5. Dagon
Chapter five
Dagon
What the hell did I agree to?
I imagined at least one of us would get into trouble by the end of the night. However, I couldn’t say no when I saw Bren and Di’s excitement.
I examined the bowl in the middle of the table. There were at least a hundred papers in there. Shaking my head, I took a swig of my whiskey. I wasn’t planning on getting drunk tonight. Still, I wanted to enjoy a pleasant buzz, so a few glasses were in order.
The game sounded interesting enough, and I wanted to win. So, brothers, do your best. I saw the spark in everyone’s eyes when Bren shouted, ‘Start.’ All of us, besides Wild, were competitive fuckers, so I had no doubt it would be fun.
Andras went first, pulling a challenge from the bowl. He grimaced when he read it and shouted, “Are you fucking kidding me?”
Di and Bren burst into laughter, and I couldn’t deny how much I’d missed that sound. A reluctant smile pulled at my lips, and I did nothing to hide it.
“What is it?” I asked.
“I must write on the window with a permanent marker, and I quote, This is me, Andras, dad this is my confession. I was the one who broke your computer five years ago and burned that precious book of yours.” Andras was throwing daggers at Di and Bren.
He pointed at the two of them as he said, “I did not do this, assholes! He’ll kill me if he reads this! ”
Bren gave him his best innocent look, “I mean, that’s what you pulled.”
I pressed my lips together and tried not to laugh, but I couldn’t hold it back. Andras’s expression was epic, and for that, it was worth it. Fuck, how did these two come up with that?
When King found his computer and the ashes of his book, he went nuclear.
None of us had ever seen him like that. He calmed down quickly, but it was still a sight.
Anyway, all of us denied it. To this day, we still didn't know who the culprit among us was. I was about to make fun of Andras when I caught Di staring at me. He had a peculiar expression on his face that I couldn’t read.
Too quickly for my liking, he turned to Andras.
“Will you do it?” I asked. Andras huffed, irritated. I knew he hated to lose, so I bet he would do it.
“Yes! Give me the marker.”
Bren pulled one out of his pocket, and we all made fun of Andras as he wrote his confession to King. He looked pissed off, but I caught the smirk he tried to hide. He was having fun, just like the rest of us.
It was my turn, and I was wary of what my challenge would be. Pulling out a paper, I opened it and raised my brows in surprise. I did not expect this. I figured this one would be unpleasant for someone, and that someone wouldn’t be me.
“I have to open one of Di’s books to a random page, read it, choose one thing happening in it, and act it out in front of everyone.”
“That’s not fair! Pull another one. Mine was way worse!” Andras nudged me, but I was too busy staring at how Di had gone pale. I told you this would be way worse for someone else.
I heard him muttering, Oh, whatever, as he grabbed his Kindle from the small stand beside him. I had never seen him go anywhere without his Kindle. He turned it on, hesitated for a moment, then smirked and opened a book.
“Here.” I reached over, and our fingers brushed, a jolt of electricity passing through that brief touch. He pulled his hand away fast, and I tried to appear unfazed.
Opening the book, I scrolled to a random page, without looking.
When I started reading, my eyes widened, and my cock stirred at the images the words painted in my mind.
The only difference was that I imagined Di, not Sam, whoever that was.
I snapped the Kindle shut, threw it in Di’s lap, and reached for my drink.
“Not doing it.”
I gulped the whole glass of whiskey while everyone booed. Trust me, you didn’t want to see that in action.
Everyone had their turn, and some of the things were bizarre.
Wilder had to play a baby for three minutes, and that was a sight I never want to see again.
Ever. Luc had to put on a blindfold and try to draw a dick.
Somehow, he ended up drawing a bear. Don’t ask me how he managed that.
Bren had to write a few lines of a rap song and sing it. Yes, my ears still hurt from that.
When it was Di’s turn, he started laughing when he read his challenge.
“I have to call my best friend and confess my love to him.”
Bren smirked and shrugged. “You win some, you lose some, brother.”
“Yeah, I’m not gonna lose this one, brother.”
I tensed when he pulled out his phone and dialed Thaddeus. All of us fell in silence as he put it on speaker.
“Hey, what’s up?” Thaddeus answered. Even his voice was annoying.
“Hey, man. Uh, nothing really. I just wanted to talk to you about something.”
“Is it connected with earlier?”
Earlier? What happened earlier?
Di hurried to answer as if he feared what his friend might say. “No! I mean, nothing about that.”
“Okay, I’m listening.”
“You know uhhh-” Di looked at Bren, who urged him to speak. I swear, some days, I was sure these two talked telepathically. “I’m in love with you.”
I gritted my teeth. I knew this was all an act, but fuck if I wanted to hear Diablos say these words to someone else.
“What!?”
“I’m in love with you. I have been for a long time, but didn’t know how to tell you.”
Thaddeus was silent for a long time, and just when I thought he wouldn’t say anything, he answered, “Di, I’ve also been in love with you for a long time.” And just like that, I saw red.
What the fuck? I was going to rip this motherfucker in two pieces, and there wouldn't be anything left of him when I was done. In love with Di? I would…
Di and that bastard burst out laughing, and we all just gaped at them. “It was nice to talk with all of you, but I know Di better than this. Next time, choose a better challenge.” Di just shrugged when Bren glared at him.
“What can I say? He knows me.”
“Yeah, and for the record, Di already likes someone, so it’s even less believable.”
My head swung sharply in his direction. What? He liked someone? Judging by the way Di blushed, I could tell it was true. Who was it? Just the thought of Diablos with someone else made bile rise in my throat, but the truth was that he wasn’t mine, not like this.
I didn’t have any right to be jealous. Did this change my feelings? No, it didn’t. Not even the fires of Hell would be enough to erase the feelings I’d tried my best to extinguish.
I was a mess on many levels. Feeling jealousy, when I had no right to, was just one small part of the vast chaos inside me.
“Thanks for that asshole,” Di grumbled.
“Always.”
When Di ended the call, he started arguing with Bren about whether the challenge counted.
In the end, Di drank his glass of gin. Of course, not before my brothers pestered him to reveal who the mysterious guy was.
The banter, the lines they threw his way, and the advice on how to make that person notice him made it hard for me to breathe.
By some miracle, I kept my emotions at bay.
Luckily, they stopped when they saw how uncomfortable Di was.
We rotated three more times, doing all kinds of stupid things, and somehow, Di, Bren, and Andras ended up drunk as hell. They either chose not to make the challenge or tried and failed spectacularly. Luc was a bit tipsy. Wilder, on the other hand, hadn’t even taken a sip.
It was time for the second twenty minutes of the game. Seeing Andras, Bren, and Di stumbling they way to the center of the room, I could bet all my money that they didn’t stand a chance of winning.
Bren pulled out another bowl. This one was smaller than the previous one, and we started all over again, this time answering truths while trying to walk in a straight line. Wild set up the improvised line on the floor. After all, he was the only sober one among us. No surprise.
Bren went first. He was probably the drunkest of us all, though, it was debatable. Andras was right there with him, neck and neck for the first place. We had chosen Wilder as the one who would pull a paper and read the challenge.
“Tell us one secret no one else in the room knows.”
I saw Bren glance at Di, something passing between the two.
“Fine, this is easy. Di, can you go outside for a second?”
“Yep.”
Andras grabbed Di, leaning on him. “Don’t go, the room is spinning.”
“It has to be something no one here knows, Bren,” Wild said.
He sighed and tried to walk from one side to the other. Somehow, he managed to do so. Ultimately, he still needed to drink half a glass of whiskey. Wilder watched him worriedly, but he was always like that.
“I’m next!” Di screamed and almost fell trying to peel Andras off him. “What’s my truth?”
I couldn't stop my smirk, watching him: the slight flush on his cheeks, the hooded green eyes, his messy brown waves.
“If you could change one choice you’ve made, what would it be, and what would you do instead?”
Di looked over at Wilder. I wasn’t sure he had heard him. Di shook his head and started walking or trying to, at least. Much like Bren, he didn’t answer and took his drink instead.
Andras went next and thank Hell his question was easy: how long had his last relationship lasted?
He didn’t do relationships, so there was nothing to be said.
Too bad he couldn’t walk in a straight line and ended up drinking anyway.
Luc and Wilder managed both their truths and the straight line.
When it was my turn, I tensed slightly. I wasn’t the kind of guy who openly talked about himself.
“Well, you’ve got some luck. This one is easy. When was the last time you were in love?”