At Any Turn (Gaming The System) by Brenna Aubrey Page A

replied.
     
    Been home for hours. Come here after work ?
     
    Her reply came back to me almost immediately. How about we grab something to eat?
    I almost retorted that we could eat here. Chef could have something ready, easily. The significance of her not wanting to come back here was not lost on me and I began to sweat, wondering if her choice of a public place meant she wanted to have the breakup talk. I sighed, deciding to let her have her way. What other choice did I have?
     
    Just tell me where & when .
     
    She answered, Dale & Boomer’s 6 p.m.? You still owe me a rematch on Dark Escape .
     
    This was a good sign. She wanted to get together at an entertainment restaurant over at the outdoor mall in Orange. They had games of all kinds and a full-service restaurant and bar. Her suggestion of the game rematch made the entire thing seem positive.
    I tried to put up with the headache pain for about an hour without taking anything, but it was a turning into a bad one and since I couldn’t resort to the normal heavy-hitting pain meds (which wouldn’t allow me to drive), I popped some milder pills, knowing that it would only take the edge off and do nothing for the visual aura that accompanied the pain. I normally didn’t like to resort to medications for my headaches, but I didn’t want to end up biting her head off because I was in pain, either.
    I was already pissed enough at her as it was. But I vowed I wasn’t going to lose my temper and drive her further away. I wasn’t going to screw up on my all-important strategy again.
    In the end, I popped the stronger pill and called for a car to take me over. She was there when I arrived, sitting on the leather bench in the waiting area, looking into her phone. Her long dark hair was clipped back away from her face, but she had changed out of her work clothes into jeans and a long-sleeved hooded T-shirt, which stretched across her breasts in the most delicious way. When she glanced up and saw me, she tucked her phone into her back pocket as she stood.
    “Hi,” she said, standing in front of me awkwardly.
    I hesitated, shifting the weight on my legs, just as awkward. “Hey.”
    “Can we maybe go for a walk?”
    “Out in the parking lot?”
    “Well…yeah…just to talk for a minute?”
    I shrugged. It was six o’clock, already dark, but not very chilly. I held the door open for her and we exited the restaurant to walk along the sidewalk that lined the outside perimeter of the mall.
    “How was your trip?”
    “Craptastic.”
    “I’m sorry. Things not going well?”
    “It was boring and Jordan was annoying and—” I cut myself off, took a deep breath and then, without looking at her, finished my original thought, though it wasn’t easy. “You weren’t there.”
    She didn’t say anything for a long moment, but I felt her hand slip into mine. I tightened my hold around it. “I missed you, too.” She stopped and I turned to face her in the dim light. “This is hard. I don’t want to fight anymore,” she said.
    I clenched my teeth and prevented myself from releasing the heated words at the tip of my tongue. Then why did you leave me?
    “Me neither.”
    She fixed her gaze on mine, her mouth turned up in a small smile, her eyes questioning. I kept my face as blank as I could, refusing to give away any of the inner turmoil. I was thrilled to see her, but I also ached inside, too.
    And I’d determined that since I’d ignored the strategy of Sun Tzu by offering her no way out and cornering her, I was going to stick exclusively to the strategy guide now. Retreat, thus enticing the enemy at his turn .I’d stand back. I’d let her come to me. Hold out baits to entice the enemy .
    She sighed and moved toward me so quickly I didn’t realize what she was doing until she pulled me into a hug. Slowly, stiffly, my arms went around her. I caught a whiff of that vanilla scent of her hair and it hurt—it physically hurt. I backed off before she was finished.
    A brief