part, Brett kept his poker face, but when they looked away, he’d shoot Ellie a quick wink, which only made her laugh harder.
Any other time he and Ellie had been at Nick’s, they’d both made a concerted effort to stay away from each other, to not even get into the same conversations. Tonight they sat side by side as though it was the most normal thing in the world, even though it wasn’t. Not even close.
There was no question that things between them had changed dramatically in a short amount of time, but it did make him wonder about what she’d said when she first got in the truck. What would happen when this was all over? They’d take care of Kurt—that much he was certain of—but what then? Up until a couple of weeks ago, he’d never even considered the idea that he and Ellie would ever be more than what they’d always been: two people forced together by mutual friends. But now what were they? Friends?
He’d like to think yes, except that he’d never kissed a friend like he’d kissed her, even if it was just for show.
Get a grip, dipwad.
Shit happened when you weren’t focused, and the only thing he needed to be focused on right then was helping her with Kurt, not anything that happened after that.
“Got the new pool table set up,” Nick said. “Who’s in?”
Ellie was already on her feet, heading for the games room. “What’re we playing for?”
“How ’bout we just play a friendly game?” Jayne asked. “It doesn’t always have to be about winning, does it?”
“Oooh, that’s adorable.” Ellie patted her friend on the cheek and offered her an incredibly condescending but still jocular grin. “And yes, it always has to be about winning. Play to win, go big or go home.”
Shot for shot, it was a hell of game, and much to both Ellie’s and Brett’s surprise, Jayne was no slouch. The only reason Ellie won bragging rights was because Nick missed his last shot by what couldn’t have been more than a breath. It was, however, enough, and Ellie was able to tap in their last striped.
“Sorry, babe,” Nick said, wrapping his arm around Jayne’s shoulders. “You almost had her.”
“Nah, it’s just as well. You saw what she did when Regan beat her at foosball….”
“She didn’t beat me,” Ellie cried. “She cheated.”
Jayne just laughed and rolled her eyes. “Uh-huh. Okay. Keep tellin’ yourself that.”
After putting everything back, Ellie and Brett made it all the way to the front door before Jayne couldn’t seem to contain herself a second longer.
“I still can’t totally wrap my head around this, but I’m so happy for you two.” If happiness could ooze, that’s what it was doing, right out of every one of Jayne’s pores. “Isn’t this great?”
Brett wasn’t dumb enough to think Ellie was really having that much trouble putting her jean jacket back on, so while he helped her with that, he did his best to appease Jayne.
“Yeah, we’re still trying to get used to it ourselves.”
Ellie snorted quietly as she finally pushed her arm through the sleeve. “Dinner was great, thanks!”
But Jayne wasn’t done. “Now we just need to find Maya a good guy, and everyone’ll be set.”
Brett leaned over to kiss Jayne’s cheek, but Ellie was already backing out the door.
“Yeah, sure, let’s work on that. I’ll call you tomorrow, and we can start a list.”
“Thanks, Jayne,” he said with what he hoped was a smile. “Nick.”
“Later.”
By the time he made it to the front of the truck, Ellie had already climbed in the passenger side.
“Okay,” he said as he got in behind the wheel and hoped one more wave would send Nick and Jayne back inside. No, they just kept standing there in the doorway, watching them. “I thought that went pretty well right up to the end there.”
“I’m sorry.” She said it through a smile and a wave, but the words could have almost snapped, they were so tight.
Brett waited until they’d pulled out of the driveway before reaching over and pushing her still-lifted hand down.
“What happened?”
“I don’t know. It was great, wasn’t it?” She didn’t wait for him to answer; she didn’t even wait to breathe between “great”s. “I mean the dinner was great, the conversation was great, even the game of pool was great. Wasn’t it? Great, I mean?”
“Yeah,” he said slowly. “Great.”
“No, it really was. And then, I don’t know, when she started going on there at the door, it was like the whole lie