Chapter 12
Syd stops what she is doing to look at me. “Yeah, he’s going to need some rules.”
Syd’s sister and her date show up, as does Cora with one of her single friends. As we were letting them in, our neighbors, who were around our age, were coming home, so we invited them to come in and play as well. We ended up with a full house.
“So, here is how the game works.” I grabbed the pizza box I saved for the occasion.
“We’ll start by putting everyone’s names on the board.
Babe, can you hand me some markers? You roll the dice on the pizza box.
If the spot you land on is empty, you get to make a rule.
If the spot you land on is a name, that person drinks.
Any other spots you land on, you have to follow that rule. ”
This is where Syd chimes in for Tim’s safety and the success of his future. “Tim, no full nudity and no felony level crimes.”
“You drive a hard bargain, but I’ll do my best, ma’am!” Tim shouts, giving her a salute.
Syd’s sister, Morgan, chimed in. “What kind of rules?”
“It can be anything! Make someone perform an interpretive dance, drink five drinks, take a shot of a condiment of your choice, or run around the neighborhood singing a song. The sky is the limit.”
“Other than full frontal nudity and serious crimes,” Tim reminded the group, even though he was the only one who would need reminding.
“Okay, I’m in as long as none of the rules are ‘stare lovingly into your soulmate’s eyes.’ I'll burn this place down,” Cora said.
I jokingly glared at her. “They have to be rules that anyone can do, and since you're going to die alone, that one wouldn’t work for you, now would it?”
“Oh, sissy is spicy tonight! This should be interesting.”
After about an hour into the game, everyone was getting a little tipsy, which was the goal.
Some of the rules people have come up with were: switch clothes, hide under the table tickling ankles for a round, sexy dance down the apartment hallway, lick a new body part, yell about their itchy sexy bits out the window, call your mom, call a game player’s mom, leave and don’t return, drinking out of a non-cup item, interlock your toes with someone and the list goes on.
“Oh, my God, I just thought of the best rule. Hurry up before I forget it,” said Whitney, Cora’s friend.
“We have to wait for Tim to get back from the corner store with fifteen string cheeses before we can resume playing,” replied Luke, laughing, tears rolling down his face.
“It’s okay; we can keep playing,” I decided. “Who knows what type of trouble he’ll get into on his walk. We could be waiting forever. Add your new rule.”
“Yes! It’s called “Lint Licker.” You have to lick a person's socked foot or their belly button, whichever you prefer.” She reached over to write ‘lint licker” on the board, and we were all laughing and groaning.
“Do we get to pick who we lick?” Luke asked.
“Um, sure. But no repeats!”
Luke looked at me and smirked. “I know who I’m licking!”
Cora groaned. “No happy couple bullshit, people! That’s a rule!”
“Ok,” Whitney replied. “You can’t lick someone you're in a relationship with.
Tim chooses that moment to burst through the door with a big bag of string cheese and also several cans of spray cheese. “I got the supplies! And then, as I was perusing the aisles, I got inspired for a new rule. So what’s this about licking? Before you answer, know that I'm already on board.”
Whitney explains the “lint licker” rule again.
It’s Tim’s turn, and he lands on a blank spot.
“Yes! So this rule is called Cheese Doodle. You have to draw a picture on someone's back with spray cheese, and if they guess what it is, they can give five drinks to someone. If they don’t guess, they have to drink five drinks. You guys, let’s cheese doodle! ”
“Gross. How do we get the cheese off our backs?” Cora asked.
“Hmm, I didn’t get that far in planning this rule. I guess we just hope someone who likes spray cheese hits that licking spot on the board quickly,” Tim replied.
It’s Luke’s turn, and he lands on “new friend,” which means his challenge is to find someone else to play this game with us.
Luke stood still and quiet, pondering his next move.
Then, I could actually see the light bulb turn on.
He looked at his watch, possibly deciding if it was an appropriate time to make his next move.
He yelled “BE RIGHT BACK!” as he literally ran out our front door.
Luke was only gone for about five minutes and came back with a couple that I had never seen before.
“Hey, everyone. This is Laura and Ben from one floor down. Laura, Ben, this is everyone! You’re going to love this game, I promise.
” He looks over at Laura, who, I think it is safe to say, is enormously pregnant.
She is wearing flannel pajamas and slippers.
She is adorable. “Uh, it is a drinking game, but we’ll figure it out. ”
Cora chimed in. “Hey, Bro? Do you even know these people?”
“Of course I know them! They live in our building. We’re elevator friends.”
Luke, always the social butterfly, knows pretty much everyone in the building.
The only person I know in the building is Luke.
I stood up and offered Laura my stool. She swung by the kitchen counter and grabbed a bag of chips, making herself at home.
“You drink; I eat.” She let out a huge laugh.
“This is the most nighttime entertainment we have had in months, so we couldn’t pass it up, even in my condition.
Poor Ben has made rubbing my feet his night job, and he could use a party. ”
The man she was with, whom I assumed was her husband, grinned at her.
“You have to do all the hard work; I’m just along for the ride.
Anything I can do to make it easier is my husbandly duty.
Between that and working on my “dad bod,” I’ve been pretty busy.
” He rubbed his dad-belly; however, it doesn’t seem there is much there to show for his efforts.
He’s just a very attractive man with a very cute and very pregnant wife.
I noticed he had a baby monitor in his hand with the image of a sleeping child on it. This clearly isn’t their first rodeo.
Laura jumps in with the girls and fits right in, while her husband stays over with Luke, making introductions to the other guys who are here.
I can only hope I am as chill and cute as she is when I am pregnant someday.
She has such brightness to her, and I am immediately drawn to her.
I started thinking that this is someone whom I could add to my friend group.
They are definitely older than we are and approaching a different lifestyle.
Nevertheless, they still seem to be a great couple.
“When are you due, Laura?” I asked, handing her a bottle of water to go with her chips, which she’s using as a shot substitute.
She grabbed the water and smirked. “Tomorrow.”
All the girls in the room stop what they’re doing and stare at her.
She roared out another laugh. “What? If the baby starts to fall out while I’m here, I’ll leave.”
Cora yelled, “Give me the marker!” and added “Deliver the Baby” as one of the spots on the game board, which had everyone in the room bent over laughing.
Her husband interjected, “I’m only having one beer in case I need to drive us anywhere, so I can be sober enough to supervise the delivery for whoever lands on it.
I’ve supervised once before, so I’m basically an expert.
” Cora clinked her bottle against his in a toast and said, “That sounds like a great plan.”
Laura agreed. “If that’s what it takes to get this baby’s foot out of my ribcage, I’m game.”
It’s Morgan’s male friend’s turn. When he rolls the dice, he lands on “leave.” He looks around the table at us, walks over to get his coat, shrugs it on, and walks out the door.
“Did he really just leave?!” Morgan shouts at the group. Everyone is rolling around, dying of laughter.
He really did leave. And truth be told, I never saw that man ever again.
“Hey, Cass! Guess what?” Luke yelled across the apartment as he was walking through the door.
I popped out of the bedroom. “Chicken butt?”
“Ha. Classic. No, but really, I have some huge news to share with you,” he begins. “You know, I have been searching around for some other jobs in the tech field?”
I did know that. He was getting sick of his IT help desk job. He spent most of the day asking people if power cords were plugged in and then telling them to restart their computers.
“Of course I know that. Did you hear something?”
“I did. You're never going to believe where it is,” he says. “L.A., Cass. California.” He picks me up and spins me around.
I was in shock. This is completely out of left field. I knew he’d been looking, but I had no idea he was looking outside our area. L.A.? Did he really want to go there? And what did that mean for us? We had never talked about relocating, and we have such a good thing going here.
“Wow,” I say, “I had no idea you were applying for jobs outside of where we live.” He sets me down and puts his hands on my shoulders.
“I really wasn’t. I was just looking at some remote jobs, and this one popped up.
They saw my resume and contacted me about another position, but it is based in California.
They’ve already set up an interview. They’ve already said they’ll cover any moving expenses and help us with housing to start.
This could be a great adventure for us, Cass!
I know it would be hard to leave behind our friends and family, but it’s California.
We could be tan and never have to scrape our car windshields again. What do you think?”
“I think you should do the interview. The interview doesn’t mean a commitment, and you could learn more.
We don’t have to do anything unless you were offered a job.
Then we would have to have a big discussion about what that looks like.
Like, would that change your timeline for getting engaged?
I know we haven’t been in a hurry, but I have to ask.
Would I be moving across the country for a boyfriend or a fiancé? ”
He looked at me, a little taken aback. “I haven’t even thought that far ahead. I just thought it would be an amazing opportunity to check out. We could figure out all of that stuff later.”
“Okay. I definitely think you should do the interview. It will give you a better idea about what is out there, and then we can see what happens.”
He pulls me in for a hug. Mentally, I am spiraling.
I do want to support him in his career, yet other than living together, we haven't made any plans about what our future looks like. Luke has always been spontaneous. I have figured he would take a “fly by the seat of his pants” approach to an engagement as well. I spent the rest of the night telling myself he probably won’t even get the job.
He got the job.