Chapter 8
CHAPTER EIGHT
Five rounds later Brodie wondered what the hell he’d dived into. Trivia was a serious business and the one time he’d attempted to make a joke, he’d been shot down quicker than a rattlesnake. From then on, he’d kept his mouth shut, answering the odd science-related question.
Most everyone at the table accepted his presence, although, every now and then, he looked up and caught Brad’s gaze flitting between him and Cerise.
Each time Brodie held it. He wasn’t going to be intimidated by anyone and if the guy was interested in Cerise, well then, he should’ve made a move before now.
“Here’s the next question. Everyone ready?” A resounding yes filled the room. “Okay then . . . the popular app, Trumpeting Turtles, was created by five guys in their senior year of college. Name the college they went to.”
Everything in him stilled. So far, the only person who knew he was one of those five college guys was Mitch.
A quick look in the corner and he caught his friend’s eye.
Mitch gave a subtle shake of his head to let him know he hadn’t said anything to anyone about who he was.
Brodie doubted he’d kept the secret from Nadia, but he trusted she wouldn’t have said anything either.
“How the fuck are we supposed to know this?” asked Brad. He was a regular at trivia night, according to Cerise. She didn’t seem to see him other than a fellow trivia lover.
“I assumed they’d have to have gone to one of the Ivy League colleges, like Princeton or Harvard. Those preppy types have the money to inject into the startup costs of an app.” This came from another guy at the table, Beckett.
“That’s a great generalization there,” Cerise muttered.
“Y’all have two more minutes to think about the answer to this one before the next question,” the trivia master announced.
Looking at the blank faces around the table, Brodie knew he was going to have to step up. No way was he going to let the team not answer a question when he knew what the answer was. Besides, the team was leading, and he was nothing if not a competitor who liked to win.
“It was Rutgers. They went to Rutgers,” he interjected to the silence that had descended around the table.
“Rutgers? Are you sure?” Brad questioned, something he always did when someone gave an answer to a question he didn’t know.
“Yep. I went to Rutgers. I was there when it was all happening.” That was as close as he was going to get to admitting he was part of the party of five tech nerds.
Brad whistled low. “Nice. Did you know them?”
“Hey, are we playing trivia or gossiping?” This came from Tony who was writing down the answers.
Brodie had been surprised that it was old-fashioned, pen-and-paper-style trivia.
He’d expected it to be all electronic, like in most chain restaurants around the country.
But no, Hunt liked to keep things traditional, and he couldn’t deny he found it pretty cool.
“Trivia. Put down Rutgers. You’ll find it’s right.” Brodie insisted, while avoiding looking at Cerise.
The next question was blasted out but he didn’t pay much attention to it. “You okay?” Cerise asked quietly. Once again, her floral scent wafted around him.
“All good. Why?”
She picked up her drink, the light catching on her glittery cheek. “I don’t know. You seemed a little tense when the question about the app came up.”
“I was. It’s not the sort of thing I expected to hear on a trivia night.”
“John comes up with some obscure ones for sure. The night of the tornado we were here for the trivia. I’d dragged Nadia along and he asked a question about what player got these stats at the combine or something related to football.
Anyway, Nadia pipes up and says it’s Tom Brady.
Now this is Texas, so if it’s not the Cowboys, Texans, or one of the college teams, then it’s not football to anyone round here.
But she was adamant it was Tom and even said she’d buy a round if she lost, but if she won, the whole table had to call out ‘Tom Brady is the GOAT.’”
“And what happened?”
“She was right and the whole table grudgingly yelled out ‘Tom Brady is the GOAT.’ I’m not a football person but it was hilarious.” Her grin was infectious and he found himself smiling along with her.
“Sounds like a fun night.”
Her grin died. “It was, but not long after that the tornado came through, and I’d rather not think about that.”
Dammit. How could he forget what Buck had told him?
Her hand gripped her glass, and he could see the white of her knuckles showing. He brushed his own fingers against hers and leaned in, so that he could murmur in her ear. “I’m glad that you’re okay and I’m sorry for bringing up a bad memory.”
Because of his proximity to her, the gasp that rippled through her fired his simmering attraction and he wanted nothing more than to nuzzle her neck. But he was aware they were in a roomful of people.
The round finished and conversation started up around the room.
“So back to those guys at Rutgers. How well did you know them?” Tony asked, and how ironic the guy who told everyone to stop gossiping, was the first one to ask the question.
And why was he asking? Any other sane person would’ve forgotten about it.
But maybe small towns worked differently than the big city.
“I knew them by name well enough to say ‘hi’ when we passed in the hall.” He was so downplaying his association. It wasn’t like he was ashamed of the app, or anything. He was damn proud of it and all he and his buddies had achieved. But he liked being Brodie Spelling, ranch hand.
“Man, I bet you wished you were friends with them to be able to get a piece of that pie. That app is addictive,” Tony continued. “Didn’t I hear something about them selling it and making a bucketload of money?”
“So, the rumors say,” he acknowledged.
“We still don’t know if it was the right answer,” commented Brad.
“It will be right, Brad. Remember you don’t know everything. And I still have video proof of you saying ‘Tom Brady’s the GOAT’ that I’m prepared to share around.” Cerise said all of this with an I’m-a-total-innocent look on her face.
Brodie laughed when Brad’s cheeks colored, but shared a little more to take the heat off the guy. “The guys are really down to earth, even with all the success they achieved at college. If you saw them walking down the street, you’d never guess they’d created a hugely successful app.”
Again, he was telling the truth. They hadn’t taken the popularity of their app for granted, knowing that the bubble could burst any second when a new and better app came along. The fact it hadn’t was something he was forever grateful for.
“I bet you’re kicking yourself for not getting more friendly with them so you could have gotten in on the action,” Tony persisted.
“Ready for the answers from the last round? And who’s going to be in front? This round was tough and we will see some changes in the leaderboard.” John amped up the crowd. “Let’s get started.”
Brodie sat back, not worried at all that he answered the question incorrectly, and when John announced that Rutgers was indeed the college the app geniuses went to, he received high fives from everyone around the table.
Not long after the final answer of the tenth, and final, round was given, the table had celebrated their one-point victory, the crowd in the bar quickly dispersed.
Brodie didn’t want the night to end because he’d have to say goodbye to Cerise and he wasn’t quite ready for that to happen.
The dance he’d asked her to share went out the window when it became clear that that particular night, there would be no music after the event.
“What time do you have to get Finn tomorrow?” he asked as they headed out the door.
Nadia and Mitch had already left, but before they went, Mitch had given him a chin lift and waggled his eyebrows in Cerise’s direction.
Brodie had shaken his head at his friend’s antics, a gesture seemingly out of character for the normally taciturn surgeon.
“I’m not getting him until the afternoon.
I have the morning to myself. Although I need to go to the hospital to talk about being put on day shifts for the next few months.
Not sure how that will pan out. I may have to do the odd night shift, but hopefully, they’ll be accommodating.
They have been in the past when I’ve had Finn.
But if I’m going to adopt him, I’ll have to look for a more standard-hours job.
There’s lots to consider. I want to do everything I can to make my house Finn’s home.
I’ll do anything to make him happy. He deserves that.
He doesn’t deserve the pain he’s going through. ”
Was Cerise nervous? She didn’t tend to vomit words out without taking a breath, like she’d just done. “You’re going ahead with the plan to adopt Finn?”
They’d reached his truck and he was reluctant to finish the conversation. “Yep. I spoke to Daphne and she said while it won’t be easy, she’d support me with my application. She gave me a name of a good lawyer too.”
“That could get expensive. Are you going to be able to afford it?” Wow. How crass did he sound, asking if she had the money to fund the adoption?
“I haven’t met with him yet, but I’m hoping that we can come up with some payment-plan scenario. I’ve paid off my house, so I could use what my mortgage payment was toward paying the fees. It’ll be worth it if I can give Finn a stable home.”
The offer to pay for all her legal fees was on the tip of his tongue but he swallowed the words down.
“That’s good. Okay, so this is my ride?” Actually what he needed to do was offer to walk her to her car.
Why hadn’t he asked her when they walked out where she’d parked?
The fact they’d headed in the same direction hadn’t registered with him.
“Oh good, mine’s right next door. By the way, this is a wicked-looking truck.”