Best Friends Since Kindergarten

The Game

AMY

Ryan raised his eyebrow at Andres. “What were you thinking?”

“If I win, I get to go on a date with Amy, minus your chaperoning. You win, I’ll back off after tonight.” The air felt immeasurably hot all of a sudden. Ryan scowled, all semblance of humor vanishing for a moment.

“Deal,” he said. Andres grinned wickedly.

“GRUDGE MATCH FOR THE CHEER CAPTAIN!” Susan yelled dramatically. I winced as a crowd of drunk jocks and cheerleaders started to form around the table. People were telling each other what the argument was over- I kept hearing my name. I shivered, folding my arms across my chest and closing in on myself a little. I didn’t like being the name on everyone’s lips. At least, I didn’t like it like this. I slunk over to Ryan, who was talking to Daniel at his end of the table.

“Ryan, this is really dumb,” I hissed at him. He turned around and grinned at me. “I don’t want to do this.”

“Worried he’ll lose?” Daniel asked.

“Where’s the faith in me?” Ryan added, feigning hurt.

“Too late to end it now,” Daniel chuckled.

Ryan put his hands on my shoulders and looked down at me. “It’ll be fine, Ames.” I scowled at him. “Besides… I’m pretty sure if you said no he’d be a gentleman about it anyway. There isn’t a downside.” I frowned at him worriedly. He tugged me in for a tight hug. “Seriously. It’s just a game.”

“Fine,” I grumbled. I wrapped my arms around him for a moment, deciding to just let it be. Ryan was probably right about Andres… and it would be easier if Andres stopped trying to woo me. (Though I wished he would take a step back because I asked him to, not because he and Ryan had an agreement.) I realized that the crowd was jeering at us, teasing me for having already picked a winner. I blushed and quickly scurried back to Susan’s side. Most of the party was crowded around the dining room table now. Susan flipped a coin to decide order of play- it landed on tails so Andres was the first throw.

 I watched the game with a sick feeling in my stomach. Andres and Ryan were shockingly evenly matched. The basketball team was teasing Ryan telling him he should try out. He waved them off good-humoredly, mellowed out by the beer. Andres on the other hand seemed less mellow than ever- his expression only got more severe the longer the game went on. The guys went back and forth until they each only had one cup left. It was Andres’s turn.

He tossed the ping pong ball and it sank in Ryan’s cup. I felt sick. “Don’t worry,” Susan whispered in my ear. “Ryan still has his last turn. If he sinks it, it’s a tie and they both lose.” Ryan chugged his last cup of beer, then got ready to throw. He aimed carefully and tossed it straight into Andres’s cup. Andres scowled and downed the beer. Everyone around cheered, excited to see an upset.

“Rematch?” Andres asked.

“Don’t be a sore loser,” Ryan laughed.

“You scared I’ll win?” Andres taunted. Ryan’s eyes flashed.

“Just would rather do something more interesting with my night,” he drawled. Andres glowered.

“Let’s play something else!” Rob’s voice shouted, earning cheers from the drunk crowd.

“Truth or dare?” someone else called out.

“KINGS!” Susan shouted. People cheered again. Ryan smirked at Andres, who scowled, but held his hands up in surrender. I let out a breath that I hadn’t realized I’d been holding in. The crowd shifted, Susan pulling me along with it as we poured back into the living room. Susan spread out a couple packs of cards in a circle and Daniel put a vase in the center.

“Anyone who wants to play, pour some of your drink in!” Daniel called. People surged forward, but this time I was able to hang back, heading to the kitchen to get another drink. I’d gone through two whole bottles nervously sipping my way through the game of beer pong. I had just opened my third drink, when Andres was standing next to me. I looked up at him in surprise.

“Sorry,” I told him anxiously. He chuckled and ruffled my hair.

“Not you I’m mad at,” he promised.

“But you are mad?” I asked.

“Oh most definitely. But then, that’s why I worded the challenge the way I did.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, shifting uncomfortably.

“’After tonight’,” he quoted. My eyes widened as I realized what he meant. I backed up until I hit the counter about a foot away. He chuckled.

“Look, Andres, I don’t-“ He put a finger to my lips to stop me talking, now towering over me.

“All I’m saying is, don’t forget you have other options. Ryan’s not the kind of guy who picks someone to stick with long. And when he leaves, I’ll still be here,” Andres murmured, grabbing hold of my chin.

“Andres-“

“Shh,” he whispered, then leaned down and hungrily pressed his lips to mine. My brain shut down. I was paralyzed. He stepped back after a moment and gave me a wave. “Later, Amy.” He slipped back into the crowd outside the kitchen. I stood there, frozen in place. Then Giselle was next to me, squealing.

“Oh my god he kissed you!” she practically shrieked in my ear. “You guys will be so cute toge-“

“Giselle!” I cut her off abruptly. “That was NOT cute. That was shitty and gross and-“

“What was shitty and gross?” Ryan’s voice came from in front of me as he pushed his way into the kitchen. Giselle and I both went silent.

“I’m going to run to the bathroom,” Giselle sang nervously and quickly ran off.

“Amy?” he asked worriedly, looking at my face. “Were you talking about me?” he asked carefully.

“No!” I gasped, grabbing hold of his shirt and tugging him closer to me. “I just- I don’t want there to be more drama.”

“More drama?” he raised an eyebrow at me.

“If I tell you, you have to promise me you won’t do anything about it.”

“Ames, I’m not gonna make that promise,” he said flatly.

“Then I can’t tell you,” I told him. He frowned at me.

“Seriously, Amy?” I chewed on my lower lip.

“Look, I can’t tell you here at least,” I finally conceded. “It’s really not a big deal. Just… please don’t leave me alone again tonight,” I murmured, wrapping my arms around him and pressing my face into his chest.

“Amy,“ he said softly, stroking my hair. He sighed. “Fine I promise not to do anything crazy. Just tell me what happened. You’re scaring me.”

“I would rather just be happy with you right now, if that’s okay,” I told him. He sighed, running his hand through his hair.

“Fine,” he said. He grabbed another beer and popped it open, then grabbed hold of my hand and tugged me back into the living room. A couple of people stood up from playing Kings, leaving one of the armchairs open. He pulled me over to the chair, a mischievous look on his face.

“What are you thinking?” I asked with a laugh.

“Just how scandalized Rob and Lucy will be when they see this.”

“See what?”

Ryan sat down in the chair and gently yanked my arm, neatly tugging me down into his lap. He wrapped an arm around my waist, pulling my back against his chest. He pressed a kiss to my neck and I shivered at his touch. We sat and watched everyone play Kings for a little while, me sinking further and further into his lap as I relaxed. He stroked my hair back from my neck to give me another kiss. I giggled at him, pressing my forehead against his for a moment, then turning back around to take another drink of my beer. I felt like I was floating. There was a nice soft buzzing in my body everywhere that it touched Ryan. He was whispering things in my ear about how beautiful I looked and how perfect I was and how long he’d wanted to kiss me. His hot breath in my ear made me shudder with pleasure. I blushed and laughed, resting my head against his chest. I looked up from him across the room and spotted Andres, watching. I tensed for a second and quickly looked away, instead choosing to watch Rob and Lucy dancing. Ryan massaged my shoulder gently, sensing my sudden tension. “You okay?” he whispered to me softly.

I leaned into his touch. “Better than okay,” I murmured, letting my eyes close for a moment and drinking him up. I could stay with him like this forever. When we had drained our beers, I somehow managed to convince him to come dance with me. I practically hauled him over to the part of the living room where people were dancing.

Ryan was a really awkward dancer, I rapidly discovered. I loved it. I rarely got to see him feeling anything but completely confident. I grabbed hold of his hands and made him dance along with me, tugging him deeper into the crowd. He laughed and let me lead. I put his hands on my hips and twined my arms up around his neck and pressed against him as we danced, not caring that I was singing along like an i***t. Somehow Lucy and Rob found us in the crowd. Or we found them. To be honest, I’m not really sure how we all ended up back together. I reluctantly gave Ryan some space so the four of us could dance together. Ryan kept hold of one of my hands so he could spin me and spin me until I couldn’t do anything but laugh. I stumbled, dizzy from all the spinning, and fell against him. He chuckled and held me upright. I looked up at him through my lashes and was rewarded with him blushing. I suddenly realized what I wanted.

I tugged on Ryan’s hand, pulling him with me through the crowd to a closet I’d spotted near the front door. I opened it and peeked inside. Not seeing anyone, I turned and grinned at Ryan, backing in and bringing him with me.