Four Can Play That Game: Part One

by Ostle, J. L.

  “Why do you say that?”

  “I know they wouldn’t intentionally have a girl live with them, especially a girl that looks like you.” He shakes his head. “I’m sure you’ve found out what they’re like with their women.” I nod. “So what have those asses done to make you come here on your own to get drunk?”

  “They’re trying to get me to move out, and before I came here, they went to go have sex, but they stole my bedroom door, so I took theirs, but I wasn’t in the mood to hear them fuck like bunnies,” I mumble.

  He laughs. Full-on laughs. “I like you and I bet I’m not the only one.”

  The bar starts to get busy, so I watch him from my seat. He looks so at ease. He is laughing and talking with people who must be regulars. Some other girls flirt with him. I like that every time a girl does, he looks down at me. It’s like he wants to make sure I’m still here. But after a couple more drinks, I know I’m getting quite merry, so I decide I’m ready to go to bed. I stand up and leave a twenty dollar tip.

  I’m wondering if I should say goodbye or just go. Jesse is busy laughing and serving some guy. So I decide to just leave. It was nice meeting him, and I hope I get to meet him again. He is probably used to women who wouldn’t mind a one-night stand or a fling, but I’m not that kind of girl.

  I open the bar door and walk out, letting the cold air hit my arms, causing goosebumps. I wrap my arms around myself and start to walk in the direction of my place. I’ve just reached the curb when someone yells out my name. I turn and see Jesse running towards me. Did I leave something behind? I hope he isn’t going to give me back the tip I left. I’m overthinking it when his lips land on mine. He holds on to my waist and pulls me in closer.

  He feels so good. I open my mouth, giving him access, letting his tongue play with mine. I stand up on my tiptoes, grabbing the nape of his neck, pulling him closer to me. I feel how hard he is. I can’t help but rub myself against him. We both moan into each other’s mouths. I am so turned on, my body is vibrating. I finally pull back, my breathing coming in fast. He’s looking at me with such shock.

  “Fuck,” he breathes out. Yeah. My thought exactly. “Come back to my place tonight at twelve. Please.” I look into his eyes, unsure what to do. I know he sees the uncertainty. He hands me his address. He’s written it on a bar napkin, and he places it in my palm before closing my fingers around it and tells me it’s completely up to me.

  He kisses me one more time then walks back inside.

  I look at the door he went through, and when I turn around, my mouth hangs open when I see the lovely trio standing in front of me, and they don’t look happy. Of course, they had to come and ruin my happy buzz. How did they know I was even here?

  “I’m not in the mood for you three.” I start walking past them when Devon takes hold of my wrist, lifting my hand up that’s holding the piece of material.

  “But you’re in the mood for him.”

  I snatch my arm back. “What if I am? Who I fuck is up to me.” I stomp my way back home with them on my heels. I just want to go to bed now and sleep the day away tomorrow.

  They don’t say anything else to me until we’re back home. Once the front door is shut, they all stand in front of me, looking down at me, and I cross my arms, waiting for them to say whatever they need to say.

  “Are you going to get with Jesse?” Benjamin asks me.

  “Why? You guys have no right to ask. What I do in my personal life is my business. Now butt out of it.”

  I walk to my room and sit on the edge of my bed, wondering what I should do. I could go to Jesse’s place. There is nothing stopping me. I do want to experience life a bit more. Maybe a fling is what I need.

  But I know what’s stopping me though. Fear. I’m afraid I might want more. Or I might regret it. I can’t sleep with someone unless I truly like them, and it can’t just be physical. Right now, I don’t think I’m in a fit enough state to make any decisions. Alcohol is still flowing through my body.

  I lift my tank over my head and pull down my jeans, leaving myself in only my black underwear, and I look around my door frame, seeing the guys haven’t moved from the spot we were standing in before.

  “I want my door back,” I tell them. I walk over to my bed, pulling back the sheets and climbing in.

  I lie there, part of me wanting to go see Jesse, but I know deep down I can’t go there. I don’t want to have any regrets in the morning.

  But will I regret not going?

  I stand back up and start pacing my room, giving myself a headache. I look out the door and the guys aren’t there. They must be in their own rooms. I look at the clock hanging on the wall, the seconds ticking by. I know I can’t.

  I can’t do it.

  I change into my long T-shirt and lay back in bed. I can hear the clock ticking in the background, taunting me. I close my eyes and try and block everything out. I am doing the right thing.

  I say it over and over until I fall asleep.

  I wake up to the worst headache in the world, and my mouth feels like I ate sand last night. I sit up and groan out loud.

  Why did I drink so much?

  I palm my head in my hands. I blame my new roommates.

  I push my legs off the bed, my feet touching the soft carpet before I stand. I wobble over to my bathroom. After I do my business, I look in my mirror and I look like a cast member from The Walking Dead. Brushing my teeth, I think back to last night. Mostly about Jesse.

  I walk back into my room and head to my desk, to where I left the napkin, to find it's not there. I know I put it there. I open my drawers and my eyes pop out.

  All my underwear is gone.

  I huff, heading to my door, shocked to see that it has been returned, but that’s not the point right now. They have gone too far. Heading to the kitchen, I grab a pot and pan and start banging them together. It's not helping my headache but I have bigger fish to fry.

  All three come out of their rooms and they are only wearing boxer shorts. All thoughts leave me. Benjamin stretches and his abs tense. Devon has his fingers through his hair, stretching, making his biceps budge.

  That is not fair.

  “What’s up, princess? Here to thank us for putting your door back?” He blows me a kiss.

  “First of all, could you have not put a shirt on or something before you got out here?”

  “Wasn’t really my first thought I had when a crazy lady is banging pots together.” Zeal yawns.

  “First off, where did you put Jesse’s address? I know I left it on my desk and now it's gone.” I glare at each of them and they all shrug.

  “We don’t know. Maybe you drank more than you thought and lost it.” Benjamin cheekily smiles.

  “You guys think you’re funny, don’t you?”

  “I like to think we are.” Devon smirks.

  “Secondly, where the fuck is my underwear?”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about, princess.”

  “Yes, you do. Now give me my underwear back now!” I yell at them. They look at me, then at each other.

  “Again, we don’t know what you’re talking about. Now, if you don’t mind, I want to catch a couple more hours of sleep.” Zeal smiles before heading back to his room, and the others smile before walking away too.

  I stand there and stomp my foot.

  I run to my room, looking for my purse. I look under my bed and everywhere I can think of and that’s missing also. They stole my purse.

  My fucking phone.

  I’m going to kill them.

  I grab three glasses of cold water and one by one I walk into each of their rooms and throw the water on their faces, causing them all to cuss at me. I stand back in the living area and when they come back out, the smiles that were on their faces have gone.

  “What the fuck?” Devon comes towards me. “Do you have a screw loose?” He touches the side of his head.

  “You have my bag with my stuff in it. Give it back.”

  Devon crosses
his arms. “We are two steps ahead of you, princess. You would use your money to buy new underwear or ask your friend to get you some. I’m assuming you don’t know where she lives.” He smirks at me. “You will get your stuff back. At school tomorrow.” He laughs and heads back into his room. “Oh, and princess?” He looks into my eyes. “Throw water on me again, and you’ll wish you didn’t.” He winks at me and then he’s gone.

  I look to the other two. They don’t say a word, they just walk away.

  I am so getting them back for this.

  * * *

  All day Sunday, I stayed in my room, thankful that I got my door back as I kept it locked, and the only time I left was to grab something to eat and drink. I ignored the guys as they tried to rile me up, making sarcastic comments, laughing at my expense, but I wouldn’t give them the satisfaction of knowing they were getting to me.

  It’s Monday morning, and I’m so happy that I can go somewhere that’s away from them. I have one class with them, but I won’t be sitting anywhere near them.

  I’m in the kitchen area, making a cup of tea, when the guys come join me, fully dressed. I turn to look at them and they’re all trying not to smile.

  They think this is really funny. God, they are so childish.

  “Guys, you know I can’t go to school with no underwear. Please just give them back,” I say sweetly.

  “She did ask nicely,” Benjamin says.

  “Yeah, she did. What do you think, Devon? Should we just give them back?” Zeal looks over at him.

  “You do have a point, guys.” Devon looks at me. “You can get them back.” I sigh in relief. “Tomorrow.”

  “You asshole.” I push him, and he just snickers at me.

  “Not very polite, princess.”

  I give him the finger before heading to my room.

  “You better hurry and get ready or you’ll be late,” Devon calls after me.

  I scream when I’m back in my room, slamming the door behind me. They think they have won this. Like hell they have. I go through my closet and pick out a short, tight dress. Let’s see if they’ll approve of my choice of attire. I take a quick shower, quickly blow drying my hair, and do my make-up. I hate that my cheeks are all flushed, but it’s because of those assholes out there.

  I look in the mirror and smile, knowing this will annoy them. “Ready,” I sing-song. I don’t have time for breakfast, but I don’t think I could have eaten even if I wanted to. I watch the guys leave their rooms and walk out to see their smirks wipe from their faces when they spot me.

  “You’re wearing that?” Zeal walks over to me. I nod, giving them a little twirl. “Like hell you are. I know you’re wearing nothing underneath. Go back to your room and change. You know what kind of impression you’ll give?”

  I want to scream in his face. They are the ones who started this.

  “Just think, if they didn’t remember me from Friday, they will today.” I open the front door and walk out, heading towards campus. It’s a little chilly today but I’m sure once I get to school, I’ll warm up.

  I hate that I don’t have my phone as I always listen to music when I walk anywhere on my own. I’ve only been walking for a few minutes when Devon’s car slowly pulls up to the side of me.

  “Get in, Jamie,” Benjamin calls out the window.

  “I’m good.” I give them a thumbs up.

  “Get your ass in the car.”

  I shake my head and continue walking. The car drives up a little before it comes to a stop. Benjamin and Zeal get out and they both lift me to Devon’s car.

  I look to see if anyone is around. I could be getting kidnapped right now and there is no one here to save me. I feel like screaming and calling for help but that would be a tad dramatic. I know they aren’t going to hurt me. They just like to annoy me.

  “You three are really getting on my nerves.” The car starts moving.

  “Yeah, we know the feeling,” Zeal says.

  “I can walk, you know? There was no need for all that.” I cross my arms.

  “You’re walking in the skimpiest dress I have ever seen, with no underwear on. Do you want to be attacked?”

  “I’m sure you’ve seen worse, and who is going to attack me in broad daylight?”

  “You’ll be surprised.”

  I sigh and cross my legs, my dress riding up, exposing my thighs. Zeal checks them out. I quickly spread my legs, then cross the other leg over. He fists his fingers, his knuckles going white.

  They probably thought I would wear panties of some sort. They should know by now that I am not going down without a fight.

  When we get to school, I jump out of their car, and already, people look my way and a few wave at me. I wave back. Benjamin comes over, blocking their view of me.

  “Come on.” He puts his hand on the bottom of my back and guides me to the school entrance. People are, once again, looking and staring while we walk. I smile when a few guys say hi or wave.

  We stop in the middle of the hallway. We have different classes and I have to go in the opposite direction. “I guess this is where we part, boys. Catch you later.” I salute them and start walking away, but turn to see the guys are still standing there, talking.

  Why do they always watch me?

  I turn back around and smile when I spot Clarissa. Her eyes rake me over. I wrap my arm around hers, telling her to walk with me.

  “What’s wrong? Why are you dressed like…” she pauses. “They’ve done something.”

  “They stole my underwear,” I whisper.

  “What?” She looks down my dress. “And you decided wearing a dress was best?”

  “I wanted to rile them up and it worked. But I feel so naked. I’m sure I’m feeling a breeze drift up my legs.” We head towards my class. “Did they do anything else since Saturday? I was messaging and calling you yesterday, but your phone was switched off.”

  I roll my eyes. “They stole my purse, which had my money and phone in. They didn’t want me to get any underwear, or to call you or anyone. Also, I met this guy called Jesse at Zee’s bar and he kissed me…”

  “Jesse Hill kissed you? Wait. You went out and you didn’t call me?” Her eyes turning sad, the smile that was on her face gone.

  “I had to get out of the house. They were having sex, and with no doors, I couldn’t stay there and listen. I had to get out and I wasn’t expecting to be there as long as I was, and I definitely wasn’t expecting to kiss Jesse. He gave me his address to go to his place, but I couldn’t do it.” I bite my lip.

  “You’re not that kind of girl.”

  “Exactly, but I wanted to though. I was so tempted, but I was drunk and I didn’t want to regret it. But now I’m kind of regretting not going.” I groan.

  “Do the guys know?”

  “Yeah. They saw me kiss him and they walked me home like they were the parents and I was a child that snuck out of the house.”

  “Even though they had sex earlier?”

  That’s right. Why didn’t I throw that in their faces? “They stole the napkin that had his address on also.”

  “It's weird how they get with you. It’s like they can do whatever they want but if you do anything similar, they get all touchy. I think they like you. I mean, really like you, but know they can’t have you and it's driving them insane. I saw the jealousy in their eyes when all those guys at the party were looking at you.”

  I look at the ground. “Something happened after you left on Saturday. Between us all…” I let out a deep breath.

  “Did you sleep with them?” She pulls me to the side, so we stop walking.

  “No. It could have happened though.”

  Her eyes go wide, and she looks at her watch and sighs, looking down both ends of the hall. “I’m going to be late. We have class together next, so you better fill me in then.” She points to me before walking away.

  Class dragged on and I hardly paid attention to anything the professor said. My mind is clogged up with so many thoughts that m
y brain is just fried. I know I’m going to have to tell Clarissa everything that has happened, but I’m worried what her response is going to be.

  I’m also not looking forward to seeing the pain-in-my-ass trio.

  Walking into class, I’m relieved that I’m one of the few there already. I go grab my original seat and wait for Clarissa to join me. I’ve just taken out my laptop when I look up to spot the guys coming in, chuckling to one another, and when they spot me, their laughter stops.

  I feel like they were laughing at my expense. Again.

  They take their seats, but I stop looking their way, and after a moment, Clarissa joins me. She looks over my shoulder and back to me. She leans in, whispering softly, “Class is about to start. Before we leave, you have to give me the cliff notes version of what happened with you and them.” She sits back, taking out her laptop.

  “Just don’t judge me though.” I plead to her with my eyes.

  Her eyes soften. “I would never judge you. Hey, I kissed you, a girl, just so you can get back at your roommates. If that’s not true friendship, I don’t know what is.” We both chuckle.

  “Just making sure.” She squeezes my hand in reassurance, and when the professor walks in, I tell myself I’m going to pay attention to every word being said.

  It’s halfway through the class and I’m typing some notes when a girl next to me passes me a piece of paper that has my name on it. Clarissa looks at my hand before she writes something down in her notebook, ripping it out and passing it to me.

  They are looking at you.

  I look to my side and all three of the guys are watching me. I turn to the paper, opening it up. I glare over to them and they’re all smirking at me.

  I guess Benjamin and Zeal have joined the dark side and don’t feel bad for me anymore.

  Do you feel free? I pass the note to Clarissa so she can read it, and she looks at me, confused. “They’re talking about me wearing no underwear right now.” I look over to them, sticking my tongue out. Devon blows me a kiss.

  Asses.

  “You going to get them back?” she asks me.

  I look to them again and back to her, grabbing the note and scrunching it in my hand. “You know I am. Just need to think of something as clever.” I stop talking after that and get back to paying attention, not wanting to give away how I’m feeling.