“Anyone want something to drink?” Jake asked. “Beer, wine, water, tea?”
I went with iced tea, and Clark did too. Jake had a beer, Jesse and Seth wine, and Dane stuck with water.
We made plates and chatted for a while, sitting around the table. They were all friendly and engaging with Clark, asking what he did and how we knew each other. I sat back and simply watched. It was cool to see him interact with my friends, to spend time with him this way, now that we were friends in a different way than we had been as kids, because our lives were actually entwining.
When we finished eating, Jesse said, “So…we playing or what? I’d sort of like to kick Skylar’s ass in front of his friend.”
Dane rolled his eyes.
Seth and Jake chuckled.
Clark looked back and forth between Jesse and me.
I huffed. “You wish, pretty boy.”
“Well, yes, I am pretty, but that’s beside the point.”
I flipped him off.
“They’re pretty competitive with each other,” Dane said.
“They had a contest on who could do splits better,” Seth added.
“Who won?” asked Clark.
I said, “Me, of course. Duh. I can’t believe you doubt me.”
“Because he cheated! He was in gymnastics his whole life.”
“That’s not cheating, sweetie.”
“We’ll start with cards.” Jake grabbed the deck and began to shuffle.
Clark leaned over, his breath against my cheek, and asked, “What are we playing?”
I trembled…fucking trembled. Why? “Go Fish,” I replied.
Clark laughed, but when no one joined him, he said, “Are you serious?”
“I’m very serious about Go Fish. Also, poker is dumb because I suck at it.”
Everyone laughed.
Jake dealt the cards. Seth went first. We went down the line, one after another. Jesse and I were the clear front-runners, with most sets of matching cards, and now it was his turn. I really wanted to beat him. He looked…thought…
“Is it me, or is anyone else nervous?” Seth teased.
Clark let out a loud snort-laugh, then immediately slapped his hand over his face. When I nudged him, saying, “It’s okay, baby. We all do it,” he sucked in a breath and…well, maybe choked on air? I couldn’t say, but I patted his back. I could tell he was embarrassed, but he was a good sport about it. I wasn’t sure what I’d said to freak him out, but obviously, it had been something.
“Are you two lovebirds done yet?” Jesse asked.
“Stop trying to get under my skin,” I told him.
Dane added, “If you guys don’t finish, we’re gonna play something else without you.”
Jesse was watching me again. “Do you have any…eights?”
“Go fish, motherfucker!”
I took my turn after that, which led me to winning the game.
“Goddamn it!” Jesse cursed.
“Maybe next time,” I told him. When I looked over, Clark was watching me with a strange, confused expression on his face. I winked, then reached over and squeezed his thigh in support. Of what, who knew, but it was a good excuse. “What are we playing next?”
18
Clark
Okay, Skylar’s friends were pretty fun and…also weird. Go Fish? Really?
After playing a round of dominoes, which Seth said they played a lot with Jake’s mom and her boyfriend, they were now setting up Cards Against Humanity.
“Uh-oh, things are about to get vulgar and irreverent,” Skylar said as Jesse pulled out the black box. “I might need a new drink for this.”
“Me too,” I replied, and everyone laughed.
I stood up to grab my first beer of the night and to fill a wineglass for Skylar. I liked that these guys paced themselves where drinking was concerned, like there was more to life than getting wasted. That hadn’t always been the case with some of the guys I’d dated.
I also didn’t think I’d ever laughed so much in one night. Who knew hanging with a roomful of gay friends would feel freeing in a way I hadn’t experienced before. I’d certainly had to curb myself—my gayness—in other mixes of friends. Or really just acquaintances. So I had to admit I was jealous of the relationships these guys had, and couldn’t help watching their interactions.
Maybe that was why Skylar kept looking at me strangely—and hopefully not because I was acting as awkward as I felt when we first arrived. I’d been pretty nervous, but they’d instantly made me feel welcome.
“Here you go,” I said, sliding into my seat and setting Skylar’s wine in front of him.
“Thanks.” He squeezed my knee beneath the table, making gooseflesh rise on my skin again.
For a brief moment I entertained the idea that Skylar and I were a real couple here as opposed to a fifth and sixth wheel. But that was only a passing thought and not something I should’ve even been considering, at least not with Skylar.
He absolutely wasn’t my type. In fact, the sort of guys I normally went for were sitting across the table from me in the form of Dane and Jake. Bigger stature, more masculine, and maybe that was the reason why I couldn’t stop watching how sweet they were with Jesse and Seth.
I must’ve tuned out the conversation because the next thing I heard was Jesse proclaiming that Dane threw off a lot of heat in the middle of the night.
“You’re like a furnace,” he complained, and Dane answered by wrapping him in his arms and kissing his head while Jesse pretended to squirm in his embrace.
“See, I wouldn’t mind that because I’m always cold,” Seth said, snuggling up to his own guy, who no doubt kept him plenty warm.
I motioned with my thumb to Skylar. “Well, this one always steals the covers, so…”
Skylar scoffed. “I do not.”
“How would you know? You’re asleep while you’re hogging them,” I replied, and suddenly realized the entire table had grown silent.
“Wait, you two share a bed?” Jesse said, his eyebrows shooting to his hairline.
Ah shit, maybe I shouldn’t have admitted that out loud. I could feel my skin heating as I scrambled. “No, we—”
“It just became a thing,” Skylar explained. “We’d chat or watch a movie, and then I’d be too lazy to move back to my own bed.”
“Oooh, Jesse and I did the same sometimes, when we were roommates,” Seth said in an excited tone.
“Seth loves to snuggle,” Jesse added, and my gaze shot to their guys, both of whom remained nonchalant. “It was strictly a friend thing.”
“Well, we don’t snuggle, just sleep,” I replied, driving home the point so they didn’t think anything different.
“So why not kick him out of bed if he constantly steals the covers?” Dane asked in a teasing voice.
“Good question,” I muttered, feeling a flush crawling over my cheeks.
“Hey, who wouldn’t want to sleep with me? I’m awesome.”
I rolled my eyes. “Sure, when you’re not snoring.”
Skylar gasped. “That is a lie! I’m not sleeping with you ever again! Even if your bed is way cozier than mine.”