Alex and Annie: A Bad Jokes Spinoff

Chapter 7 (Alex): Into The Void

Perfect timing to avoid revealing her lack of knowledge about my family. The server handed us our drinks and I downed mine in two gulps. "Gonna need another one," I told him in an aside. "And please hurry. I'm begging you."

He nodded in understanding and pressed my shoulder in male solidarity. When he was done taking our orders, he hurried away.

"I've been talking to Alex about meeting my family," Shelby was changing the subject. "Maybe tomorrow."

"Alex committed to meeting your family?" Justice said, leaning her elbows on the table and resting her chin in her hands, fascinated.

"I believe I said that wasn't happening," I commented. Women had tried to back me into a corner before and had failed.

"Well, maybe not tomorrow," Shelby was backpedaling now. "But I'm hoping he will soon."

"Have you been dating long?" Gracie asked. Xane, the fucker, just smirked and Rory was grinning widely.

"Not that long," Shelby said.

"Not at all," I filled in.

"You had lunch together yesterday," Annie spoke for the first time, her innocent voice not fooling me. She wanted to make things uncomfortable for me.

I turned to her. "And you had lunch with Creighton, but I don't think that constitutes the start of a relationship, does it? One simple lunch date isn't anything in the grand scheme of things."

Annie smiled up at me. "Well, here you are with Shelby and here I am with Creighton, so that seems like date number two for both of us. One more date, and you know what happens on the third date."

She raised her eyebrows suggestively and fucking winked at me.

"Nothing happens on the third date," I leaned toward her, glaring, my head ready to explode at the implication. She damn well better not be thinking of going there with Creighton. We still hadn't resolved our friends with benefits situation, so as far as I was concerned, we were still friends and still benefitting.

Completely ignoring what she knew was my displeasure, Annie turned to Creighton. "What do you think, Creighton? What happens on the third date?"

The scumbag leered at Annie. Leered. "I never follow societal constraints," he said, "so as far as I'm concerned, anything can happen on the second date."

I slammed my palm on the table, rattling the place settings and making everyone jump. "Don't even think about it. I'll be taking Annie home tonight to make sure there's no anything happening."

Shit. I knew my sister and cousins were now thinking things they shouldn't be, but I just didn't like to think of a player like Creighton taking advantage of Annie.

"Um, I'll be going home with my date," Annie asserted.

"Like hell," I contradicted her.

"Besides, you need to take your own date home," Annie came back at me sweetly.

"I'm not here with a date," I snapped at her. "You may be, but he's not taking you home."

"Excuse me!" Shelby interrupted. "You need to take me home, Alex, because otherwise I won't have a ride."

"Call an Uber," I said to Shelby, "because I'm taking Annie home."

"No, you aren't," both Annie and Creighton said at the same time.

I looked over at Creighton and gave him a glare. "You want to tell me no again? We can go outside and chat about it, if necessary."

Now I knew the Bad Jokes were never going to let this go, but I couldn't seem to help myself. The thought of Creighton trying anything with Annie was making me see red. She was too good for Mr. No Societal Restraints.

"So, Annie," Justice said, "how long have you known Alex?"

"A little over two years."

"And how'd you meet him?"

"Through work."

"So you work with him?"

"In a roundabout way. I'm in finance --"

"There's an exciting job," Shelby broke in dryly.

"You like getting paid?" I asked her. "That's pretty fucking exciting to me."

I needed to just stop before my family drew conclusions they shouldn't be drawing. Gracie was next up, and I didn't like their line of questioning because it meant I was a dead man.

"Annie, how long have you and Alex been friends?"

"Hmm," Annie said, not realizing she was about to give the enemy ammunition, "about two years."

"So, you became friends pretty much right when you met him?"

"Yes."

"How is Alex as a friend?" Gracie asked. "Would you say he'd do anything for a friend?"

"Yes, he was always very nice."

What the fuck was up with the past tense? I didn't like her talking about me in the past tense, as if we were no longer friends.

"What do you think of his job?" Gracie pressed. "Kind of exciting, isn't it, even though he won't tell us any details about what he does?"

"Yes," Annie said. "He does good work." A very neutral agency answer.

"But for having a pretty cool job, don't you think his condo is a little boring? Like, not really a good reflection of him?"

"It's a little spartan," Annie said, walking unsuspectingly into the rapid-fire question trap. "But it's actually really nice."

And there it was. The proof they'd been after. They knew I never allowed women into my home.

"But haven't you noticed that he never changes anything in it? No seasonal touches, no holiday decor, nothing." 

Now Rory was moving into position and the three of them were eating this up, I knew. Xane just kept grinning at me, content to let this ride, enjoying my discomfort.

"He had a small Christmas tree last year," Annie said, sealing my fate. My mother was going to be calling tomorrow to ask if I wanted them to reserve the country club for a particular occasion.

"Why were you over at Alex's?" Shelby demanded, jealous and trying to stake a claim.

And Annie realized at that moment that she'd given away too much information that she didn't want people to know, so I stepped into the void.

"Oh, being invited over to my place is just one of the benefits of being my friend," I said to Shelby.

But the message was all for Annie.