by Mia Ford
“Why, do you want to stay?” she asks.
I blink. Is that an option? I didn’t even consider it before now. If Allison is having a party, then it means she won’t be alone tonight, which is exactly what I wanted to prevent. But…
“Yes,” I say before I can stop myself.
She laughs as though she had expected that answer, and I relax.
“Yeah, I figured, since you followed me home,” she teases. “Fine, you stalker, you can stay for the party. Just try not to scare my friends.”
“I’m not a stalker,” I say, rolling my eyes.
She just grins at me so I throw a potato chip at her. Allison bursts into laughter, and I feel like my heart might burst from happiness at the sound too. I smile slightly; how is it possible for me to be so fond of this woman that I barely know?
I shake the thought away. It doesn’t mean anything.
“Alright, if you’re staying, you can make yourself useful and grab the alcohol,” Allison decides. “Since you have transport and I don’t, it’s only fair.”
I glance at her. Her back is turned to me, now, so I can’t see her expression.
“Yeah, sounds good,” I say. “I’ll go now. Do you have a list?”
She turns back. She’s all smiles, but there’s a sharp edge to it. I remember Jacqui telling me that she has personal reasons for disliking motorbikes, but I know, instinctively, that now is not the moment to ask.
“Let me write it down,” she says.
I don’t know what’s going on exactly but, suddenly, I don’t care. I’m only here for one reason, after all. And that’s to make sure that Jesse doesn’t come here.
Chapter Eleven
Allison
Seeing Kyle at my apartment as he sits at my small table, dressed in his usual leather jacket and taller than anyone else in the room, is the weirdest thing. It’s almost as strange as seeing him squashed so comfortably on my couch this morning.
It doesn’t help that my friends, other than Jacqui, are giving him wary looks. I thought poor Jonathan Clark was going to flee the moment he saw Kyle, which, in turn, probably isn’t helped by the fact that his girlfriend Susie Wicks is giving the larger man looks of unabashed interest.
Jacqui, at least, seems highly amused by it all. She’s standing in the kitchen, watching Kyle make awkward conversation with Paige Simmons and her twin brother, Jake. I sidle up to her.
“Sorry, I should have messaged ahead to tell you I invited him,” I say to her.
“Are you kidding?” Jacqui snorts. “I knew he was going to be here. He was just going to skulk outside and keep an eye out for Jesse, and I told him to man up and talk to you.”
I laugh. “I did meet him outside, but I think he was waiting for me. And he’s the one who asked to attend. He doesn’t look very relaxed, though.”
“Maybe he isn’t used to strangers?” Jacqui suggests.
“Maybe,” I say with a shrug.
I watch as he excuses himself from the twins and makes his way toward us. He’s clutching a can of beer, and his shoulders are stiff.
“Are you alright?” I ask, feeling a little amused.
“Yeah,” Kyle says, running a hand through his hair with a sheepish smile. “Sorry, it’s just that this is a little…different.”
“Different, how?” Jacqui asks curiously.
“Well…normally we party at the bar,” Kyle says with a shrug. “Or with loud music and lots of alcohol. So, stereo music, drinks in cups, snacks in bowls and Monopoly on the table is a little…unusual for me.”
I can’t help but laugh at him. He looks a little betrayed before a reluctant smile surfaces on his lips.
“Yeah, laugh it up,” he says, rolling his eyes.
“Sorry,” I say through giggles. “It’s just that the big, tough motorbike rider is afraid of a small house party?”
He gives me a sharp look. “Fuck off. I’m not afraid. Just a little out of place.”
I grin at him. “Well, want to play poker, then?”
He considers this. “Why not. Do you have chips?”
“My parents bought me a set ages ago,” I say. I look around him. “Anyone up for poker?”
Turns out everyone is interested in playing. With seven of us, the table isn’t quite large enough, so Kyle pushes my couch and coffee table to the side. Then I grab some pillows and we all sit on the floor. The look on Kyle’s face as he gingerly sits between me and Jake is very amusing.
“Bet you’ve never played like this before,” I tease.
“No, I haven’t,” he says with a deep chuckle.
“Then you’re missing out!” Paige says cheerfully.
“You any good?” Susie asks, leaning over Jacqui to talk to him, her shirt slightly lower than it was before.
Jonathan pulls her back and glares first at her and then at Kyle. Kyle looks away uncomfortably, not sure what to do.
“Susie, control yourself,” I say, rolling my eyes. “You have a boyfriend and poor Kyle is too much of a gentleman to know what to do.”
“How do you know that?” Paige asks teasingly.
I wink at her. I’ve had a bit to drink by this point, and the alcohol has made me a little bolder as I lean into Kyle’s side. He clears his throat, a faint flush on his face.
“No reason,” I say with a laugh.
“Come on, let’s deal,” Jake says as he finishes shuffling the deck.
It turns out that Kyle is very good at poker. He’s got an eye for when to fold and when to keep playing. He also has an amazing poker face; it’s difficult to do anything other than fold when he sets his intent, expressionless eyes on us, just waiting for the next move that we make. Between his luck and his amazing bluffs, he wins more rounds than he loses, and, soon, it comes down to Kyle and Jonathan.
Kyle is definitely going to win. Jonathan only has two hundred worth of chips left, and Kyle has the rest of them. Rolling his eyes, Jonathan puts everything he has left into the pot, and it isn’t a surprise when Kyle’s three of a kind beats his doubles.
“You have the luck of the devil,” I say to Kyle.
“Just a lot of experience,” Kyle laughs. “I had a friend who used to love organizing poker nights. It’s been a while since then, but we still organize them in his memory every now and then.”
“What happened to him?” Susie asks, her tongue loose.
Kyle goes quiet. “He passed away in an accident a few years ago.”
The confession sucks the air out of the room. My chest feels tight. Did Kyle also lose someone to a motorcycle accident? If so, then how could he bear riding his own death trap all the time?
“Sorry,” Susie says.
“It’s fine,” Kyle says with a shrug. “It happened a long time ago.” Restlessly, he picks up the cards and offers them to Susie, who is sitting to Jonathan’s left. “Another round?”
My friends jump at the chance to play again, wanting to break the serious air that has fallen over us. I bump Kyle’s arm with my shoulder and he smiles down at me.
“It’s fine,” he repeats, bumping my shoulder back.
His eyes are clear and there’s a genuine smile on his face. He’s not like me, who still can’t talk about my father’s tragic death without cringing. He’s made his peace with his loss.
I wonder if I should take some pointers from him.
“Good,” I say.
Something changes after that. Paige, Jonathan, Susie and Jake, who had all still been a little tense because of the tall, rough stranger among us, suddenly begin to relax. As the second game winds to a close, Jake throws an arm around Kyle’s shoulders, looking ridiculous because Kyle is so much taller, even while sitting, and laughs at something he said. Paige and Susie seem to be competing to see who can make Kyle blush the most, and even Jonathan is calming down, though he doesn’t seem too pleased by his girlfriend’s antics.
Somehow, impossibly, Kyle is fitting in with my friends, and I watch it happen, both stunned and a little relieved by it. I
t’s nice to see them all getting along so well, though I’m not sure why this is so important to me.
In the third game, I ended up out very quickly. Foolishly, driven by recklessness as the alcohol flushes my system, I threw everything I had into a single bet and ended up losing it all to Susie, much to everyone’s amusement. I laugh with them and lean back on my hands, watching them all play with fond eyes.
This is nice.
Jacqui is out next, and she leans back next to me, grinning at the group.
“Looks like Kyle is relaxing,” she says.
I glance at the man. He’s laughing and joking with everyone. I smile, pleased.
“Yeah,” I say.
I see Jacqui glance at me. It looks like there’s something she wants to see, but a mischievous gleam enters her eyes and she turns away, watching as the game draws to a close. When Jake, this time, manages to win the pot, she sits up quickly and snatches the cards before anyone else can.
“Let’s raise the stakes!” she announces, grinning wildly. “Strip poker!”
Normally, it’s not something me and my group of friends would go for. But we’ve been drinking for hours by this point, and we’re all flushed with giddiness and excitement.
“Yeah!” Paige says, punching the air. “How do we play?”
“Easy,” Jacqui says, eyes gleaming. “The one with the worst hand in a round loses a piece of clothing. You can fold, but you can’t fold twice in a row, to make it more exciting, so choose wisely!”
I laugh. “With those rules, even if you win the game, you could still end up naked!”
“Exactly,” Jacqui says, winking at me. “You all in?”
“I’m in!” Susie laughs.
A chorus of agreements sounds, and Jacqui shuffles the deck, grinning. The moment she passes the cards out, however, a serious air descends as we suddenly realize something.
We can’t lose.
Kyle, surprisingly, is the first one to fumble. Though, perhaps not so strange; despite the fact that he’s relaxing, he’s still among strangers. He coughs, embarrassed when he’s the only one not to have anything at all.
“Should have used your fold!” Jonathan laughs.
“Yeah,” Kyle says with a chuckle.
He unzips his jacket and shrugs it off, throwing it carelessly in the corner. I see the way Jacqui, Paige and Susie all stare at the way his black t-shirt molds itself to his chest, leaving nothing to the imagination.
Suddenly oddly irritated, I collect the cards.
“My turn to deal,” I announce.
The game is brutal. Suddenly, everyone is throwing everything they have into it, the reality of our situation dawning on us now that someone has removed an item of clothing. I find myself calculating exactly what I’m wearing and just how many times I can lose before I end up naked in front of all my friends.
As such, too focused on that, I end up with the dud hand on the next round. I stare blankly at the cards in my hand and flush at my own idiocy.
“Your turn!” Jacqui sings.
I stick my tongue out at her and remove my own jacket. Thankfully, I switched the heater on before we began playing, so the apartment isn’t as cold as it could be at this time of the night.
“Aw, no fair, you’re wearing two shirts!” Paige protests.
“It’s an undershirt,” I say primly, then grin at her. “All’s fair in love and war.”
Susie cackles and Paige pouts. I hear Kyle laugh beside me and grin, pleased.
Slowly, the minutes tick by. Chips are passed back and forth. Eventually, both Jonathan and Jake end up shirtless, and I’ve managed to get away with it by first removing both my shoes and then one of my socks. Poor Paige is left only in a thin shirt and a skirt, and Susie is huddling next to Jonathan in a bra and jeans. Jacqui, on the other hand, is doing fairly well for herself; she removed her socks and shoes first, and then her jeans, leaving her to continue huddling into her jacket.
Kyle, on the other hand, is doing the best of all of us. He’s still only lost his jacket, and I catch Paige’s eye; we need to do something about this.
Though it turns out we don’t need to cheat. Kyle, caught because he folded on the last hand, is left with nothing, and we turn gleaming eyes on him as he laughs, draining the last of the beer beside him.
“Yeah, yeah,” he says.
He shrugs his shirt off. My mouth goes dry, and I suddenly wonder why I thought it was such a good idea for him to lose, after all.
“Shit, girl,” Jacqui mutters to me. “I suddenly know why you jumped him.”
I don’t even have the presence of mind to hush her, though no one is paying attention to us. Seeing Kyle half-naked brings vivid memories to my mind, of running my hands down his chest and pressing myself against his firm body. My gut feels tight and I shiver in the night air, though, this time, not because I’m cold.
Paige is staring too and there’s an expression of want on her face that I recognize. Did I look like that the other night right before I threw myself at Kyle? I want to tell her to back off, but it suddenly occurs to me that I have no right to do that.
Kyle isn’t mine. We slept together once, and that was it. He’s here only because he seems to have a protective streak a mile long, a streak that he’s decided to wind around me for the time being. What does it matter if Paige wants to sleep with Kyle? It isn’t any of my business.
Except maybe it is a little because I saw him first. I’m the one that tasted his skin and felt his body all around me and within me. I feel myself ache at the memories, and I swallow with difficulty.
“Keep going?” I ask.
It does the trick; Paige tears her eyes away and hands the cards to Jonathan, who is beside her. She’s flushed and there’s a smile on her face that I don’t like.
Later, I won’t be able to say why I do it. But I wait until Paige is looking at me. And then I deliberately lean against Kyle, staring at her intently.
Her mouth drops in shock. Then realization crosses her expression. She leans back and I see the acceptance in her eyes.
That’s it, that’s the end of it. Paige won’t pursue Kyle, and that means Kyle is…
My thoughts stutter to a halt. Kyle is what, exactly? Mine? Because he isn’t, and it really isn’t fair that I just chased Paige off, especially if I’m not going to do anything about it.
Except…
Kyle leans back toward me. He doesn’t seem to realize he’s doing it, his eyes on the game. His skin is warm, which in turn heats mine as my arm presses against his.
Why can’t I do anything about it?
A distant part of my mind is exasperated at myself because a thought like this is exactly what caused us to tumble into bed the first time. I ignore it, however.
Because, suddenly, I’m really looking forward to the end of this party.
Chapter Twelve
Kyle
The door closes behind Jonathan and Susie, who can’t keep their hands off each other even as they leave through the door, and I laugh, stretching my hands over my head.
That…had been a surprisingly fun night. When I asked Allison if I could stay for her party, I hadn’t expected much. A little music, some snacks, maybe some chatting, that was it. I hadn’t expected to have fun.
But now, sitting in only my boxers and jeans, I realize that I did enjoy myself. I look over to Allison who is smiling as she looks around, clad only in her undershirt and a skirt. I flush as I remember she isn’t actually wearing any panties; rather than sit in only her underwear, the last piece of clothing she had taken off were her panties, shimmering them down from underneath her skirt, much to the amusement of her friends.
“Did you enjoy yourself?” Allison asks.
“Yeah,” I say. I glance at her clock. It’s one in the morning. Then I set my shoulders, determined. I don’t know if it’s the alcohol talking again, but there’s no way I’m leaving with the threat of Jesse around. “I’m taking your couch again.”
It isn’t a
question. No matter what Allison says next, I’m staying the night. I can’t drive my motorbike, and I can’t leave her alone.
Allison just smiles, however, and I relax.
“Yeah?” she says, and there’s a tone in her voice that instantly sets me on edge. “But wasn’t that uncomfortable?”
“It was fine,” I assure her. “I’ve slept in more uncomfortable places.”
“I’m sure,” she says. She’s stalking toward me, and my chest tightens uncontrollably. Damn, she’s beautiful. “But wouldn’t you rather be comfortable?”
“Uh…” I’ve lost my voice.
She grins at me and laughs. “Come on, my bed is big enough, we can share.”
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” I try.
There’s no way I can share a bed with Allison, not with the way my groin is already tightening. It would end in disaster.
“We’re adults, we can handle sleeping in the same bed,” Allison says, rolling her eyes. “Come on, already. I’ll feel safer with you there.”
Well, I can’t argue with that. I waver and then, against my better judgment, I follow her into the bedroom. She smirks at me over my shoulder, and I have the oddest feeling that I’m missing something.
Her room is as messy as I remember it being, and her bed is still unmade. I can’t help but smile at this; for a clever college student, Allison is incredibly unorganized.
“You tired?” I ask.
“Yeah,” she replies.
She doesn’t look very tired, I note as I follow her to the bed. Her eyes are bright and there’s expectation in every line in her body. But expectation for what?
I get my answer when we reach the end of the bed and she whips around. I catch sight of her grin as she plants both her hands on my bare chest and pushes, and I fall backward, confused by this sudden turn of events. Then she climbs onto the bed, swings a leg over me and sits, straddling me.
My body instantly wakes in interest. I stare up at her, my mind moving sluggishly due to all the beer I’ve consumed and the late hour.
“Did you see Paige looking at you?” she murmurs, leaning down to nip at my jaw.
