Chapter 6
Gage
I sat on the couch while pulling up a bad movie, because we—Zar, Asher, Riggs, and I—had decided it was the perfect night for a bad monster movie and junk food.
It was howling outside like a banshee getting railed, the gusts of wind beating tree limbs against the house.
Michigan winds could sometimes whip through the streets strongly enough to uproot trees.
I had stopped by for dinner since Asher had invited me over for meatloaf, but with this storm? I refused to leave anytime soon. Riggs was in the same boat. No one sane would drive in this.
I was also not overly bothered. I had to spend the night with my besties and eat junk food? Whomp whomp. Surely I’d survive the horror of it all.
Please read that with the appropriate level of sarcasm.
Riggs settled in next to me with the big bowl of popcorn.
He was in serious slouch mode, having changed out of day clothes and into hangout clothes.
Not a neat cardigan, but pajama pants and a ratty shirt with a hole in the hem.
With his thick square black glasses perched on his nose, he gave strong I-don’t-give-a-fuck vibes.
“So, it looks like we’re crashing here tonight. ”
“I call dibs on the bed.” Asher had one guest bed.
“I want to share the bed.” Riggs’s brown eyes were on me, calculating.
“What are you offering?”
“Cuddles.”
I offered a hand, Riggs solemnly shook it, and a pact was made.
Realization struck and I stared at the bowl. “Wait, that’s not a bowl for all four of us to share, right?”
“Are you insane? I’m not sharing my popcorn. Get your own bowl.”
Fucking figured. Also, I loved how sharing a bed was no problem. But popcorn? Off limits. Grumbling, I handed him the remote and got up, heading for the kitchen. Apparently I had to make my own popcorn.
Asher was loading the dishwasher, Zar feeding BFG, because despite the fact that spoiled dog had gotten dinner, he now got snacks too.
It was truly a miracle BFG didn’t weigh three hundred pounds.
Zar was a soft touch. I mean, BFG was already two hundred just because he was a mastiff mixed with giant. I’d never seen a bigger dog in my life.
I fetched popcorn, threw the bag in the microwave, and scrounged up a bowl, then leaned against the counter as I waited on kernels to pop.
We were all apparently in I-don’t-give-a-fuck territory.
Asher was also in plaid pajama bottoms, and Zar had skipped pants and was in boxers and a too-big T-shirt. I felt overdressed in jeans.
My phone dinged in my pocket. I automatically pulled it out, checking. Oh, a text.
Oh, a text from Logan.
I swear to god, if he canceled on me…
I opened the text, half dreading whatever it might say, but the message wasn’t even close to what I’d expected.
It wasn’t a cancellation, or a demand for pics, or anything like that.
It was an honest-to-god pre-date sort of text.
The likes of which I couldn’t ever remember getting.
I used to read over Zar’s shoulder as he sent some of these before he started dating Asher, which was the only reason I recognized what I was looking at.
Wow, I felt special right now.
Kryptonite: Hey handsome, you safely inside somewhere? This storm’s insane.
Oh my god. He’d thought of me, been concerned, and messaged. I was in danger of melting over here.
Me: Safely at Asher’s. I was thankfully here when the storm hit. You safe somewhere?
Kryptonite: Just got home. The drive was a bit hairy scary. I closed the bar for the night
Me: Good call. Glad you’re home. We’re doing bad monster movies to pass the time
Kryptonite: Oh, this is the perfect night for it
The microwave dinged, signaling my popcorn was ready.
I put my phone down to fish it out, but I felt anxious to pick back up the phone.
Watching a bad monster movie only slightly appealed.
Texting Logan and flirting while I had a bad monster movie playing in the background? Golden idea, must execute.
I suddenly felt a chin on my shoulder. I knew precisely who it was without looking. “Asher, stop reading over my shoulder.”
“You’re smiling at the screen. I was wondering what meme you were looking at, but noooo, you’ve got a hot man texting you.
” Asher stepped back, cackling like the little demented soul he was.
He put a hand to his forehead, a blond courtier in danger of fainting.
“Babe, he actually texted to make sure Gage was safe in the storm.”
Zar theatrically reeled back two steps, hand clutched over his heart. He was the foil to Asher’s play-acting. I waited for him to grab his dark curls next in some dramatic gesture. “A man who can be thoughtful! Le gasp!”
Asher nodded knowingly, his slate blue eyes harboring a glint, like he could somehow predict how things would go from here. “You’re going to get naked so fast for this man.”
“Hey!” I protested. “I am actually going to give this one a few dates at least before getting naked time in.”
“So fast,” Asher repeated knowingly, like I hadn’t just said the opposite.
Bastard. I mean, he was right, my history said I was perfectly willing to put out on the first date, but I tried to not let bad habits ambush me.
Sex with someone who was basically a stranger wasn’t all that fulfilling.
It scratched an itch, kinda, but it wasn’t satisfying.
It was like having fries without salt. Were you no longer hungry?
Sure. Was your mouth protesting its lack of happiness? Absolutely.
I wanted emotions with my sex, thank you.
I took phone and popcorn back to the living room but changed where I was sitting.
If I sat in the love seat off to the side, I’d have a better chance to text Logan without someone being able to read my screen.
Clearly I must protect my screen. Asher was shameless; he’d sit right next to me and read every word.
The exact second I sat down, my screen lit up with another text, but this one was from FedEx. No, thank you. I’d blocked my ex’s old number, and he apparently had a new one he was using, but I knew even without asking who it was. His corny pickup lines gave him away. I blocked him again.
I switched back to my text convo with Logan. May none of your exes try to contact you tonight, amen.
Kryptonite: Why, did one of yours?
Me: Yeah, FedEx.
Kryptonite: Huh?
I grinned while I explained, as I still felt proud of this one. He’s FedEx because I got fed up and now he’s my ex.
Logan sent me a string of laughing emojis.
Ah, good, my humor had landed. Honestly, this was one of the main reasons why I wanted to go on several dates first before sex.
There were so many things I needed to learn about Logan, his humor being one of them.
Also what interests he had, how he handled finances, stress, was he a punctual person, et cetera.
Only time and dating could answer all those questions.
The way Logan had approached me, I felt sure we were aiming for the same thing—a true relationship. Something else I wanted to verify and talk about. I wanted us to be on the same page.
Three dots danced on the screen before Logan’s message popped up: For real tho, sometimes when a door closes, you need to nail a fucking board over it
Me: Good news, I’m in the biz. I have nails, hammer, and wood to spare
Kryptonite: Ooh, I bet you’re good at nailing things
Oh? We were leaning toward heavy flirting territory? Game on.
Me: You bet your ass I am
Mischief prompted me to add Actually, please bet your ass on that.
Kryptonite: *string of winking emojis* I prefer more hands-on conversations about sex. It’s constructive
Me: Was that meant to be a construction pun?
Kryptonite: Too soon?
I snickered under my breath as I sent back a good flirty GIF.
“Look at him,” Riggs said. “He’s clearly over there sexting.”
I glanced up from the screen to find all three friends watching me. “You should be watching a monster movie, not me.”
“You’re far more entertaining,” Asher said, his grin pure mischief.
I ignored the pot-stirrer. “And this is not my sexting face, this is my flirting face. God, you call yourself a friend.”
Riggs’s eyes danced with mirth. “No difference, from what I’m seeing. He that good of a conversationalist, to the point he’s making you laugh?”
“He sent a bad pun.”
“Oh, you love bad puns.” Asher looked at Riggs with his damn knowing face again. “He’s going to get naked so fast for this man.”
“Bet on it?” Riggs asked.
“Hey!” I protested.
“I say two dates, at most. You?”
Riggs deliberated on this for a second. “Four, max.”
That meant I now had two bets going on my dating life, as Zar had made the first one public. Why were all my friends like this?
Since they were ignoring me and being brats, I picked up a couch pillow and chucked it at their heads. It landed as intended, smacking Riggs in the head, but it also landed in his popcorn bowl.
He grabbed the pillow out, protesting, “Hey! Respect the popcorn!”
I glowered at them and hunkered down some more, texting Logan back. I love bad puns, keep them coming. Also, if I’m not texting back immediately it’s because Ash and Riggs are being bastards.
Kryptonite: Why? What are they doing?
Me: Teasing me about texting you
Kryptonite: Are they jealous or something?
Me: Riggs, maybe. He’s single. Asher, no, he’s dating Zar. Who’s also here and thinks Asher ribbing me is funny. I almost left it at that and then realized he had no context. Ah, so to clarify: Ash, Zar, and I are childhood friends. We’ve known each other since diapers.
Kryptonite: Oh wow, that’s kind of rare in this day and age. Wait, your two friends did that best-friends-to-lovers trope?
Me: They sure did. With our blessing
Kryptonite: Whoa I thought that only happened in movies and books
Me: Seriously
I settled in more, happy to text with him while occasionally looking up at the screen. They’d gone with the classic black-and-white Frankenstein, huh? Not a bad choice. It brought great joy to make fun of it.
I munched on popcorn between texting, then abruptly hit the bottom of the bowl. Hmm. Did I want more salt or did I want sweet? Surely there was something sweet in this house. Asher lived on sugar. Potty break sounded good, too.
The second I stood, Asher whistled like I was a stripper heading for a pole.
“There he goes for the bathroom, the sexting is getting wild and intense.”
I aimed a kick at his knee, which he dodged, cackling.
“Why are you such a brat? What, is Zar not giving you enough attention?”
“Hey!” Zar protested. “Leave me out of this. I sext him plenty!”
“TMI, dude, so TMI.”
“Says the man who gave me the gay sex talk.”
“Goddammit, what’s wrong with you? I had almost successfully erased that memory!” I glared at Zar, but he didn’t even look apologetic. Bastard.
I stared down loftily at them. “I have better things to do than banter with you—”
“Logan, am I right?”
I kicked Asher’s knee again. “Damn you, stop being such a smart aleck. That’s my role in this friend group.”
He giggled again. I rolled my eyes and headed for the bathroom.
“Let me know if you need condoms or lube. I know it’s been a while,” Riggs called to my back.
Could I have less support into my foray of dating again? Was that too much to ask?