Chapter 12 #2
“Happy birthday to me.” Hunter sighs deeply. “What kind of evil are you having us commit tonight, Noah?” Our server comes over with a tray of drinks. I thank her as she hands me mine, and I watch Bo take a sip, giving her back the straws.
“We are playing . . .” Noah reaches down in the booth, grabbing a small basket.
“Where the hell were you keeping that?” Mark asks.
“You don’t want to know,” Jamie deadpans.
“We are playing If You Dare.”
“If . . . you dare?”
“Yes, it’s really simple. I invented it. We take turns drawing a piece of paper, and we all have to do whatever the piece of paper says for points. If you do the action . . .” He reaches down, grabbing a little whiteboard.
Jamie’s brows scrunch. “Okay, I didn’t see the whiteboard.”
“If you do the action, you get a point,” Noah continues.
“And you’ll obviously win because you possess no shame.” Mark grins.
“Shame would imply that I care about anyone’s opinion.” Noah leans against Jamie. “The only person whose opinion I care about is right here.” He pats his chest. “And that is shaky at best most days.”
“You asked for this,” Hunter says to Jamie.
“Literally tried to prevent this,” Mark says, taking a drink of his beer. “But I was the asshole.”
“I’m so sorry,” Jamie says to him.
I take a healthy sip of my drink. I’m going to need it. “Mmm, this is good.” It’s a little too sweet for me, but still good. I hand Bo my drink to try. He takes a sip and nods. I feel eyes on me and look up. “What?”
Jamie shakes his head. “Sorry,” he mumbles, focusing on his water.
“He’s just tasting it. Just a sip. It’s okay.” Noah pats his leg.
What are they talking about? “You can drink you know. I can drive.”
Bo shakes his head. “Work tomorrow. I’m trying a new piece out.”
“A new piece?” Hunter asks.
“I’m a pianist. I play at a couple of restaurants during dinner time. It’s fun. I kind of do my own thing. I’m writing something new I want to try out.”
“His voice is amazing.” I smile at him. “He used to sing to me all the time.”
Bo’s quiet as he looks into his drink. “I used to, yeah.”
An uncomfortable silence grows over us. “Does anyone want to eat? We ate before we came here, but if you guys are hungry, we can wait.”
“I’m fine. What about you?” I ask Bo.
“No, I’m good.”
“Great.” Noah beams putting the basket on the table.
“The game is easy. We each draw a piece of paper from the basket. Whoever does the prompt gets a point, and if you don’t do the prompt, you get a point taken away.
If you attempt to do the prompt but fail, nothing happens. Whoever has the most points wins.”
“Wins what?”
Noah taps his chin. “Hmm, let’s see—”
“No. It’s Hunter’s birthday. Let him pick what the prize is.”
A grin grows on Hunter’s handsome face. “Every time you see Mark you have to give him a big hug and tell him you love him.”
“Why are you punishing me?!” Mark growls.
Noah takes a loud sip of his drink. “It has to be something we all want. Not whatever kinks you have rolling around in your brain, Puck Daddy.”
“Well, how about the winner gets to choose what their prize is. Nothing crazy.” Hunter suggests.
“A prize they can cash in at any time,” Bowen adds. “That sounds good.”
“I like that,” Mark agrees.
“You know that thing I’ve been wanting to try?” Noah grins at Jamie. “That’s going to be my prize.” He beams. “With the straps and the soft pink—”
“I got it, Noah.” Jamie just shakes his head, sipping his water while pink blooms on his face. I see interest there and it makes me laugh. “Mine will be no visitors for a month straight.”
“Mine will be Mark and I can skip two game nights.”
"Oh good one babe." Mark grins at Noah. “Mine will be Noah has to be my butler for a month.”
“I’m not touching your dirty laundry.” Noah folds his arms with a glare.
“You're not going anywhere near our washing machine. Don’t you worry about that.” Hunter shakes his head, taking a sip of his drink. “What about you two?”
“Oh, I don’t know.” Bo says.
“Me either.” I can’t think of anything right now. My brain is still trying to make sense of everything.
“You can think on it, no rush. Anyway. Let’s go. Birthday boy first,” Noah says excitedly.
Hunter reaches into the tiny basket. Noah stretches his hands out cracking his knuckles. “I am ready to win. Eyes on the prize. There isn’t anything that’s going to keep me from—"
"Kiss the person you’ve known the longest.” Hunter shakes his head.
Noah recoils. “Ew!”
“Noah, you made these! Who else would we be playing with?” Jamie rolls his eyes.
“I made these drunk! Don’t shame me.”
“So drunk you wants to kiss Mark?” Hunter nods. “Good to know. Come on, Jamie, give me a kiss.”
“Fuck off.” Jamie slaps his hand away as Hunter reaches for him.
“Come on! I am winning that prize.” Hunter leans over as Jamie leans back, and he swipes at him, trying to grab the back of his neck and pull him toward his mouth.
I look at Bo, but he’s not making a move.
Noah whines as Mark braces his hands on the table, leaning over it and puckering his lips.
“Come on. Give me a kiss. For old times’ sake.” Mark winks at him.
“I hate you.”
“Apparently not, since you want to kiss me so bad. Missing the good old days?”
“Oh, you mean the days when I fake orgasmed every time we’d hook up?” Mark grabs the back of Noah’s head pulling him close, while Noah struggles to push him away.
“Your orgasms were real and you know it!”
“Barely! Hey!” Mark smacks him on the lips then sits down, shaking his head. “Baby, I feel violated. Hold me.”
“No.” Jamie sighs, standing up and tugging Hunter in by his hoodie then kissing him hard.
Noah stares, wide green eyes blinking. “I am so gay.” He taps his chin. “You know. I think that’s exactly what came to mind when I wrote that down. Really hot guys. Maybe some tongue next—”
“Noah, shut up.” Hunter sits down.
Bo is now looking at me. We kiss all the time, so this shouldn’t be a big deal, but why does it feel like a big deal.
“You kiss me constantly,” he says, echoing my thoughts.
I ignore the confused looks of his friends.
Bowen leans in and for the first time ever I feel .
. . nervous. It prickles my skin. He’s right.
I’ve done this a million times before, but I don’t know . . . “Cam?”
“Oh um, yeah.” I lean in and kiss him. It doesn’t feel friendly.
In fact it feels very not friendly. His soft mouth presses to mine and heat flares in my gut.
It feels like it did that night we kissed, the night that quite literally changed my brain chemistry.
It’s been a minute, or a second, or maybe it’s been hours, but Bo finally pulls away with a wide smile.
“We all get a point.”
“Point . . .” Oh yeah, points.
Noah has the whiteboard and is writing on it, glancing at me from behind it for some reason. “Here, Jamie, you go next, and then we’ll all just go in a circle.”
“So I get to pick last,” Mark grumbles, arms folding over his chest.
“Be lucky you’re getting to pick at all.” Noah rolls his eyes. “I legally have to invite you for Hunter’s sake.”
“I’m the reason you even know Hunter! And Jamie for that matter. You’re welcome.”
“How did you two even meet?” I’m curious. These two seem like complete opposites.
“Oh, I’m so glad you asked, Cam. It’s a tale filled with romance, danger, and political intrigue,” Noah says.
Jamie takes a loud sip of his water.
“You see, I was kicked out of my house because my father is a homophobic dickhead, and Hunter—so graciously might I add—let me stay in his home.”
“It was my home first, and he literally wanted you to sleep in the yard.” Mark shakes his head.
“Then Hunter caught feelings for me, and I mean, how can I blame him? He’s been stuck in a loveless relationship for years. So Mark asked me to move out because it was affecting their relationship.”
I look at Hunter, who’s eyes are closed, as he firmly clenches his fists before pressing them into his eyes. “Oh, I was catching feelings, but they were of the choking variety.”
“Hunter, keep your fantasies to yourself. Mark is right there.” Noah says, and he shakes his head. "This is our love story. Let’s not be rude and interrupt. Anyways. Mark begged me to go to this party so I’d meet Jamie and maybe take the pressure off Hunter’s developing feelings—”
I look at Mark. “Literally didn’t want him to go,” he says. “Hunter wanted to strangle him. I thought Jamie was a piece of shit.”
“Thanks.” Jamie shakes his head.
“Then . . .” Noah gets up on the booth seat, standing on the fake leather. His hands move animatedly with his words. “I walked into the living room and this man—” He hikes his thumb toward Jamie. “Literally dropped to his knees. Love at first sight. Jaw dropped. Dick diamond hard.”
“I—” Jamie squints at Noah for a minute, his mouth open. “I didn’t drop anywhere. I wouldn’t have been able to get back up. And I wanted to fuck you, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.” He shakes his head. “It wasn’t love at first sight.”
“That may be the only part that’s slightly true. You were kind of obsessed with him immediately,” Hunter corrects.
“Aw, baby. So romantic.” Noah pouts his bottom lip, placing his hand on Jamie’s beanie.
Then his attention is back on us. “Then I blew him.” Noah beams. “After that he called me constantly, begged me to move in with him. I finally gave in because I could see how torn Hunter was between Mark and me. I moved in and we’ve been in love ever since. ”
“You know what my favorite part of that story is?” Hunter drains the rest of his drink.
“How none of that actually happened.” With his drink empty he looks at me.
“Noah came to live with us. He annoyed the shit out of me. I wanted him to go to a cookout with Jamie to get him out of the house. They met. They hooked up. They moved in. Danced around their feelings. Got together. Broke up. Got together again, and have been making our lives hell ever since. The end.”