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Pieces of my heart splintered as I breathed through the pain of rejection. Nothing outright or in your face, Ty had just shut down, choosing not to open up. But it his non-answer seared just the same. I’d shared my feelings, the real me, and he’d pulled away, retreating.

***

After my date with Ty, I fell headfirst into work, focusing on my payroll conversion project. Avoiding thinking about love, mistakes, or men who didn’t want me as much as I wanted them.

Mark had stepped up at the office, taking more ownership and helping take routine tasks off my plate so I could devote time to final preparations for our payroll system go-live. Working on the project reminded me of all the things I loved about my job and collaborating with Ed in person for once didn’t hurt. Ed had been contracted to do the backend data transfer for our conversion to a new payroll system, and my role was to test and ensure everything loaded correctly, since I was familiar with the actual records. He operated out of a home office in Oregon, but we spoke on the phone and emailed frequently. We’d met a couple of times at the beginning of the project, and he’d struck me as slightly shy and one hundred and ten percent nerdy. In other words, a perfect fit for our trivia team.

I’m not sure who was more shocked when Ed accepted my long-standing invitation to join us at trivia. Ed, because I’d asked every time he visited and he never joined us, or me when he’d said yes. It’d been a standing joke between us as we worked together that he’d have to join Trebek’s Rejects next time he was in town.

And in another life, pre-Ty, I would have been interested in more than Ed’s brain if he’d lived nearby. Instead, we’d developed an easy virtual friendship. There was no way I’d disinvite him. Not when we still needed extra players. I bit my lip. It would serve Ty right if he experienced a little jealousy, seeing Ed at my table. Even if it was just envy for Ed’s expertise when we won.

Not that I wanted Ty to be jealous.

Liar.

Okay, maybe a little jealous would have been fine. If not for his history with Jess. I fired off a quick text on my way to Haven, informing Ty about the Reject’s additional teammate.

Andi: Hey, Rejects are bringing another player tonight, Ed, a contractor friend of mine from work. Maybe you can join us for drinks after trivia?

With things still unsettled between us, I didn’t need him lumping me with Jess. He might not twitch over Shelly and Sam from jury duty joining us on occasion, but after witnessing my trivia ‘ho’ phase, I didn’t need to look like I was cheating, recruiting strange men into our competition. Ty and I were struggling enough on our own to navigate our relationship.Whatever it might be.

The frustration of moving so slowly with Ty had been eating at me, the handful of flirty text exchanges killing me by inches. I couldn’t figure out what was holding him back. After our date, we’d had a few casual texts, but that was it. And as much as I wanted to straight-up ask him what his intentions were with me, every attempt at honesty with Ty seemed to backfire.

Me being too much. Too honest. Too forward. And okay, that one time, too drunk.

When would I be someone’s ‘exactly right’?

Was I chasing the impossible with Ty? My competitive nature wanted to win, but it would be a hollow victory if he didn’t truly want me. I’d expected him to make a move after ice cream. When he left me with a measly good night kiss, I’d been disappointed. Not with the kiss, but that there wasn’t more. I always wanted more with Ty. He made me want everything.

My musings had to be put on hold as I waved down Ed in front of Haven. He nudged the frame on his glasses as he drew closer, and I couldn’t help but admire his profile. He smiled, looking relieved to see me waiting, and I grinned in return, cursing the lack of attraction. Why did my type have to be a gruff and competitive 911 operator instead of the sincere and slightly goofy Ed?

“You ready for tonight?” I asked Ed on our way into Haven.

“You said all I needed was a brain, do I look like the Headless Horseman?”

I chuckled, pulling open the door and weaving my way back to our booth.

“Thankfully, you’ve got all the requisite bits and pieces.”

“Andi, what are you doing talking about a man’s bits and pieces? Didn’t Gran raise you better?” Jimmy’s teasing had me rolling my eyes as I introduced Ed to the rest of the group.

“My fellow Trebek’s Rejects, this is Ed, IT nerd extraordinaire, trivia geek, and Bigfoot enthusiast. Ed, meet the Rejects: my brother, Jimmy, is a firefighter and his specialties are video games, sports, and home improvement. His wife, Melena, is our resident expert on the eastern half of the state and all things geography. Our high school friend, Chase, covers books and media and fights Jimmy on the video game questions. His fiancé, Tamra, we rely on for medical knowledge.”

“And what do you bring to the table?” Ed asked.

“Unwavering confidence that we’re always right and a healthy dose of pop culture and music,” I answered playfully.

We settled in with drinks, waiting for the first round to start. I couldn’t help sliding glances to the Knit Wits’ table. No Ty yet. And no response to my text. Jeannie waved when she caught me looking, and a blush rose in my cheeks. Little Ms. Infatuated, that was me. Tempted beyond good sense or subtlety by Ty.

I did my best to focus on my own table, listening as my friends grilled Ed.

“So, you single?” Tamra asked.

“Yep.” Ed’s brow wrinkled. “You interested?”

“Are you interested in continuing to breathe?” Chase butted in.

Chase’s challenge cleared the confused frown from Ed’s face. “Sorry about that, I didn’t mean anything by it.”