"Do you need me to do anything?"
"No, we've got it covered. Just wear something sexy." Connor's hand brushed the side of my arm.
I gulped. I didn't want
Rory's friend to like me. I wanted Rory to like me. I shifted slightly closer to Rory on the couch. But Rory responded by scooting away from me. Jackson smiled at me. I could tell he wanted to laugh. He had seen me move away from Connor and then Rory move away from me. Geez, why is this so awkward?
"So, Keira, tell us about yourself," Jackson said.
I finished chewing a bite of pizza. "I'm a freelance writer for The Post."
"That's a stimulating job. Do you enjoy it?" Jackson asked.
That was a strange way to describe my work. Stimulating. "It's actually a lot of fun. I basically write about whatever I like and sometimes they'll pick up the story."
"That's considerably better than pushing paper all day." Jackson smiled. He seemed like a genuinely nice guy.
"And what does your boyfriend do?" Connor asked.
"Really smooth," Jackson laughed and leaned back in his chair.
"Um...well...he isn't, I mean, I don't..." I tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear. "I'm not seeing anyone right now."
"Single and sexy? Rory, you were really holding out on us," Connor said.
I looked at Rory out of the corner of my eye and saw him shrug. He didn't mention it because he doesn't think I'm sexy. I was suddenly very aware of the fact that I was alone in my apartment with three men I barely knew. I stood up. "I've never played darts before."
"I can show you how," Connor said quickly, and got up off the couch. He walked over to the dartboard and picked up the darts off the table.
I sighed and walked over to him. He handed me a dart. I threw it toward the board and the dart sunk into the wall. "Oh, shit."
Connor laughed. "Here, let me show you." He placed a dart in my hand and got behind me. He put one hand on my hip and the other around my hand that was holding the dart. I glanced over my shoulder at Rory, but he was talking to Jackson. If anything could come out of this, I was hoping to make him jealous. But he wasn't even looking at me.
"I'm going to put the rest of the beers in the fridge." I shimmied out of Connor's grip, grabbed the case, and walked into the kitchen. I opened up the fridge and let the cool air hit my face. I took a deep breath. I needed to get a grip.
"Ahem." I looked up and Rory was leaning against the side of the fridge.
"Oh. Hi." I put the carton of beers down in the fridge. "Your friends seem...nice."
He leaned in close. I could feel his warm breath in my ear. It made chills shoot through the rest of my body. "Connor only does one night stands, Keira. Just a heads up. One friend to another." He leaned back against the side of the fridge and regarded me. I wanted his warm breath against me again.
"And what do you do? I mean, just one friend curiously asking another."
He laughed, grabbed a beer out of the carton, and headed back over to his seat.
He really doesn't like me. He was looking out for me, one friend to another. Or was he trying to make me avoid Connor? I closed the refrigerator door. I was now even more uncomfortable. And I suddenly remembered Emily joking around about Rory being a serial killer. A chill ran down my spine.
"You know what, I'm pretty tired," I called to them from the kitchen. "I'm going to go to bed."
Chapter 6
I sat down at the kitchen counter with my bowl of cereal. The pizza boxes were still on the coffee table and beer bottles were scattered around the living room. I wasn't used to living with a guy. And Rory's friends would be back tonight for their weekly poker night. Emily had been right. Living with a guy was very different than living with a girl. I was a little sloppy, but at least I didn't leave trash all over the apartment.
The bathroom door creaked and Rory walked out. He was wearing boxer briefs. And nothing else. I spit out my bite of cereal.
Rory looked over at me. "You okay?"
"Yeah, this milk has gone bad. It's rancid. Don't drink it. I'll throw it out." I had just bought it yesterday afternoon. I grabbed a paper towel and wiped off the counter. Then sat back down and took another bite of cereal.