Want to say a huge thanks to anks19621 for the cover attached! It is very unique and I love the colors :)
His Game: Chapter Eight
We finally decide on one of the restaurants and pick what we want to eat. I can't remember the last time I had Chinese so I have no clue what to choose. Italian foods have been drilled into my brain so hard that I don't even know what a dumpling is.
Joey basically picks my meal for me, and I trust that she didn't order me some weird octopus shit.
"Do I get a tour of the house?" I smirk after she finishes ordering our food, "I know there's one room I'm dying to see," I say huskily, standing close enough to make her crane her neck to look up at me.
"And which one is that?" She asks with a tiny, flirtatious head tilt, pulling her bottom lip between her teeth.
"Oh I think you know," I breathe, eyeing her body.
"Well all you had to do was ask," she says, sexily tapping my chest before snaking her hand up and resting it at the base of my neck. Her touch sends chills down my spine and I lick my lips.
"I'd love to show you the living room!" She exclaims. Then she grabs my hand and tugs my frozen and rather upset figure after her.
Why do I always fall for that?
She leads me into a nice room, high ceiling and stone fireplace. There's a leather sectional that takes up the majority of the room and a discolored recliner in the corner, all facing a flat-screen TV sitting on a huge moving box that matches the moving boxes stacked in the corner of the room.
"Cozy," I comment.
She shrugs and sits down on the couch and I watch as it practically engulfs her figure. Must be soft.
"Clearly we haven't finished unpacking," she says, nodding to the boxes, "but after moving around so much you learn to just leave certain items in the boxes for the next move."
I frown slightly. Though it doesn't seem to bother her, I can't imagine moving around as often as she has is easy.
"You've never really had a permanent home then, have you?" I ask, making myself comfortable and sitting down next to her.
Joey glances at me and I see an easy going smile stuck to her ruby red lips, "Home is where the heart is, right?"
I just nod and choose not to press the topic, and a short ten minutes later the food arrives. Joey stands goes to the kitchen and grab her wallet, but I go to the door first and pay instead.
I don't usually pay for many meals with the girls I date, but it's not that big of a deal. The total was barely even $15. When Joey comes to the door and sees I already paid, I notice her pout.
"Thank you, but I could have gotten that."
I shrug and start back towards the living room with the food in hand, "You host, I pay. Though I still can't believe you like this stuff more than Italian."
I notice her smile from the corner of my eye, and then she disappears into the kitchen to find paper plates and plastic utensils for our meal. I lounge back and start unpacking the food, but suddenly Joey sprints into the room and snatches the remote.
"Jeopardy time," she says, sitting down and passing me my plate.
"You actually watch this show?"
She smirks as she clicks through the listings to find the right channel, "I've watched it for years. My dad and my brother are beasts, they tend to make me look like a fool."
At the mention of her family, I glance around and then back at her. "Where are they anyways?"
She loads a few dumplings on her plate and starts to open the container of orange chicken, "Doctors office."
"Doctors?" I ask.
She nods, crossing her legs on the couch and placing her plate on her lap. She doesn't expand and I don't bother to question further.
"So that's why you invited me over. It's the only time you can get me alone and not have me meet your family. Because so far it seems you don't want me to," I choose to say instead.
She snorts and shoves one of her dumplings in her mouth, chewing it up before replying. "You could meet them, they may be back before you leave."
No mentioning of a mom.
Should I question it? Probably not, but we're gonna be together for a month so I may as well find out now as opposed to later.
I tilt my head, "You mentioned your dad and brother, but I didn't hear anything about your mom."
Joey shifts her eyes back to her food with a nonchalant shrug. "She left us a few years ago, once my little brother turned ten," she says, shoveling some chicken into her mouth, "We haven't heard from her since then, aside from the occasional birthday card or whatever. That was five years ago."
My mouth goes dry at how open she was about something as personal as your mom leaving you. She turns her attention to Jeopardy as it begins, grabbing the remote and turning up the volume with an excited grin. As if she didn't just discuss a pretty shitty topic.
"You're so about to get your ass kicked," she says, sending me a sideways glance with a tiny smirk.
Two minutes into Jeopardy, I learn Joey is just as bad at this game as literally anyone who watches it. Instead of the normal small talk I go through on dates, I listen as Joey continuously shouts out completely wrong answers with total confidence, cursing herself when she gets them wrong before muttering she knew the answer all along.
"This animal lives in the Northern parts of North America and is the largest member of the deer family."
"Caribou!" She shouts, brown eyes lit up as she anticipates the results of her answer.
"What is a Moose?"
"Well shit..." she mutters, stabbing her chicken with her fork, "I was close."
I chuckle at her reaction, watching as she scrunches up her face at her food and then at the TV. I've got to admit, this has turned out more fun than it sounded at first. I didn't think watching someone play Jeopardy so horribly would actually be entertaining. Especially when the meal to go with it is Chinese and not Italian.
Joey glances at me when she hears my small chuckle. "Hey don't laugh, I'm still beating you. You haven't even guessed a single one."
Before I can respond, she instantly shifts her attention to the TV and shouts out another ridiculous answer.
Kelly was right. Joey actually does have more to her than just a bad-ass biker chick.
Too bad she isn't the only girl I've dated that has more depth to her personality than first impressions show.
"This fruit has the highest calories of any fruit."
I direct my attention from Joey to the TV and smirk, "Avocado."
Joey looks at me at the same time a Jeopardy player says the same answer and her jaw drops a little.
"You are smart!" She exclaims as though it's breaking news. Then a sly grin slips onto her lips, "I was beginning to worry, Rhett Calvetti."
I laugh and point my fork at her, "Just eat your food and try not to lose, Joey."
Once Jeopardy ends and the food is all gone, I get ready to leave and Joey walks me to the door. We hang out by the door in that awkward few moments before the final goodbye, and I glance at her.
"You know, tonight when a lot different than I expected."
She cocks her head, "How's that?"
"I don't think I've ever sat down and watched Jeopardy before," I chuckle.
"You've been missing out," she says.
I smile at her, and then purse my lips. "You showed me a pretty different side of you tonight. The hoodie, joking, Jeopardy... seems like there's more to you than I first thought."
She smirks, "it's almost as though people can have more than one dimension to their personality."
I shake my head, "Not everyone."
I've dated plenty of girls that were exactly as they seemed.
Joey stares at me for a moment or two before slowly shaking her head, "No, you're right. Not everyone."
I squint at the look on her face, but she walks closer to the door. "Goodnight Rhett."
I stop before I leave and turn to face her, tilting my head. "You knew I'd be leaving before your dad and brother got back, didn't you?"
She gives a sly grin, "Am I that easy to read?"
"No," I hum, "I'm just that good."
She snorts, "Let's not get ahead of ourselves here."
I raise my brows and cross my arms, "Hold on, I think I need you to remind me. Who just won Jeopardy?" I ask rhetorically, because I smoked her once I actually started listening to the questions.
She laughs and rolls her eyes, shoving me closer to the door. "Yeah, yeah, yeah."
But I pause again and look down at her, cocking my head a little. "Why don't you want me meeting your family, Joey?"
She simply smiles and opens the door, "Goodnight Punk, thanks for coming over."
I sigh at the fact she ignores my question and walk through the doorway, sending her a small grin as I walk down the porch steps. "We still have three weeks left, Joey. I'll meet them eventually."
She just sends a small smile and shuts the door in response.
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