His Game: Chapter Twenty Two

Three weeks.

It's been three weeks since October 9th; the day I asked Joey to play the game.

Tuesday is the last day. Tuesday is November 9th. We have this weekend, Monday, and that's it.

My mom wouldn't leave the topic alone. She kept nagging me to tell her who the girl was, and when I denied that there was one, she hit me with a new range of questions. Where I ended up every day after school if not with Dino and Roger, who Belle kept referring to at dinners, and who has me in such a 'chipper mood,' as she put it.

I ended up just admitting it to her. Of course, she made a huge deal out of something that's no cause for alarm and insisted Joey come over for dinner.

I have never brought a girl from the game home to meet my mom. Then again, I've never even introduced any of them to Belle either. There's a lot of things about Joey that haven't happened before.

I've said all along she's different. I just didn't realize how much her being different would effect my feelings towards her.

So, here I am, standing on Joey's front porch unannounced with a bouquet of flowers my mom forced me to buy, waiting for her to answer so that I can invite her over for dinner.

And once Joey does open the door, the surprise on her face is hard to miss. There's no reason for me to be here. First of all it's a Friday, which means she's planned to stay in with her brother and father for board-games and Jeopardy. Second, I showed up completely unannounced.

"Hear me out," I start as she opens her mouth with slight worry on her face, "I know it's Friday, and that means the day is dedicated to Jacob, but my mom really wants to meet you. And I brought you flowers, so you kind of have to say yes so that you don't seem ungrateful," I finish with a small smirk.

Her eyes drop to the bouquet of flowers as she calculates what to do, and after a few moments her confusion drops into a small smile and she snorts as she takes the flowers. "I guess I can skip Jeopardy just this once."

I grin, "Skipping family traditions just for me? I feel special."

"Don't."

She winks at me as she turns to put the flowers away, silently letting me into the house. After she puts the flowers in a vase, she heads upstairs to change since she had been wearing a baggy sweatshirt and pajama pants, and I make my way to the living room to sit with her dad and Jacob and play out a round of Jeopardy as I wait.

Somehow, I actually end up getting more answers right than Jacob, and he freaks out in excitement that I 'improved so much since last time.'

"I'd keep an eye on him, Jacob. He could be cheating."

I turn to face the steps from Joey's wild accusation, ready to defend myself, but my words stop once I see her. She's not wearing anything extravagant, hasn't done her hair up nicely, and doesn't have a face filled with makeup.

But she doesn't need any of that to make my knees go weak.

All she's wearing is a simple blue dress, stopping above her knees, hugging her curves beautifully, and accentuating the brown in her eyes.

As she walks into the living room, I stand from my perch on the armrest of the couch and meet her halfway.

"How do I look?" She asks with a small grin.

I take her hand in mind and let her use it to twirl herself around, watching with mesmerized eyes as her dress flows with her. When she faces me again, I meet her gaze and can't stop my smile as I dip down to kiss her cheek.

"Beautiful," I admit softly, intertwining our fingers. "You look absolutely beautiful."

And, for maybe the first time ever, I see a light blush dust across her cheeks.

She says a quick bye to Jacob and her dad, explaining with a small apology why she can't stay for the rest of Jeopardy, and then we head to my house in the van my mom let me borrow to drive over here.

Needless to say, my mom ends up loving her. The second Joey stepped through the door she started questioning how on earth Joey decided to settle for me, constantly commented on how cute she is, adored our banter between one another, and admired her for moving around as often as she has and how she's handled Jacob throughout the years.

It helped earn her brownie-points when Joey insisted on taking part in the clean-up portion of our spaghetti dinner. But, me being me, I can't just chill in the background while my mom, who lives to embarrass me, talk to the one girl I know would tease me about it the most.

So I do the only logical thing possible.

I eavesdrop on their conversation in order to stop if if she brings up anything remotely embarrassing about me. I hang out against the wall leading into the kitchen, listening closely to everything they say.

"I can't imagine having to explain to Belle why we move around from place to place," my mom starts, "It's hard enough for her to make friends now...but moving as often as you do?"

My face falls at how accurate that is. Moving so often would break Belle's heart, she wouldn't understand fully why we need to.

I hear Joey sigh, "It's not easy. But Jacob handles it very well. For a child with autism, he's more mature than anyone gives him credit for."

"Well, I'm sure it helps to have such a supportive sister and parents," my mom says warmly, but I cringe slightly.

Joey never mentioned anything about her mom and how she left them at dinner, and I never really warned my mom not to bring it up.

But Joey carries the conversation without a hint of pain or offense. "Actually, just a sister and father. My mom left us a few years back," she admits.

"Oh, Joey I am so sorry sweetheart I didn't-"

I can picture Joey shaking her head with an easygoing smile. "No, really, don't worry about it. You didn't know, and it's just a part of life. People leave."

The way she says that last line sends a painful jolt to my heart, causing it to speed up and I look down at the ground.

Do I want to leave her when the month is up? I'd just be playing right into her insecurities. 

That fact once again raises the question in my mind; why did she decide to play this game if it's exactly what she's afraid of?

"Rhett's father," my mom starts, and I snap my eyes back up and pay close attention.

I never told Joey about my lack of a father. I never felt the need to. His leaving us doesn't have much of an effect on my life.

"He left when Rhett and Belle were very little. We never married, and if I'm being honest I don't think we ever would have. But he met someone else a few years after I had the two of them, started living with her and her son instead of us, though he got Rhett and Belle on the weekends."

I clench my jaw as I hear a story I haven't brought up or thought about in years. He's not worth wasting breath explaining. 

"Out of the blue, he came to me one day. He admitted that his new family was trying to move closer to her parents who lived hours and hours away. He told me he didn't think he was strong enough to stay in both families, didn't know who to choose. But..." she trails off and lets out a small sigh, "He had already chosen by that point. He just didn't want to admit it."

"Ms. Calvetti..." Joey says, the sympathy thick in her voice, "I'm so sorry."

I can picture the sad smile my mom gives her, broken eyes belonging to woman stronger than anyone I know. "Thank you, Joey. It's like you said; people leave. We just have to find the ones that love us enough not to."

I debate coming into the kitchen at this point, to hug my mom who is probably remembering moments with a man who didn't deserve her. And to comfort Joey, who may be picturing the times with her mom when she thought she'd never leave them.

But my mom changes the conversation before I make up my mind.

"I suppose that's why Rhett's game is so odd to me."

My eyes nearly bulge out of my head.

My mom knows about my game?

I sense Joey's surprise too from her tone, "I've wondered his intentions with this game, too."

Then my mom hums a little bit, "Whatever they be with other girls, I think his intentions with you have changed."

I eagerly wait for Joey's response, because what do you say to that? But all I hear is her light laughter, "I didn't know you knew about his game."

I pout a little, I wanted more of a reaction to what my mom said.

My mom snorts, "I've taken out the trash enough to see plenty of condom wrappers, and he, Roger, and Dino aren't very quiet with what they talk about when those two come over."

I flinch back from the condom comment. Joey doesn't need to hear about the amount of times I've been with other girls.

But she simply laughs, "Boys will be boys, I suppose."

"No, I really think you're maturing him out of that stupid game. He's different with you, Joey."

And that's where I cut this off. I don't need my mom putting words in my mouth or telling Joey things I haven't even figured out myself. 

I walk into the room and they direct their attention to me, and I see my mom slide me a sly grin. I assume she knows I was eavesdropping.

"Is it alright if I steal Joey?" I ask, walking towards her to take her hand.

"I should help her finish clean-"

"No that's okay," my mom says with a laugh, "I can finish this."

We end up outside on the sidewalk in front of my house, expanding for a few miles through the neighborhood. She slides her fingers into mine as we walk, nothing but the sounds of the air whipping the fallen leaves around us.

"I never knew about your dad," she starts softly. "Your mom told me some stuff."

"He's irrelevant," I say tightly. "Decided to up and leave for another family. He's not my dad. Stopped being called that the second he thought about leaving us."

Joey glances up at me and I feel her gently squeeze my hand. "Why didn't you tell me? Our situations are so similar...we both lost a parent because they couldn't handle it."

I shift my stiff gaze to her and it softens a little, "I try to forget about him. Admitting it...well that makes him leaving become real all over again."

She smiles sadly, "That, I completely understand." 

As we walk, we reach a portion of the sidewalk that runs beside a small creek. In order to prevent little kids on their bikes losing their balance and falling in, there's a small brick wall blocking the sidewalk and the small hill leading to the water.

Joey keeps my hand in hers as she steps up on top of it, carefully walking along the top of the wall.

"Don't drop me," she teases, sending me a side smile.

I chuckle and hold her hand a little tighter, "Don't worry. I've got you."

She doesn't reply, but I see the small smile stuck to her face as she carefully watches where she's walking in order not to fall off.

"Was dinner okay?" I find myself asking. "I thought Josephine Chapman didn't like Italian food," I joke, my mind going back to our first date at my cousin Vinny's restaurant.

Joey snorts, "Spaghetti is the most American Italian dish ever, Punk."

I let that first date flood my memory and a small laugh passes my lips. "That date was somethin' else."

She glances at me before directing her attention back to her footing, "Yeah?"

I nod, "I could tell you were going to be different from the first time I saw you, but that date just proved me right. You even made me pay."

Joey laughs once, the loud yet unique cackle echoing through the air. "You seemed so surprised when I didn't reach for that check."

I chuckle with her, "Not that I mind, but why didn't you?"

She stops walking for a second, causing me to stop since her hand is still holding onto mine, and she tilts her head slightly in thought.

"First and foremost, you asked me on the date. If you're the one to ask, I feel like you should be the one to pay."

I shrug with a small nod, "Fair enough."

But she continues, sending me a side smirk. "That was my first reason, but then, when you looked so confused as to why I wasn't reaching for the check, I realized something else."

I stare up at her with a ghost of a smile on my face, "Yeah? And what's that?"

"Remember when I asked you if I was the first girl not to pay?"

I nod.

"And what was your answer?"

I lightly kick a rock in front of me, grabbing her hand a little tighter as she leans too far to the side with the creek.

"I told you that the only two were you and the first girl to play the game. After her, mostly every girl paid."

Joey looks down at me expectantly, "Right...and how long did that first girl last?"

I cringe, "Only about a week. She was annoying, clingy, and if I'm being honest, a terrible kisser."

"Yet she didn't pay on the first date, only lasted a few days after that, and every girl after that who did pay lasted the whole month."

I stare up at Joey in silence, trying to pick up what she's putting down. And the wheels slowly start turning in my head as I realize what she's getting at.

The other girls paid because they thought if they didn't, I would end up dropping them. In their eyes, I dropped that girl because she didn't pay the check... They didn't know that had nothing to do with it.

"Shit," I breathe, "You figured all that out just on the first date?" I ask with a small chuckle. "Anything else I should know about?"

Joey glances down at me, "Iron Maiden."

I smile, "Right, best band ever. Still not sure how you don't know them considering every girl-"

I instantly stop myself as I catch her smirking eyes.

"Oh." I say, "They didn't actually like them?"

"I doubt they even knew them. Aside from Kelly," Joey adds with a small snort.

I kick that same rock from before, but this time it lands in the road. "Damn," I say before glancing up at her, "What else did they lie about?"

Joey meets my gaze and I see the sly comeback already in her eyes. "Probably the part where they fell in love with you."

I shoot her a scowl but she laughs, "I'm only kidding, I believe you brainwashed them into thinking that, sure."

"I didn't brainwash anyone," I mutter.

Joey tilts her head, "Do you really think they all fell in love with you?"

I furrow my brow at her, "Why do you think they didn't?"

She sighs and looks away, down to the water on the other side of her. "30 days isn't a lot of time to fall in love with someone."

"Some months have 31."

We reach the end of the brick wall and Joey goes to jump down. As she jumps, I instantly hold my arms out to catch her. She lands easily in my grasp and I hold her tightly against me as she rests her arms on my shoulders.

"Where do you think you're at?" I find myself asking, dropping my gaze to her lips for a small second as I hold her up.

"I think you still have another few days," she replies, and then pauses and glances at my cheek, "And some dried spaghetti sauce on your cheek," she laughs, licking her thumb to get it off.

I cringe away as she wipes my cheek off, causing her to laugh some more as I set her down.

"That was gross," I mumble, wiping my cheek off with the back of my hand. But when I see the amusement dancing across her brown eyes, I can't help but smile back at her. 

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