This isn't weird.

A Terrible Miscalculation

Oblivious to the tension in the air, Millie walked with a bounce in her step as she disappeared into the pantry. Ben tried not to feel anxious as he watched her go, but based on his limited interaction with Tess thus far, he was less than thrilled to be left alone with her again. You're overthinking it, he told himself. You're just nervous. Give her a chance.

"So, Brad—" Tess started.

"Ben," he corrected her.

"Right. My bad. Ben. When's your birthday?" she asked.

His birthday? Why would she want to know—Oh, right! Astrology talk! He had prepped for this! "September fifteenth," he replied, with the zeal of a schoolboy proud to have raised his hand with the correct answer.

"Oh, a Virgo." Her tone was disdainful. "I'm surprised you and Millie don't hate each other. She's an Aquarius, you know."

"An Aquarius? Ew, and I let her touch me?" Ben grinned, but he didn't get a laugh out of her. "And what about you?"

"July twenty-third," Tess replied.

"Oh, that's a Leo right?" Ben did his best to sound like a person who just knew that sort of thing. Tess didn't seem impressed.

"Cancer-Leo cusp," she corrected.

"Oh. Right." He quickly concluded that he was not, in fact, qualified to bullshit his way through a conversation about astrology. Abort mission. "So, uh, how did you meet Millie?"

"We met at a bar."

God, she wasn't giving him a lot to go on. "Oh... that sounds... fun."

"A guy spiked her drink," Tess continued. "I broke his arm and took her to the hospital."

"Oh." Ben's eyebrows shot up. "Not fun. Fuck. She's lucky you were there."

"Uh-huh. I've always been good at protecting her from scummy men," she said, her cool smile never faltering. "How did you meet her?"

"We met at Twentyside Tavern. It's that, uh, bar slash restaurant place that's also a game shop—"

"I know what Twentyside Tavern is."

"Right. Well. She, uh, got stood up by her date, so I invited her to join my table."

"Wow," Tess said. "She's lucky you were there."

What the fuck was this woman's problem? Ben pursed his lips. "Well, she seemed to think so," he muttered, a trace of bitterness creeping into his voice.

Suddenly, Tess laughed—a warm, cheerful, disconcertingly genuine sounding laugh. "Oh my god, Ben, that's wild!" she said. Ben was confused for a moment before he realized that Millie was back in the room. "He literally takes a camera everywhere he goes?"

Of course the bit about not knowing who he was had been an act. She remembered plenty of details, when it suited her. Ben smiled and played along. "Sometimes he brings two," he replied, "so he can film himself filming himself."

Millie appeared behind Tess, looking positively giddy as she leaned down to hug her around the shoulders. "I'm so excited to finally have both my best friends in the same room together!" she said.

"We should have done this ages ago, Mills. This guy is hilarious," Tess replied, patting Millie's hand affectionately and smirking at Ben.

"I knew you would like him."

Damn it. Millie looked so happy. He certainly wasn't going to be the one to disillusion her. As she turned away to start cooking, he took solace in the knowledge that her proximity at least seemed to encourage Tess to play nice. Surely, he could use that to his advantage.