Chapter 7 The New Year #2
Later, after they finished, they sat together on Emogen’s bed. Taylor sat up against the headboard while Emogen laid on her stomach facing the end of the bed. “Do you think Nylissa Cortez is pretty?” She had asked him.
“Not as pretty as you, Em,” he joked. Knowing Emogen, it was probably some stupid trap to test him and his loyalty.
“No, seriously,” she asked again. She rolled over and sat up to face him, crossing her legs. “I think I’m kind of into her.”
“Romantically?”
“Yeah. I dunno. She asked if we could get dinner sometime and maybe catch a movie.”
Taylor made a face. A weird mix between a smile and a confused look. “Did I turn you gay?” he asked kind of seriously.
“Wow you just made, like, the cutest face I’ve ever seen you make.” She reached over to grab one of her throw pillows and threw it at Taylor. “No, you did not turn me gay.”
“So you’re bisexual?” Taylor asked.
She shrugged. “Maybe? Probably? I dunno, I think I need to sleep with a girl to find out.”
“Can I watch?” He joked. He grabbed the same throw pillow and tossed it back at her.
“Oh, shut up. You’re so weird.” Emogen lunged up and hit him over the head with the pillow before rolling off of him to lean against the headboard.
She let out a deep sigh as she rested her head against Taylor’s shoulder.
“You know this means we can never ever fool around. Like, ever again.” She told him after a minute of comfortable silence.
Emogen looked up to Taylor with a suggestive look on her face. Taylor shook his head and laughed in defeat as he rolled on top of her.
* * *
Emogen’s favorite song started playing on the speakers. Perfect by Exceeder. She always just knew the best kinds of music. Taylor really liked it. It felt like such a Fletcher-coded song to him. Anytime he scored at a home game they played it for him, and the crowd always went wild.
Emogen had joked later that evening that Fletcher gave her “frat boy vibes.” Douglas and Sánchez both agreed, laughing as if she told them the funniest joke ever.
They were definitely drunk. They were a few minutes from countdown.
Taylor scanned the room for Fletcher, who was still in the same corner and practically the same position he was in earlier that night.
Katherine waltzed over with a bucket of beers, handing them to everyone. Taylor chugged half of it after Emogen told him, “race me” and proceeded to finish the drink in three gulps.
“Thirty seconds,” someone said.
“Are we ringing in the new year again, Emmy?” Taylor asked her. Emogen tugged his shirt and pulled him down to kiss her, making a loud smooch noise.
“Not yet, you guys!” Corinna shouted.
Emogen quickly released Taylor and softly slapped him on his cheek.
TEN!
NINE!
EIGHT!
Taylor’s eyes flickered over to Fletcher again.
Seven.
The girl’s back faced Taylor. Fletcher had his arm wrapped around his waist with his other hand holding the side of her head.
Six.
Fletcher looked up at Taylor, meeting his gaze. Their eyes locked. The blood in Taylor’s face drained completely and his entire body suddenly felt way too hot.
Five.
Four.
His eyes never left Taylor’s as he leaned down and kissed the girl again. Taylor could feel Emogen tug on his shirt again, but he never tore his gaze from Fletcher. Not once.
Three.
Two.
One.
Fletcher winked at him.
Taylor froze completely as if the world stopped around him. Time stood still, and for a moment, he and Fletcher were the only people to exist.
…HAPPY NEW YEAR’S!
And suddenly he was kissing Emogen again. There were other people dancing around them. The Earth was spinning.
She playfully tugged at his lip as she pulled back. “Wooo!” She shouted.
“Happy New Year’s, Emmy Em. Still a lesbian?” he asked her with a knowing smile.
“You, Taylor Piers, are my only exception!” And just because she could, she pressed another sloppy kiss to his lips. She tasted like beer and grenadine.
They continued dancing for nearly another hour.
EoO by Bad Bunny started playing. The bass from the speakers was so strong that he could feel the beat in his chest. Taylor felt good.
Loose. Happy. He was here with his closest friends celebrating his favorite holiday.
He still hadn’t had too much to drink on account of Emogen stealing half of his drinks.
He figured it was for the best, probably.
Someone there needed to make sure they wouldn’t end up all over the internet in the morning.
“Happy New Year,” someone called from behind Taylor. A voice belonging to the one person he expected not to hear that night on account of having his tongue down a girl’s throat every time Taylor looked over at him.
“Happy New Year,” Taylor told him, sounding a little nervous.
Guarded. Fletcher reached over and grabbed the beer Taylor was already raising to his mouth to take a sip out of and brought it to his lips, not bothering to waterfall it.
Taylor still held it as Fletcher took a sip out of it but let go of it as Douglas walked up to them and patted the both of them on their backs.
“This is gonna be our year, boys. I already know it,” he slurred. “I fucking love you guys. Fucking brothers, okay?”
“I fucking love you too, man,” Fletcher told him with a chuckle, sounding surprisingly lucid and languid. Taylor didn’t know if that was a good thing or bad. Fletcher wrapped an arm around Douglas’ waist to help him stand straight after he began swaying back and forth like a sailor.
Reality slowly crept back into Taylor as he thought about how the hell he was going to get everyone home. Sánchez and Katherine could probably manage to get into an Uber without dying.
He looked over to Corinna and Emogen, who were dancing with each other a little too sensually. But it was definitely the alcohol.
“How many drinks have you had?” Fletcher asked, seemingly being able to read Taylor’s thoughts.
“Me? Not many. Four-ish. I’m straight,” he answered. “Doug will probably need an escort back to his place. I can handle Emmy and Corinna. Em would love a sleepover.”
Fletcher nodded. “I’ve only had three. I’ll bring Doug home with me to mine. I doubt he even knows where his keys are.”
“And what about… what was her name? Ava?” Taylor still couldn’t remember.
“No clue. She ditched me after the countdown. She thought I played basketball, not hockey.”
Taylor snorted. “Sorry to hear that. It looked like you were having a good time over there, bud. I haven’t seen you all night.
” Acknowledging the fact that he saw Fletcher made it less weird, right?
Like he was just playing it off as casually seeing his friend kiss a girl.
Well, Fletcher was doing a lot more than just kissing her, but still.
Fletcher shrugged innocently. “Your girlfriend’s here. Figured you’d want alone time with her.” His gaze sharpened ever so slightly.
Lie. That was a lie. Taylor clocked it immediately. He sounded just like he did in interviews. He used his Armstrong voice.
“Ex-girlfriend,” he corrected. “If I wanted alone time with her then we would’ve stayed in.”
“Okay,” Fletcher said indifferently. He gave Taylor a weird look before quickly looking off into the distance. “Look, I should get Douglas home before he does something to embarrass the entire team. See you at practice?”
Taylor nodded, giving him a guarded smile. “Get home safely, Armstrong.”