by Lisa Simmons
I'm sorry, I mouthed to her, hoping she hadn't heard what they'd been discussing but knowing she had. Her face was, for once, hard to read as they appeared around the corner, jerking my attention back to them.
"Woah, sorry," Luke said suddenly as his gaze fell on her. I hated the way they widened in shock and traveled quickly down her body before he realized I was glaring at him and quickly averted his eyes.
"Wait, isn't that-" Samuel started, his eyes narrowing as he placed her easily.
"Don't," I warned. "Um, guys, this is Abigail."
I was standing awkwardly in the middle of the two parties, so I stepped toward Abigail and put my hand lightly on her back, hoping to show her that I wanted to be there for her. Also, I had to admit, to claim her as mine to my friends.
Samuel just stared at her as if in shock to see me with the same girl more than once. Luke recovered faster, blinking only once before managing a friendly smile. He strolled forward before extending his hand to Abigail, which she accepted instantly.
"Hey Abigail, Luke," he introduced himself, nodding at her pleasantly. I noticed his gaze stayed firmly locked on her face, as if careful to not look anywhere else under my intense scrutiny.
"Nice to meet you, Luke," she responded, her voice strong and assured as she smiled back at him. God she looked so pretty when she smiled.
"And you are?" she asked Samuel pointedly, raising her eyebrow challengingly as if she could sense he was the more difficult of the two. I restrained myself from high-fiving her.
"Um, Samuel," he said, finally recovering from his absurd look of shock. Was it really so hard to believe I'd see someone more than once?
Yes.
I shook my head, ignoring the self-berating thoughts that tended to come up when I thought about how exactly I had arrived in this situation. An awkward silence fell over us as everyone took turns sneaking glances at each other.
"So, you two fucking or what?" Samuel said suddenly. I groaned internally as I clenched my fist at my side.
"Dude-"
"Yeah, we are," Abigail said, cutting me off and shocking me into silence. I gaped at her along with my friends, beyond surprised she had responded so boldly. Samuel blinked at her as his jaw fell open, clearly just as surprised as me. Luke once again recovered first as a laugh belted out of his lungs, his grin widening as he observed Abigail.
"Like this one, bro, keep her," he said, glancing at me. I grinned, pleased Luke seemed impressed by her even though she'd only really said one sentence. The ability to shock Samuel, however, was rare and definitely something to be admired. I increased the pressure of my hand against her back.
"So you're just fucking?" Samuel asked, recovering finally from his ridiculous shock.
"Dude, what the fuck?" I asked, irritated he insisted on pressing the subject. It was actually none of their business at all, and he didn't deserve the answer to the first inappropriate question he'd asked.
"What?" he asked, shooting me a hard look before looking back at Abigail. I could feel my annoyance turning to anger as he watched her closely, waiting for her response. I didn't like him looking at her for so long, especially waiting for an answer to something that should have been between us and us alone.
"Oh big boy, I bet you would like to know," she finally answered him, the sarcastic tone matching the sarcastic look on her face as she leaned into me casually.
"So yes then," he attempted to conclude, raising an eyebrow challengingly at her.
"No, actually," I said before I knew what I was doing. I didn't want him thinking of her as just another girl in a long history of girls. More specifically, I didn't want him thinking he had even a sliver of a shot at her once I was done with her.
"No, what?" he asked, eyes turning to me. Good.
"We're not just fucking, not that it's any of your business," I spit, suddenly extremely defensive and protective of my relationship with Abigail. Her cool behavior impressed me, and it made me want to protect her even more.
"What, you're like dating?" he asked skeptically. I noticed Luke chuckle lightly as he pressed his hand over his mouth, leaning back as if he were enjoying a show.
"Basically," I said vaguely. Technically we were 'dating' as in going on dates, but nothing was official. I felt her arm snake loosely around my waist as I spoke.
"Wow," Luke commented like a sideline reporter. His tone didn't hold the same annoyance or skepticism that Samuel' did- he just sounded innocently surprised. "Never thought I'd see the day."
"Me neither," Samuel agreed, a stony undertone to his voice. What the fuck was his problem? My body had tensed during the progression of this conversation, a fact I had only become aware of when Abigail's hand gently pressed into my side, easing the tight muscles there.
"So, about that beer..." Abigail said suddenly, once again surprising everyone as we all turned to stare at her. I blinked.
"Yeah, definitely like her," Luke said in amusement as he grinned. She grinned back at him, clearly pleased he approved of her. "Come on, dude, let's bring it over there."
He nodded toward the living room, indicating to Samuel to stop staring harshly at Abigail and grab his beer to carry to the coffee table. He blinked as if finally realizing he'd been staring before following Luke's lead. As they busied themselves with the beer, I turned into Abigail and ducked my head low towards hers.
"What are you doing?" I whispered, my eyes searching hers for some explanation.
"Making friends," she answered simply, shrugging. Her casual gesture was contradicted, however, by the glint of something else lurking in her eyes. I stared at her skeptically.
"Don't you have class today?" I asked, grasping at straws to stop this from happening. I don't know why, but it put me on edge thinking about drinking with just the four of us. During the day, on a Monday, no less.
"Just the one, I can skip," she said, shrugging again. I frowned at her.
"You don't have to prove anything to them," I said, guessing what she was trying to do.
"I know," she said. "But I want them to like me if I'm gonna be your first... whatever."
"Was that okay? What I said?" I asked, suddenly wishing I'd spoken to her about it first.
She nodded slowly. "Yeah, that sounded about right."
I reached my hand up to tug my thumb across her lower lip. The soft skin drug along with my thumb lightly before rebounding. "Just... don't listen to them, like I said. And don't worry about impressing them because I know you already have."
She smiled softly, her fingers squeezing lightly over what they covered of my hip. "Okay."
I was about to duck down to kiss her again when she dodged out of my grasp, strolling leisurely over to where my friends had already set up camp. I shoved my hands through my hair as a bad feeling settled in my stomach. This couldn't possibly end well with the way Samuel was behaving, but I tried to keep an open mind. Maybe he'd loosen up a bit once he had a few beers in him.
My hand ran distractedly across my brows before leaving the kitchen to join everyone in the living room. Abigail had gotten there before me, and I watched as she sat down across from where the two guys had settled. She pushed her hands down her thighs as she grinned at them, clearly enjoying their expressions of shock and awe.
"So, who's ready to drink?" she asked brightly. Luke cheered while Samuel gave her a weak smile. I sat down next to her, my body tense as my arm automatically threw itself protectively around behind her back. I watched as she reached forward to take the beer Luke offered her before cracking it open and taking a sip.
This was going to be interesting.
"When everything's meant to be broken, I just want you to know who I am."
Chapter 32
The beer tasted weird in the morning as it dripped past my tongue, but I took a long gulp anyway. My eyes scanned nonchalantly over Reece's friends, Luke and Samuel. I could already tell I liked Luke; he seemed like a fun, laid back kind of guy despite Reece's i
nsistence that all his friends were assholes. Samuel, however, made me feel slightly off. I couldn't quite put my finger on what exactly it was about him that I wasn't sure about, but there was something lurking behind his dark brown eyes that made me feel apprehensive.
However, I was determined to give them a real chance and wanted them to get the chance to get to know me. Sure, I wouldn't normally drink on a Monday morning, but I wanted them to like me. One day of spontaneity wouldn't kill me. It seemed I had already impressed Luke, because he had announced it several times, which made me happy. Samuel, however, continued to stare at me with an odd mixture of expressions on his face that I couldn't quite place.
Reece's arm was slung around my back, his attempt to look casual ruined by the way his hand would grip my hip whenever Samuel so much as looked at me. I had never really seen this protective side of him before; it was jealous from the jealous, possessive Reece I'd glimpsed occasionally at parties. There was some strange, unspoken vibe going between Reece and Samuel that I didn't fully understand, but I tried my best to remain casual.
I had also been surprised by Reece's interruption of the strange, awkward, and frankly rude conversation I'd had with Samuel about Reece's and my relationship. He had seemed only focused on insisting that we were nothing more than friends with benefits, like we had been when we started. It had surprised yet pleased me when Reece had interrupted to tell him we were essentially dating. For him to come out and say that to his friends had to be a pretty good sign, right?
I leaned forward, my elbows resting on my knees as my hands cradled my beer, which was now almost empty. None of them were talking, which made me feel like I had interrupted an unplanned boys' day even though I knew Reece was less than pleased that they were here.
"So," I said, clearing my throat and hoping someone would jump in to start a conversation. Samuel eyed me once more before leaning back into the couch and taking a sip of his beer.
"So," he repeated flatly. I didn't understand his harsh demeanor, not sure what I'd done to make him so sour towards me. I'd never met him, so I wondered if it had something to do with me being 'with' Reece. Maybe he was territorial over him?
"Uh, when did you two meet?" Luke asked, clearly attempting to lighten the quickly darkening mood that had settled over the living room. I blinked, before tearing my frown from Samuel.
"Um..." I didn't really know what to say. I didn't especially want to admit to his friends how we had started our relationship, but I didn't want to lie, either. I looked at Reece, hoping they'd think I was just counting back the weeks rather than silently begging him to speak and save me.
He turned to look at me, his face only inches from mine from how close he had insisted on sitting next to me.
"Um, like six or seven weeks ago, I think," Reece answered vaguely. Had it really only been six or seven weeks? I felt like this had been going on between us for months. On the other hand, it also felt like it had only been a few days. It was the weirdest thing.
Luke nodded, pursing his lips as he accepted Reece's answer.
"Nice. Well, Abigail, glad you finally got this one to settle down a bit," he said, grinning at me widely. I returned his smile with a genuine one of my own.
"Me too."
"You guys down for a game or something? As much as I love beer, I have to admit it's pretty hard to choke down so early in the day with no motivation," Luke said lightly, his eyes scanning hopefully around the small group.
"Please," I agreed. He was right- drinking right now felt like torture but if it was what they wanted to do, I'd be a team player. Samuel, who had yet to really say anything since leaving the kitchen, leaned forward to grab another beer out of the box and crack it open.
"Reece?" Luke asked. His eyes glanced down to see Reece's empty hand. "Mate, grab a beer, we can't drink without you!"
I could feel Reece's arm muscles tighten slightly as he leaned forward and grabbed a beer reluctantly from the case. "What are we playing?" he finally asked.
"Categories," Samuel spoke up, his eyes once again fixed on me as he spoke.
"Yes, good call man. I haven't played that in years," Luke agreed. "You know how to play?"
His eyes were focused on me as he spoke, seeing as I was apparently the only one who wouldn't know how.
"I've played but I don't remember what all the cards mean," I answered. I knew it was basically drawing a card and doing whatever that card meant, but I couldn't remember the specific categories. Things like waterfalls, girls drink, guys drink, partner drink, and truth or dare flashed through my mind as I tried to remember which card indicated which activity.
"We'll just play as we go then if you get the general idea," Luke said, shrugging once more. "Cards, Reece?"
Reece mumbled something I couldn't decipher before rising from his seat and moving to the kitchen, his arm grazing across my back as he stood. He pulled what I assumed to be a deck of cards from a drawer and returned, sitting just as close to me as before. The cards were tossed to Luke before he slung his arm back around my arm.
I watched Luke spread the cards out in a circle and put a beer in the middle of it while I surprised myself by finishing off the beer in my hand. I didn't usually drink beer, so I wasn't exactly sure how many I'd be able to drink before I ended up a drunk mess, but I hoped it wouldn't be an embarrassingly low number.
"Once you're done with a card, you have to put it under the tab. Eventually it'll get so many that it will crack and if you crack it, you have to drink it," he explained. It sounded simple enough and I knew I'd played it before, so it shouldn't be too hard.
"I'll go first," I volunteered as I reached forward to pull a card from the circle. It flipped over in my hand to reveal a four of hearts. I turned it over to show them. "Four."
"Four is whores, that's you Abigail!" Luke cheered. His smile faultered slightly when he caught Reece's glare. Clearly, he did not find it amusing to call me a whore, and I knew it was a touchy thing for him.
"Um, not that you're a whore," Luke backtracked. "It's just what they say, you know?"
I smiled at him reassuringly. "I know, don't worry."
My fingers were surprisingly still as I gently slid the card beneath the tab of the center beer, careful not to crack the tab already. I grinned proudly when it remained silent. Leaning forward, I grabbed another beer from the case and cracked it open before taking a drink. I leaned into Reece's side, unsure of why he was so tense but wanting him to lighten up. He might as well have fun if we were going to end up doing this. His hand squeezed my side gently at my movement.
"Your turn," I said to him quietly. I turned my face to look at him as he glanced down at me. A light smile spread across his lips, which only made mine widen. I could feel the start of a buzz already, my body not used to drinking so early in the day. It occurred to me that this would probably be the first time I would end up properly drunk around Reece, because we always seemed to get too distracted with each other to do much drinking. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't excited to see how we'd react to each other under the influence of alcohol.
He turned his gaze away from mine finally to reach forward and grab a card. His eyes scanned the card quickly before leaning forward to slide it on top of mine under the tab, which remained silent once more. A black queen showed on the card he had just placed.
"Questions," Reece said, his voice still fairly deep and gravely as he spoke.
"What's that again?" I asked, my mind reeling as I tried to remember what exactly the questions part of the game entailed.
"This doesn't count," he said suddenly, his eyes darting across the table at his two friends. They nodded in agreement.
"You can only ask questions and the first one to either answer a question or say something that isn't a question has to drink," he explained, green eyes focused on my gaze as he did so. I nodded.
"Got it," I said, smiling at him.
"Why did you two fucks show up here so damn early?" Re
ece said suddenly, abruptly tearing his gaze from mine and shooting it across the table at his friends.
"Why, were you busy doing something else?" Luke returned, his grin ridiculously wide as he both teased Reece and continued on with the questions part of the game.
"Why is that of concern to you?" Reece asked.
"You afraid your girl will like me more than you?" Luke shot back, his grin making it evident he was joking. Reece's arm tightened around me anyway.
"What's so great about this one?" Samuel said suddenly, speaking for the first time in what felt like forever and throwing his head towards me. While Luke's tone had been light and playful, Samuel' felt reproachful and tense.
"Why don't you fuck off?" Reece said, his voice dropping the momentary lightness it had held when he spoke to Luke. His features hardened as he observed Samuel' casual position on the couch where he stared coolly back at Reece.
"Why don't you drop her already like I know you're going to?" Samuel responded, his voice deadly calm.
"You're a fucking asshole," Reece said, staring at him incredulously.
"Ah, not a question," Samuel pointed out. "Drink."
"What the fuck is your problem?" Reece demanded. His entire body was tense as he leaned into me. I put my hand lightly on his thigh, causing his eyes to twitch down to it quickly before returning their stony gaze at Samuel.
"Relax, man, I was kidding! I was just trying to get you to fuck up and it worked, chill," he said smoothly. Something about his tone and the smug expression on his face told me he had been completely serious, however. I frowned, unable to wave off the strong feeling that he didn't like me being with Reece in the least.
Reece didn't say anything as he continued to glare at Samuel, but when I squeezed my hand on his thigh he seemed to remember I was next to him. His gaze flicked back to me, softening slightly as I smiled reassuringly at him. He let out a hard exhale, and I could tell this wasn't at all what he wanted to be doing at the moment. The can rose to his lips as he took a long drink, draining over half the beer in one go as he held my eye contact.
