“Damn near,” Mina grumbled, frowning at the table.
Danny laughed, but Nicole had a good time displaying her pool prowess in front of her lover. Of course, her swagger caused her to mess up because she tried a trick shot. She cursed under her breath and went to stand by her lover, as Clara went to the table to shoot.
“Are you all pool sharks?” Danny asked, as Clara cleared the table. “Maybe I should just fetch drinks or something,” she quipped with a smile.
They didn’t take up her offer and Danny stayed for a few more games. She was the worst player amongst them, and Nicole felt bad that her baby had barely sunk any balls. But, Danny seemed to be having fun, smiling through the whole thing. She even joked about her bad playing.
“How about we go see if some bowling lanes are open?” Clara said, once the game was over.
“There’s a bowling alley in here, too?” Danny had already seen the arcade part when they walked through rows of new and classic video games to get to the pool tables.
“Just a few lanes. Let’s go see if we can get one.” Nicole took her lover by the hand and pulled her away. Her friends followed behind.
They were given a number and directed where to watch for notice that their lane was open. They had a few people ahead of them, so they went to kill time at the air hockey tables. Danny had never played.
“Sweetheart, seriously, you’ve never played air hockey before?” Nicole asked as they stood at a table. It was clear her lover had no clue what to do because she didn’t even know how to hold the mallet.
“Nope.” Danny grinned.
“Why not? You’ve been to an arcade before, right?” Nicole inquired.
“Yeah, but I always play the video games, pinball, and junk like that. Never played anything requiring more than one person.”
“Of course,” Nicole laughed. “I’ll take it easy on you until you get the hang of it.”
Danny laughed and they began playing. She showed signs of getting the hang of air hockey after a couple of games, just when it was time to go bowl. Nicole figured they could go back to hockey after bowling.
“This bowling alley is really…neon.” Danny squinted a bit as she tried to take it all in. The lanes were dark, but there were plenty of lights, including the pins that glowed yellow, pink, and orange. Markers on the lane were all the same colors.
“It’s supposed to make it feel like a club,” Nicole replied.
“Although, it makes no sense for them to make the bowling alley look like a club, when the upstairs is an actual club,” Clara shook her head.
They all grabbed balls as they piled onto their lane. Mina put their names onto the screen, and they got started. Danny proved to be much better at bowling than pool or air hockey.
“Yo, she is kicking our asses! Can I win at something?” Mina playfully complained, as Danny picked up another spare.
“Serves you right for putting us up there in age order,” Clara huffed, folding her arms across her chest. She was the first to go because of that order.
Mina only smiled, having the nerve to look innocent. Clara sucked her teeth and rolled her eyes before taking her turn to bowl. Mina made a mocking face at her back.
“Don’t think I don’t know what you’re doing, Mina. You’re such a child sometimes,” Clara said.
“I’m a child says the woman being petulant over having to go first,” Mina countered.
“I’ll get us some drinks to calm Mina down,” Nicole proposed. “You want anything, Big Dog? Some ice to cool your hot streak perhaps?”
Danny stuck her tongue out at the redhead. “Soda’s fine. Hurry back.”
Nicole nodded and trotted off to the nearby bar. The bar was surprisingly clear, so she ordered quickly. While waiting for the glasses, a distinguished looking man stood next to her. She glanced at him, but didn’t pay him any mind. So, of course, he started talking to her.
“Hello,” he said with a smile.
“Hello,” she replied to be polite.
“Here by yourself?”
“Not hardly. And just so you know, asking a woman a question like that is quite creepy.” To her surprise, he laughed. Why is that funny? It’s the truth.
The creep smiled. “Maybe you could help me with that. I could ask you a series of questions and you could tell me if they’re good or not.”
She had to push down the urge to vomit. “I don’t think my girlfriend would like that,” she smirked. She hoped that would get him to leave her alone.
“I’m sure your friend won’t mind you going out to dinner with a handsome guy,” the creep said, still confidently smiling.
“Considering the fact that she put a ring on it, I think she would mind.” She waved her hand in front of his face for him to see her promise ring. The bartender snickered, but was obviously trying to avoid laughing.
The creep blinked hard as he took in the ring, and his confident expression fell. He had the nerve to glare at her.
“You’ve got to be kidding me. You’re a dyke,” he huffed; quite offended by her if the look in his eyes meant anything.
“Yes. In fact, I think speaking with you might have been the cause of my lesbianism. I’m sure it happens a lot around you.” She didn’t like his attitude. How dare he insult her after coming onto her. All she’d wanted was to get her drinks, return to her friends, and enjoy her night with them. The bartender snickered again and didn’t bother to hide it that time.
The creep growled, but didn’t get the chance for a retort. The bartender stepped back over with Nicole’s order, coming between Nicole and her unwanted admirer. The bartender winked at Nicole.
“I’d quit while I was ahead if I were you, buddy. I’m pretty sure the tall one is her girlfriend, and she could probably snap you in half.” The bartender warned the creep, nodding to the trio on the bowling lane. He didn’t look pleased with that information. Nicole took the chance to escape, having already paid for the drinks.
***
It was Nicole’s turn to bowl. Dane and the others looked over to the bar, ready to call her back to them. They all stopped when they saw a guy talking to Nicole.
“You’re not going to go punch him in the face or something, are you?” Mina asked the musician.
Dane scoffed. “Don’t need to. Nick’s mine.” She didn’t have to go all peacock over some guy. She wasn’t that insecure. Now, if he touched Nicole, then things might change.
Mina opened her mouth, possibly to argue. But, her mouth closed with a pop as Nicole briskly walked away from the guy. Obviously, she expected her friend to just put up with the guy, which Nicole would’ve done in the past. Returning to the group, Nicole put the drinks down on a small table.
“Is it my go?” Nicole met their stares with a curious expression.
“Yeah,” Dane answered.
“Nicole, was that guy at the bar hitting on you?” Mina asked.
“I’m sure he thought so, but he was really pathetic.” Nicole grabbed her ball.
“Usually, you’d let the guy talk your ear off,” Mina said.
“There’s no reason to listen to him ask me out since I’m happily in a relationship with Danny.” Nicole rolled her first ball.
Mina smiled and walked over to Dane. She quickly gave Dane a handshake, silently thanking her. Dane wasn’t sure what the thanks were for, and didn’t ask. It was clear Mina didn’t want to talk about it. Dane let it go and focused on bowling.
After bowling, Dane wandered away from the group. They were at an arcade and she had to play certain games: pinball, a fighting game, and some racing games to be exact, or she’d feel cheated. She lost track of time.
“Baby, here you are. We were wondering where you wandered off to.” Nicole stood next to Dane’s seat.
“Wanted to play some video games while we’re here.” She shrugged and saw Nicole nod out of the corner of her eye.
“So, you can drive a car in a video game, but I’m the chauffeur in real life?” Nicole tittered.
&
nbsp; “Trust me, if you saw my last couple of games, you’d probably not want me next to the car, never mind in it, and you’d never think of me driving, ever again.”
“Does your leg really bother you that much?”
“I’m not sure how to explain it. Sometimes my leg and foot press harder than it feels. Other times, they don’t respond as much as I think they are. It’s weird.” She supposed it was the nerve damage, but she couldn’t be sure. They were silent for a few seconds. “Wanna play?”
Emerald eyes blinked. “Play?”
“Yeah. Have a race with me.” Dane tilted her head toward the empty chair to her left.
Nicole shrugged. “What the hell. After all, you played a bunch of games with me.”
Dane smiled and nodded. Nicole eased into the seat next to her, and Dane put several tokens in the machine. Nicole picked a car and they began racing.
“What the hell? The steering for this car is awful!” Nicole complained as she crashed into a wall. She hit the steering wheel with the heel of her hand before hastily trying to get back on track.
Dane laughed until her car flipped. “Son of a bitch!”
“Is the steering on your car just as bad as this?”
“The steering’s loose on all of these, but the thing killing me is that the damned gear shift isn’t right.”
“Gear shift? You’re driving a stick?”
“Always do.”
“How do you know how to drive a stick? Hell, who even taught you to drive? A friend?”
“Kinda. The crew I hung out with as a teen just gave keys to people, despite their age or if they had a license. I had driven dozens of times before I was fifteen. At night, drunk, and high.”
Nicole scoffed. “God really does protect fools and babies.”
“I guess I had double the protection back then. I don’t know how I never had an accident. Anyway, when I was old enough, I went out and got my license because, for some reason in my head, it was worse to be stopped and not have a license than it was to be stopped and be totally intoxicated on all types of shit.” It still made no sense to her, but it did make sense, somehow.
Shaking her head, Nicole chuckled just a bit. “Only you, baby. So, how did you learn to drive a stick? Just by observing?”
“Knew a few people with stick shifts that showed me what to do when they were sober. Guess they realized they didn’t want people fucking up their rides. Of course, they showed me a lot more when they were drunk and tended to mess up their rides on their own.”
Nicole nodded. “Did you ever own a car?”
“Nah. Never needed one.”
“Or wanted one?”
Dane laughed. “That too. Video game cars are more than enough for me.”
Nicole giggled and they continued racing. She was as bad at racing as Dane had been with air hockey, but they played on. Eventually, Mina and Clara found the couple and joined the races. Clara was surprisingly talented, but she admitted she played such games with her son.
“I think you practice this video game thing,” Mina accused Clara after she won several races. The group rose from their seats, ready to do something else.
“I need to practice,” Nicole said.
“You did crash a lot.” Dane put her arm around the redhead’s waist. “We can practice at home.”
“Please, when you two go home, we all know you won’t be practicing video games.” Clara smirked.
“Practicing baby making if anything,” Mina joked.
“No more drinks for Mina,” Nicole stated.
“I only had one,” Mina protested.
“And that’s all you’re going to have since you need to drive home. I’m not calling Shawn to come get you, and you know Clara will leave you sitting in your car to teach you a lesson,” Nicole pointed out.
Mina had no response to that, so Dane assumed it was true. She couldn’t believe someone as nice as Clara would leave one of her best friends. But, Mina smiled, so Dane assumed it wasn’t a big deal. The friends seemed to be enjoying each other. Mina even led them off to Skee-Ball.
They didn’t drink any more liquor, which was really the only thing that made the place “mature,” aside from the fact that only adults were allowed inside. Dane supposed the dim atmosphere and club music helped, but she didn’t consider those things mature. Clara did say that there was a club upstairs, so that might’ve been the thing that made it mature, but she didn’t see why that should affect the arcade. She stopped thinking about it as they moved on to the next activity.
***
“Did you have fun?” Nicole asked as she and Danny prepared for bed. They had come home late that night…or early that morning, depending on who was asked.
“Yeah, it was cool. I still feel a little weird hanging out with your friends. I mean, you don’t hang out with Crow or Terri,” Danny replied from the bed, rubbing lotion on her arms and legs.
Nicole was in the bathroom, going through her own skin care regime, which was much more intense and extensive.
“You’re right, but they want to include you. They want to show their approval of you. You’re the only person I’ve ever been with that they ask me to bring around. Plus, they like being around you. And, for the record, I don’t hang out with your friends, because you don’t hang out with them when I’m around. Crow’s invited me places before, and Terri only comes here because all you two do is play video games. So, it’s not really weird. Do you want me to tell my friends to stop because you feel uncomfortable?” Mina and Clara would probably be a little hurt if Danny didn’t want to hang out with them. They really did like her.
There was silence for a moment. “No, you don’t have to. If you don’t mind it, then I’m okay with it. Just tell me if it ever gets annoying to you to have me around when you want to be with your friends.”
“I doubt it will, but I’ll keep that in mind.”
Nicole had joined Danny in bed, the lights were out, and the couple settled in against each other. They exchanged a few kisses.
“Today was a good day,” Danny whispered.
“We’ll have a few more like this since I have a free month as far as school is concerned,” Nicole replied.
“Does that mean you’ll play video games with me?” Danny looked so hopeful.
Nicole laughed. “Well, I do want to stop crashing so much.”
That response put a smile on Danny’s face. She fell asleep with that smile lighting up her features. Nicole couldn’t help herself and tenderly kissed her sleeping girlfriend.
“I think we’ll do a bit more than play games while we have the time.” Nicole spoke to the air; but Danny continued smiling, as if she approved of Nicole’s plan.
Sling
IT WAS NEW YEARS’ Eve, and Dane found herself inside her home on the holiday, for the first time in a long time. She didn’t mind. In fact, she had been the one to push for it. Nicole hadn’t fought her very hard when she mentioned staying in. The redhead had seemed somewhat relieved by the suggestion.
Dane wondered if Nicole was as exhausted as she was from the passing holidays. Christmas Eve and Christmas had done Dane in. The shopping leading up to those holidays had definitely helped in tiring her out. This was her second Christmas with Nicole, but her first with Nicole’s family. It was Dane’s first time shopping for more than one person, which was nerve wracking itself, without the additional worry of wondering if everyone would actually like what they received. Dane had freaked out several times during the month of December.
She doubted December really troubled Nicole, beyond having to worry about her and the fact that she freaked out throughout the month. Nicole was used to spending the holidays with her family and shopping for her family. Dane was willing to bet it was last New Years’ Eve that made her angel eager to stay home more than anything else.
“What do you want to do to ring in the New Year?” Nicole plopped down on the sofa and quickly, she cuddled into Dane. The musician wasted no time wrapping her arms around Nicole
and pulled her closer.
“What did you have in mind?” Dane nuzzled her lover’s soft neck. Taking a moment, she breathed in the soft, light scent of Nicole’s body lotion. Just underneath that, she picked up the delightful aroma that was all Nicole and made her neck very tempting. She placed several light kisses to the area.
Nicole giggled. “Hot chocolate.”
Dane blinked and pulled back to look at her girlfriend’s face. “Hot chocolate? Are you serious? It’s New Year’s.”
A small smile lit up Nicole’s features. “I know, but I’m in the mood for hot chocolate with lots of whipped cream.” She licked her lips at the thought of the sweet drink.
Dane laughed. She should’ve known her lover was serious. She still couldn’t understand how, out of the two of them, she was the pudgy one. Nicole’s sweet tooth ruled her. Dane guessed that going to the gym paid off, even though that idea was definitely not enough to get her in a gym.
“At least I know this break from tradition isn’t because we got drunk last year,” Dane said.
Nicole chuckled. At the last New Year’s celebration, Nicole had half a glass of champagne and Dane had only had a sip. That sip had completely scandalized Nicole, who seemed to think Dane even being around alcohol would cause her to flip out. Dane understood; New Year’s had come so shortly after she had abandoned Nicole only to return high, drunk, and injured. For a long time, Nicole didn’t seem to want her to even look at alcohol. Dane had obliged for the most part.
“You know, I was so tempted to give you white grape juice,” Nicole admitted with a guilty expression.
“I was surprised you didn’t. I expected you to do something like that,” Dane replied with a shrug. “I would’ve accepted it,” she added in a low voice before kissing Nicole’s temple. She would’ve done anything, as long as Nicole stayed with her.
“I know you would’ve. I want what’s best for you, but I don’t want to control you. I definitely don’t want to baby you, like you thought I was doing.”
Dane nodded. “I wouldn’t have took that as babying.” While she had some trouble figuring out how to let Nicole take care of her, something like alcohol, she would’ve understood was a reaction to her overall bad behavior. Dane deserved that reaction.
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