Page 31 of Love is a Game
Andrew tuned them out. He kept reminding himself that Sadie was the enemy. Her vision for the Cypress Hotel was not at all what he wanted, and he needed to focus on keeping her company far from Briar Cove. Of course, she didn’t understand why the hotel meant so much to him. It wasn’t like her efforts were personal; she really did seem to think she was doing the right thing. Just because she was wrong didn’t mean she was trying to hurt him. She was wrong, wasn’t she?
Andrew hadn’t thought far beyond getting the historic landmark approval. He had assumed that once that happened it wouldn’t matter who bought the property, but what if no one did? The hotel would be protected from demolition, but would it really be better to see it waste away in neglect rather than have some corporation come in to bring it back to life?
“What about you, Price? You in?” Webb asked.
“Sorry, what?” He hadn’t been listening to their conversation at all. When had it veered from cop stories?
“Do you want to come? We can leave after the library closes on Friday,” Webb offered.
“Oh.” An invitation. He didn’t want to fess up to ignoring them by asking what the invitation was for. It didn’t matter anyway. “I don’t think I can. Sorry.”
Outside of poker night, Andrew didn’t really go out. At first, he’d been too busy taking care of his mom, and then after she passed, it was too hard to be around people having fun when he was carrying so much grief. Mourning was kind of a buzz kill. It didn’t weigh on him so heavily anymore, but by then he’d just gotten used to being on his own most of the time.
“That’s fine. More fish for us.” Kimura threw his cards on the table. “I fold.”
“Me too,” Tyson said, “Anybody need another drink before the next round?”
Andrew collected his chips as the others shuffled around, grabbing snacks and drinks from the kitchen. As they settled back around the table, Julie came into the room. With her hair pulled up into a messy bun, Andrew noticed she had the same high cheekbones as her sister. Same green eyes too. He took a long drink and looked away.
“Done painting?” Tyson asked, resting a hand on her waist.
“Yeah, I finished a little bit ago.”
“You should pull up a chair, Jules,” Rivera said. “Might be the only chance Monroe has of making money tonight.”
“I was just warming up. I’m ready to win them all now,” Tyson warned.
“Well, in case you don’t,” Julie said, mussing up her husband’s hair, “I’d better get started on these macramé orders. It won’t bother you if I’m in the kitchen, will it?”
“’Course not, babe.”
They all turned at the sound of a knock at the door. They weren’t expecting anyone else.
“Oh yeah, Sadie’s coming over to help,” Julie added, moving to answer it. “We’ll try not to be too loud.”
Andrew felt his shoulders tense at the name. He’d spent the evening trying not to think about Sadie, now she was about to walk right into the same room as him. He took a slow, steadying breath in preparation. After the way his mind had been carrying on the last few days, he had no idea how he would respond to seeing her again.
“Hey!” Julie waved her in. “Did you run here?”
Sadie nodded, smiling as she caught her breath. Andrew tried to ignore her, but the exertion from her trip over had turned her cheeks a glowing shade of pink, which he couldn’t seem to look away from. He wasn’t used to seeing her dressed down like this, in a bright zip-up hoodie and a pair of black leggings. It was a good look for her.
“Everyone, this is my sister-in-law, Sadie,” Tyson told them. “She’s not invited to play because she will take us all to the cleaners.”
“Without remorse,” Sadie added tauntingly.
If you ever want a rematch . . .
Andrew coughed.
“Don’t worry, I’m just here to work. Although”—she made a face at Julie—“I’m not as confident as you are that I can do this.”
“It’s easy,” Julie assured her. “Come on, all my stuff is in the kitchen.”
Andrew watched them go, taking the opportunity to look her up and down when her back was to him. He did like those leggings.
The guys got back to their game, but the sounds now coming from the kitchen kept pulling his mind away from his cards. Sadie was clearly relaxed in her sister’s company. Their laughter rang out often, sounding so similar, he couldn’t tell one from the other. He heard Julie giving instructions and offering encouragement. Occasionally, he would hear Sadie make a sound, a yelp of humored frustration, that pulled his eyes to the kitchen doorway each time.
Sadie was irritating, he reminded himself. She was a stuck-up know-it-all. At least she had been back in high school. Which was a long time ago. He wasn’t the same person he’d been as a teenager. Why would she be? The Sadie he knew back then wouldn’t have let Gracie win their spelling-bee game. He wouldn’t have, either, come to think of it.