Chapter 13 #2
Dude? I had to hide a smirk. “Dude, this place is creepy. It’s also closed. We cannot break into this building.”
“I have zero intention of breaking into the building. I’m not an idiot.”
That was still up for debate. I didn’t back down. “What do you expect me to do here?”
“Can’t you just willingly follow me to where I want to take you and find out in ten minutes?”
“No. Do you even know me?”
“Not as well as I would like.” He wasn’t looking at me when he said it. His attention was focused on the building.
“Just give me a hint,” I pleaded. “I’ve watched far too many horror movies to let you lead me out there—what is even out there?—in the dark. I’ll never come back. I can’t be that chick in a movie.”
“Who is that chick?”
“The one who hears the strange noise in the house but goes upstairs to check it out instead of running to the car in the driveway.”
“Do you watch a lot of horror movies?” He was serious as he regarded me.
“Way too many for a guy like you to be comfortable with,” I said.
“Meaning what? How do you know I don’t like horror movies?”
“Do you?”
“No. I think the nudity and violence are gratuitous.”
I offered up a flat smile.
“I want to know why you believe that, though,” he insisted.
“You’re just not a horror-movie guy.”
“Okay, but if you believe that, then why are you worried about walking out there with me?”
I tried to think of a good response and came up empty. “Fine,” I said finally, resigning myself to my fate. “If you try to kill me behind that building, though, we’re going to have issues.”
He snorted. “I’ll try to refrain.”
To my surprise, he held out his hand for me when we were in front of the vehicle. I worried that my bright-pink cart would stand out in the empty parking lot, but he didn’t seem fazed.
I only eyed his hand for two seconds before I took it. “I’m serious about the killing thing. I’m not going to go down easily.”
I hadn’t meant to utter that double entendre. Even in the dark, I didn’t miss the blush coloring his cheeks. He’d heard it.
“I have zero intention of killing you,” he promised. “Just … try to trust me.”
I didn’t see that I had a choice. “Lead me to my doom.”
HE’D BEEN RIGHT. HIS IDEA FOR a nighttime activity was glorious. I was still in disbelief ten minutes later as I eyed the grass.
“Is this seriously a professional croquet lawn?” I could not wrap my head around what I was seeing.
“It is,” he confirmed, his smile so wide it made him look like a giddy teenager.
“But… why?”
Brody’s eyebrows drew together. “Why did I bring you here?”
“No, why does this place have a croquet lawn?”
He shrugged. “Why not?”
“Because nobody plays croquet.”
“They do here. I’ve seen the group. They’re very serious about it.”
“Is it like golf? Do they have their own mallets?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“How are we going to play?”
He pointed toward a cabinet. “They don’t keep it locked.”
That seemed stupid. “They don’t keep mallets, which could be used as weapons, behind a locked door?”
“It might be an oversight. It’s possible they don’t care because almost nobody comes to this little area.”
“You just said there are croquet players here,” I argued.
“There are. They come during the afternoons. I’ve never seen anybody here at night.”
I had questions—maybe too many of them—so I couldn’t let it go. “I need you to break this down for me. First off, how did you know this was a thing?”
“I saw it one day after finishing a round with Nathan.” His eyes were on the croquet lawn—the stupid little hoops—and not me.
“You play golf?”
“Not by choice. My father loves golf. So does Nathan. Sometimes I come with him simply because he insists I need to get some fresh air.”
“That doesn’t mean you have to golf.”
“I don’t disagree. It doesn’t hurt me, though, and Nathan does stuff with me he doesn’t want to do.”
I folded my arms. “Like what? Because—and no offense to Nathan—you seem to put more effort into the friendship than he does.”
“That’s only because everything Nathan does is effortless, and I can’t help but look like I’m struggling next to him.”
I opened my mouth, considered it, then shook my head. “Fine. I’m not going to poke at Nathan. I wouldn’t take it well if you poked at my friends.”
There was another unintended double entendre. This time, I could feel my cheeks burning.
“What do you make Nathan do that he doesn’t want to do?” I asked.
“Go to bookstores. Solve escape rooms.”
Well, he had my interest now. “You like escape rooms? Is that because you want to write a mystery?”
He shrugged. “I’ve never really thought about it, but that makes sense.”
“I like escape rooms.” I had no idea why I volunteered that information.
He took it in stride. “Maybe we can solve one together.”
That sounded a little too much like a date, but I didn’t shut him down. “Tell me about croquet. Are we really going to play it?”
“Do you want to?”
“Yes,” I said without hesitation. “Though I would be lying if I said I wasn’t worried about being caught.”
“We won’t be. In case you haven’t noticed, at night, all the security personnel monitor the bars. They’re not worried about the croquet lawn.”
I planted my tongue firmly in my cheek, glanced around one more time, then smiled. “Okay, let’s do it. I don’t know how to play, though. You’re going to have to teach me.”
“It’s pretty simple. I’ll be glad to serve as your instructor.”
This time, he was the one who’d said something that could be construed as sexy. His cheeks darkened under the limited light. I didn’t comment.
“Let’s do it,” I said. What could the rent-a-cops do if they caught us? At most, they could chase us from the lawn. I wasn’t worried. “I want to hit something with one of those mallets so bad.”
“See? I knew you were going to be on board with this.” He gave a smile that warmed me all over.
“Of course I’m on board with this. It’s freaking croquet. This place is beyond weird.”
“And yet you fit in,” he mused.
“So do you.”
“I never thought I did. Until now.”
I filed that away to think on later. “Come on. Let’s get the balls and mallets. I’m ready to do this.”
“Your wish is my command.”