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“Whatever you do, don’t tell her you’re a trivia god to boot. The body can be resisted, but if she learns you’re smart too?” I clicked my tongue. “Look out.”

His lips twitched, as if secretly pleased by my compliment.

“Triviagod? Laying it on a little thick there, Little Torres. You still trying to recruit me? I’m going to get a big head.”

I snorted, spearing a cucumber slice with my fork. Mirth danced in his eyes over the resurrected high school nickname bequeathed to me by Chase. Theonlyone Jimmy’s teammates got away with calling me. Being Jimmy’s little sister had been both a blessing and a pain. It’d been hard to create my own identity in his overly large shadow.

“Call melittleagain, and you won’t have to worry about your head for much longer. I’m a grown-ass woman now.”

“Ah, Sunshine. You’ll always have a special place in my heart as Little Torres, Jimmy’s fiercest defender. I used to be so jealous.”

“What? Of me?” I asked, surprised by the admission. Nothing about our shared past indicated his feelings. I’d thought he barely knew I existed, always wrapped up in Jess or in some prank with Jimmy and Chase.

“Of Jimmy.”

“Why?”

“He always had you in his corner.”

“But you had Jess. And your parents and sister.”

He’d had so many people around him; I’d never have suspected. Jess had clung to him, always there. His family had seemed supportive, attending all of his games. If anything, I’d been envious of his circle. I’d had Jimmy and my grandma. My parents had been overseas, and we didn’t have a lot of other family. By comparison, it seemed like he’d had everyone.

The casual lift of his shoulders offset his serious expression. “But you were always something special, the way you supported Jimmy.”

Hard to believe. I didn’t think Ty had noticed me much in high school. But the sincerity shining in his eyes had me reconsidering. If I’d been wrong about how he felt about me when we were teens, could I be misreading him now? Was this flirting or friendship?

“Nowwho’s going to get a big head?” I teased as I packed up the last of my lunch garbage, pushing back my chair.

I needed a moment to collect myself, separate truth from fiction. The temptation to believe he was flirting tantalized me, but I had to stay grounded in reality.

Shelly met me at the trash can, whispering from the corner of her mouth, “You’re welcome.”

Shaking my head at her matchmaking, I couldn’t help but be thankful. Lunch had put Ty and I back on friendly footing, soothing some of my hurt feelings from the bar debacle. Maybe this friendship thing with Ty had a real chance.

***

My excitement for Thursday night trivia had everything to do with hanging out with my friends and nothing to do with seeing Ty.

Right.

I snorted. Being near him all day should have helped me get over my little crush, but the subtle scent of his soap haunted me. Knowing he sat inches behind my shoulder all throughout the witness testimony kept me shifting in my seat, unable to settle.

I freshened my makeup and swapped into a pair of jeans and cute heels before leaving to meet Jimmy, Melena, Chase, and Tamra. In a never-ending quest to round out our numbers, our team added and lost players depending on who was in town and available. Sometimes Melena’s brothers joined us, other times her coworker Lisa. Tamra’s nursing friend Gina and her wife occasionally dropped by. My friends from work made up my occasional contributions. I’d been working on coaxing Ed, the contractor supporting my payroll project to join us, but thus far, he’d resisted. My life had become a never-ending nerd hunt to supplement our core group. I had to believe that if we could find that last unicorn for our team, we’d be unstoppable. Unfortunately, everyone I’d convinced to join us thus far hadn’t stuck. Maybe,possiblyscared away by the Reject’s intensity. Okay,myintensity.

Ty’s team, the Knit Wits, still challenged us at every turn. It’d become a game to see who came out on top, and we were all absolutely keeping score. Haven Brewery’s trivia night was a relatively new addition to the nightlife lineup in Tacoma, but one we’d quickly adopted. Pete, the trivia-meister and one of the managers at Haven had erected a perpetual plaque, ready to start memorializing the winning team each year. I wanted Trebek’s Rejects to hold that first spot of honor so bad I could taste it.

Ty’s group consisted of his coworkers from the dispatch center. True to their name, at any given time, colorful skeins of yarn half covered their table, competing with pints for space as their needles clacked. Their setup should have looked nonthreatening, their knitting making them appear distracted, but instead Ty’s team only came across as fiercer. Multitasking and kicking our asses more often than I’d like to admit.

I pushed open the door to Haven, smiling at Evan, the teenage host, who recognized me and nodded toward the back. I wound through the main part of the brew pub, past wooden tables full of families enjoying dinner toward the room at the back.

Dark-paneled walls and beer memorabilia made up the décor, providing a casual and funky vibe. I let my gaze touch on the Knit Wits table, noting a couple of Ty’s teammates working away on projects, but there was no sign of Ty. I pushed down the pang of disappointment and focused instead on my own crew.

True to form, Chase and Tamra hadn’t arrived yet. Since Tamra had entered his life, the absent-minded author did a much better job of showing up mostly on time for social commitments. I figured they’d show up at the last minute. Tamra couldn’t resist any opportunity to showcase her impressive range of knowledge. After years working second shift, her hospital had moved to a new schedule, and she savored every opportunity to enjoy a little night life.

Only Jimmy and Melena grinned at me from our booth, and I forced a smile in return. I loved Jimmy. My only brother, my constant companion. And I was coming around to Melena. Her friendliness still took me by surprise. After my outburst when Jimmy was hurt, she’d rebounded quickly, seeming to accept my words as a sister’s due. Still ashamed of how I’d treated her in those fraught hours, I was making more of an effort to show her I’d moved on and accepted her in Jimmy’s life. While I couldn’t turn off the protective sister instincts, toning them down when it came to Melena was the right thing to do.

“Hey, Andi. How’s jury duty going? You decide to hang him yet?”