hesitant?
Ellis pointed at him. "You have a crush."
Jace immediately regretted coming into work.
Issaky emerged from the back room carrying a box. "Who has a crush?"
"Jace." Ellis smiled.
"I don't have a crush."
Both men looked unconvinced.
"What's her name?" Issaky asked.
Jace returned his attention to the records. "I'm not having this conversation."
"Oh my God," Ellis whispered. "It's the coffee girl."
"It's absolutely the coffee girl. I love our store, but no one comes here three times a week." Issaky smirked, hitting buttons on the register.
Jace considered throwing a record at both of them, instead, he texted Myah back.
Jace:
Game night tonight.
He hesitated, then added:
Jace:
Want to come?
The message sat there for a minute. Delivered.
His stomach immediately felt weird. He wasn't usually the kind of person who invited people into his routines.
Especially not people he cared about. But he wanted her there.
He wanted to see how she'd fit into a space that mattered to him.
Wanted Ellis and Issaky to meet her. Wanted—His phone buzzed.
Myah:
Is this a pity invite because of the pigeon?
A smile pulled at his mouth.
Jace:
No.
Myah:
Then yes.
Another message appeared.
Myah:
Obviously yes.
Something warm settled in his chest and for the rest of the afternoon, he found himself checking the clock more than usual. He was looking forward to seven o'clock, looking forward to seeing her. Again.
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When he arrived at Ellis and Issaky's apartment that evening, the familiar scent of pizza and garlic bread hit him immediately.
The apartment looked exactly the same as always. Board games stacked beside the television, a blanket draped over the couch, Issaky in the kitchen, and Ellis already arguing about rules nobody had discussed yet.
Comfortable. Safe. Home, in a way that Jace’s real home had never felt. Sure Issaky was ridiculously rich and although he and Ellis didn't brag like a lot of upper class folks in Seattle they still had an amazing apartment with an even better view.
The doorbell rang just as Jace stepped towards the balcony.
Ellis’s head snapped up and looked at Jace before he gave him a shit eating grin.
"Oh, this is going to be fun." Ellis skipped to the door and Jace rolled his eyes.
But when the door opened and Myah stepped inside shaking rain from her hair, his chest tightened. She smiled when she spotted him, and somehow the apartment felt warmer than it had a second before.
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The game night wound down sometime after midnight.
Pizza boxes littered the coffee table. Ellis and Issaky were still arguing about whether a particular charades clue should have counted, despite the game being over nearly twenty minutes ago.
Myah had spent the last five minutes stretched across the couch, crowing about her and Jace's victory.
"We make a great team." Myah smiled, leaning back and resting her head on Jace’s shoulder.
She was much more open about PDA then Jace had thought she would be, but he didn't mind.
"Yeah, a great team that cheats." Ellis accused, pointing a slender finger at Jace.
“Alright, El. I think that’s enough wine." Issaky chuckled, taking Elli’s glass before picking him up.
Jace couldn’t keep in a snort at the sight. Ellis dangled, drunk, in Issaky’s arms. He wondered how often this happened for it to look so natural.
“Can you lock the door behind you?” Issaky asked Jace, nodding towards the spare key on Jace’s keychain.
Jace bobbed his head with a smile as Myah stood, straightening out her skirt. She looked beautiful–as usual. She was wearing a black mini skirt and a maroon colored sweater. Jace didn't think he had seen her jeans yet. He loved a girly girl, they always smelt so nice.
Myah stepped forward and tipped into his side slightly. She was tipsy and struggling to get on her boots.
“You always wear such big boots?” Jace teased, bending down and lacing it up.
Myah bit her lip, “I do when I have big strong men to tie them up for me.”
Jace blushed, turning his face away to hide it.
He stood and led Myah out into the cool Seattle night.
Rain misted softly through the glow of the streetlights but the air was warmer than the day prior.
Neither of them spoke much during the drive.
Not because anything was wrong, quite the opposite.
The comfortable silence settled easily between them.
Myah kicked her feet up on the dashboard and played with the sleeve of her sweater and Jace found himself smiling every time he glanced over.
"What?" she asked finally.
"Nothing."
"Liar."
"I'm allowed to smile."
"Not like that."
Jace shook his head. "You were ridiculous tonight."
Myah gasped. "Ridiculous?"
"You threatened to challenge Ellis to a duel."
"He deserved it."
"He said one thing."
"He knew what he was doing."
Jace laughed and the sound filled the car. For a moment, neither of them said anything else as the city lights blurred past outside the windows.
Then Myah's voice was soft. "You looked happy tonight."
His hands tightened slightly on the steering wheel. Not because the observation bothered him. Because it was true. "I was."
She smiled. "I like seeing you with your people."
His people.
The words settled somewhere deep in his chest.
A few minutes later, he pulled into the parking lot outside her apartment building, but neither of them moved immediately. The engine ticked quietly after he turned it off and rain tapped gently against the windshield.
"I should go inside," Myah said.
"Probably."
Neither of them reached for the door.
Her smile widened. "So we're doing this."
"Doing what?" Jace sucked his teeth to stop a grin.
"The thing where nobody leaves."
Jace chuckled. "Maybe."
The look she gave him made his pulse stumble. It was soft and warm and undeniably beautiful. Slowly, she leaned across the center console and Jace met her halfway.
The kiss started gently, a familiar brush of lips. But it didn't stay that way for long. Not with Myah. Not with the way she smiled against his mouth. Not with the way her fingers found the back of his neck. By the time they finally pulled apart, both of them were breathing a little harder.
Myah rested her forehead against his. "Definitely should go inside."
"Probably."
Neither of them moved.
A laugh escaped her. The sound was soft and fond and entirely too distracting.
Jace kissed her again. And sometime later, with the rain still falling outside and the rest of the world forgotten beyond the fogged windows, they stopped worrying about leaving at all.