CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
I step out of Cole’s Lexus. This is the third time we have seen each other since that day at the park, and things are going great. I’m ecstatic.
I step forward, and he comes around the car to close my door. He insists on opening and closing the door for me as if he were some kind of man from the medieval concept of chivalry.
“Thank you,” I say. He grabs my hand, and we walk up the pathway to Lucy’s front door. I see she has recently painted it a bright shade of turquoise.
I’m a little uneasy about tonight. I have mixed emotions. Lucy bounced into the bookstore a few days ago to invite me to a game night. Ben was there, and she felt the need to extend the invitation to him and Mel. So, I had to ask Cole to come. I couldn’t be the third wheel on a Ben date.
I mean, it should be fun. It’ll be Alex, Lucy, Briar, Cole, Mel, Ben, and I.
And I love game nights.
I just don’t know if I love game nights with Ben and Mel.
I knock lightly and open the door, letting myself and Cole in.
I see the pile of shoes and know that we must be the last to arrive. I hang up my sweater on the railing and take a few steps into the open-concept kitchen, Cole close behind me.
Lucy loves to entertain. They’re all there, sitting around her large dining room table. I set the bottle of wine I brought on her countertop and retrieve two glasses.
“Guys, I’m so happy you came. Cole, it’s so nice to meet you,” Lucy says, pulling him into a hug he wasn’t prepared for.
I pour our wine and head over to the table behind her, holding Cole’s hand as if he were my life support.
Ben’s eyes meet mine, and I see a look of, was that jealousy? Nope. I’m not playing that game, Ben. I relay this through my skills of clairvoyance. I don’t think it works because he continues to stare.
I introduced Cole to everyone.
“It’s nice to see you again, Mel,” I say as Cole pulls out my chair.
I’m sitting between Alex and Cole but across from Ben and Mel. Lucy and Briar are at each end of the table.
I see Lucy watching Ben, who is watching me. I look up at Cole beside me. He doesn’t seem to notice.
“So, what are we playing?” I ask the group.
Briar pushes back her chair and stands. “Alex brought us a game.”
Alex fiddles with his own paper plate. “It’s just Pictionary, sort of.” His cheeks flush.
“Oh, I love Pictionary.” I can’t draw worth crap, though.
Lucy laughs. “Oh, this isn’t your average Pictionary.”
Alex looks down, a shy laugh escaping his mouth.
Briar chimes in, “We’re playing dirty Pictionary.” She’s beaming. She looks flushed with wine.
“Alex! You own dirty Pictionary? I’m impressed!” I laugh, and Alex’s red cheeks deepen slightly. Lucy cackles.
“It’s my sister’s. I thought it’d be fun. It’s called ‘Uncensored Sketching.’”
“Hell yeah,” I reply and pump my fist into the air. Alex laughs beside me. “I’m glad you’re here,” I tell him quietly.
“Me too. Thanks for inviting me.”
We pour ourselves more wine and set up, dividing into two teams. We make our way to the living room to get comfortable. I feel Cole’s hand run across my bottom as I walk beside him. He smiles down at me. I feel a little twinge of anticipation.
Lucy, Cole, Alex, and I are on one team, so we huddle at the end of the long L-shaped sofa. Ben, Mel, and Briar are on the opposite side.
Cole sits and pulls me onto his lap. I laugh as he squeezes my waist.
Alex takes out the timer and sets up a board with paper.
I can feel my body flushing from the warmth of the wine. I look across the room at Mel, whose body is nudged close to Ben. They’re whispering, and I look away.
I give Cole a quick peck on his mouth, and I feel him stir underneath me.
“Alright, guys, let’s flip a coin to see who goes first. Whose calling it?” Lucy stands, taking a coin out of her pocket.
“I call tails,” I shout as I stand abruptly. I’m slightly competitive.
Ben holds up a hand. “You have to wait to call it.”
“Oh.”
Lucy flips the coin in the air, and I call out tails again.
“Big surprise.” Ben laughs as he sits back down next to Mel, who takes his hand in hers. I see her eye me, and I look away again.
Lucy examines the coin. “Tails it is.”
“Yes!” I huddle with my team.
Alex unpacks the timer, and I take out the cards. Lucy grabs them from me. “You suck at shuffling,” she says.
“Hey!”
“She’s not wrong!” Briar exclaims from the other side of the couch as she takes a sip of wine from her glass.
“Okay, okay,” I say, and lean against Cole. “So, who’s drawing first?”
“I will!” says Lucy. She places the cards back in the box, facing down, so we can’t see what’s on them.
“You have one minute to draw while we guess. You can’t write any words, draw symbols, or talk,” Alex says in an authoritative voice, very different from his regular demeanor.
Lucy takes the card from the top and lifts it right in front of her face, making sure we can’t peek. “Oh. My. God.” She is laughing uncontrollably.
“Luce, come on,” I urge her to get started. Alex hands her the drawing board.
“Are you ready?”
She says no as she tries to catch her breath. “I have no idea how I am going to draw this.” she looks back at the card. “Okay, I’ve got it.”
I slide off Cole’s lap so Alex, Cole, and I can all see her drawing. I pick up my legs, and hug my arms around them, digging my toes into the soft cushion of the couch, waiting.
Alex flips the timer. “Go.”
We’re all watching Lucy, and I start yelling out random words. I think the wine is hitting me a bit hard. She’s drawing a bowling alley, pins, and ball in the gutter.
“Balls!”
“Balls in the gutter!”
“Blue balls!”
She keeps drawing beside the pins. I see the shape of a head. She’s drawing a brain and circling it.
“Brain.”
“Balls, brain.”
Alex joins in my random words and yells, “Brain, thinking, mind!”
I nudge him. “Those aren’t dirty, Alex!”
“Time is running out!” Briar hollers.
“Uh, uh, uh, Cole, help!” I hit him playfully in the shoulder.
“Dirty mind.”
“Mind in the gutter!” I shout.
Lucy stops just before Briar yells out, “Time!”
We high-five Lucy.
She clutches her chest. “Geez, I thought you guys weren’t going to get it. Get your minds in the gutter!”
Briar pulls out the next card and smiles at Alex. He blushes. Huh. Alex may be crushing on Briar.
Alex takes the timer back. “Ready?”
“As I’ll ever be.” Briar flips to a fresh page.
I watch Ben and Mel huddle together, and I squeeze Cole’s hand.
Briar starts drawing a phone. Ben and Mel start yelling out.
“Phone.”
“Call.”
“Cell.”
“Text.”
“Sexting.” I look at Mel. Do her and Ben sext?
Briar starts drawing a peach and circling the peach.
“Fruit.”
“Peaches.”
She draws the back of a person and circles the butt.
“Butt!”
“Booty!”
Then Ben calls out, “Booty Call!”
Briar cheers and returns to her seat.
Ben nudges her playfully. “Good one.”
I grab a card. “My turn!” and then I look at Alex. “Sorry, do you want to go first?”
He passes the board to me. “No, no, go ahead.”
“Oh, fuck,” I say as I look down at my card. Here goes nothing.
I start drawing a boat, I think it’s more of a sailboat, but then I sketch a pair of boobs.
Cole stands. “Motorboat!”
“Yes!” I wrap my arms around him.
“Did you guys cheat?” Ben asks, “You got that one pretty quick.” He eyes Cole.
“Lucky shot,” Cole replies.
Ben goes next. “Ready,” he says.
I lean over so I can see better. He’s drawing a photograph, like a Polaroid-type picture. I see him draw a stick figure inside the picture.
“Picture!”
“Camera!”
He starts drawing what looks like a garden and plants.
“Grass!”
He goes back to the picture and starts adding books to the stick figure. Mel and Briar are silent.
“Time’s running out,” Alex chimes in.
Ben scribbles over the grass.
“Time!”
“What in the world was that, Ben?” Mel asks, squinting at his drawing.
“Dirty Pictures,” he says and plops back down.
Mel pats Ben’s hand and gives him a quick peck on the cheek. “We’ll get the next one, babe.”
Ben stands. “Hold up, I’m just going to grab more wine.”
I look down at my glass, “I want some.”
Lucy hands me her glass. “Fill me up.”
I notice Cole isn’t drinking much. “Want something else?”
“I’m good.” He sits back on the couch and starts talking to Alex.
Ben has the wine so I hand him the glasses. “I thought you’d be better at drawing.”
Ben’s smile doesn’t reach his eyes, but he lets out a slight sound. He hands me the two glasses, filled halfway. “Hey, little more,” I urge, and he tops off our glasses as much as they’ll allow for safe travels back to the living room. I rest them on the counter and wait for him to fill his own. “Having fun?”
“Yeah,” he says. “It’s good to get out and do something different for a change.”
I nod, and we head back in. Cole pats the spot next to him, and I hand Lucy her glass and sit. Alex is talking to Briar, and Mel is picking at a hangnail.
“Ready?” I ask.
Alex picks one, and his ears go pink. “Ready.”
Briar turns the timer, and I stare at the board as he draws. He’s pretty good, actually, but he’s drawing a teapot.
“Teapot, tea, cup.”
He draws something else.
“Bag, balls.”
Cole is quiet again, and Lucy and I are on our own in guessing.
“Tea-bagging!” Lucy shouts and lifts her arms in victory. She lifts her shoulders. “What can I say?”
We all laugh.
“Three to one,” says Briar. “We have to get this one, guys.”
Mel pulls at the cards and picks one out. I see her wink at Ben.
“Hey, hey, none of that.” Lucy points to Ben and waves her finger back and forth. “No, secret eye reveals.”
We spend the next hour going back and forth and end on a tie. I’m on my third glass of wine, and I feel my limbs going numb and my mind settling into a peaceful haze. I notice Alex and Briar have some sort of spark between them. I caught them eyeing each other a few times between rounds. The more I think about it, Briar and Alex would be amazing together. Briar’s pretty private, so I’ll wait for her to confide in me.
I grab a handful of dill pickle chips and stuff them in my mouth, leaning back into Cole. I smile at him. He takes a few chips himself, and I feel relieved. I’m not the only eater in the relationship. I guess this is actually date number four. I haven’t been to his house yet, but he’s been to my apartment, and he’s supposed to stay over tonight.
I think tonight might be the night. Maybe I should sober up a bit. I take another sip instead. I’m having such a good night. I mean, it’s a bit weird to watch Mel and Ben, but I’m happy with Cole, and that’s what matters. I’ve forgotten about the kiss we shared. I haven’t thought about it at all in the last week. I pucker my lips at Cole, who returns the kiss. We’ve shared a few hot kisses, but that’s it so far. He leans in, and his breath tickles my ear as he whispers something I can’t hear. My body shivers anyway.
I can’t wait to get back to my place, so I call out, “One more round for a tiebreaker?”
I down the rest of my drink. Everyone nods in agreement.
Cole is next. He goes at the board in a fierce, competitive mode. He started out pretty quiet, not jumping into the game so much until the last half hour. He’s drawing a foot, paying extra attention to the toes.
Lucy is on a roll. “Feet, toes, pedicure, foot fetish…”
He starts drawing a mouth, and Alex joins the guessing, “Mouth, lick, suck…”
“Toe sucking!” I yell out, and Cole drops the pencil, coming in for a hug.
Alex, Lucy, and I all high-five. We collapse in a fit of laughter as Lucy lifts her freshly pedicured toes and teases Alex with them in fun.
Ben’s up at the board.
“Okay, this is it, we have to get this one,” announces Briar.
Alex starts the timer as Ben starts drawing. I see him draw two stick men. Well, he draws one with spiky, short hair, and the other is wearing a dress, standing side by side. He pauses and looks from Mel to Briar, who looks back at him.
Mel calls out, “People, lovers…”
Briar joins in, “Couple, relationship…”
Ben draws two lips kissing.
“Time’s almost up,” calls Alex.
Silence fills the room. Ben circles the lips, then the people.
Alex is pumping his fists in the air in excitement. “ Time! We win!”
We all stand and jump up and down.
“Well, what was your card?” asks Mel.
“Friends with benefits,” replies Ben, sitting next to her.
“Next time,” says Briar, leaning in and patting his knee.
We start clearing up our mess. Alex puts all the pieces of the game back in its box, and then we’re at the door, saying our goodbyes.
I hug Lucy, Briar, and Alex. “Thanks so much for having us.”
I’m buckling up in Cole’s car as he turns the radio on.
I watch as Mel and Ben get into an Uber. Alex and Briar are still inside as we leave.
I turn to Cole. “I’m so happy you came.” I admit, “I can’t wait to get back to my place,” I add suggestively.
Cole winks at me and presses his hand on my leg, squeezing my thigh. I feel it stir up a want inside of me.
We pull into the parking lot, and he shuts off the car. Cole leans in and kisses me with heat. His hand slides down from my temple to my chin, tilting it to join him in a harder kiss. I feel his other hand tightly on the back of my neck. He’s a little more aggressive than I’m used to, but I find myself wanting more.
I can feel he wants the same as I run my hands over him.
The windows start to steam, and I mutter about going upstairs in a blur of wine and a fiery want for what’s to come. We make it up the stairs in a hurry and are back to kissing in my front hallway. He picks me up, and my legs wrap around him as he presses me into the wall. This is hot. This is probably the hottest makeout sesh I’ve ever had. Ben comes to mind, but I quickly push him out of my head as Cole’s lips meet my neck. He starts walking me into the bedroom when his phone starts ringing.
He pulls away from me with a sheepish grin, but the fire is still in his eyes. “Sorry, I gotta take this.”
He sets me down, and I quickly start picking up random pieces of clothing and tossing them in my closet.
Cole is in my doorway, one arm raised up, leaning on the frame. “Hey, so I, uh, gotta go. A friend needs me.”
Man, he’s sexy as hell.
“Oh.” I try to hide my disappointment. “Everything okay?”
“I’ll make it up to you,” He leans down and kisses me gently on the mouth and then on the forehead, and my heart swoons.
I walk him out and make my way back to my room. Bob jumps up to join me on my bed as I flop back and let out a sigh. “Well, that sucks, Bob.”