“We only keep the highest trophy from each event on the communal display shelves,” adds Lukas. He and Sebastian showme their shelves, and I really am impressed with the number of awards they’ve all gotten. And knowing that they have more in their rooms? I guess that happens when you’ve been competing since elementary school, but it’s still cool to know that they have all this to prove how good they are.
“Okay, movie time,” says Lukas, pointing to a different set of shelves, this one lined with movies. “Sebastian and Elliot can help you pick something, Rebecca, and Felix and I will go prepare the snacks.”
Sebastian pulls out a few movies and sets the cases face out on the shelf. I’d thought they were going to have me pick a superhero movie, so I was expecting something with Batman or Superman or another character I’d know, but none of these options appear to be superhero movies. In fact, they all look more like sci-fi than anything.
I shake my head and shrug helplessly at Elliot and Sebastian. “These are all new to me. Which would you recommend?”
“You’ve never seen any of these?” Sebastian looks downright shocked. It’s kind of amusing that me not having seen a couple of movies is the thing that shakes him to his core.
Even Elliot turns slightly to stare down at me in surprise.
I feel like I owe them an explanation. “Ronnie and I tend to mostly watch rom-coms, and I don’t watch a ton of movies on my own.”
“Well.” Elliot pauses and I’m not sure if he’s trying to assess how he feels about my ignorance or make a game plan for dealing with it. “Then I say we go with one of these two. They’re TV series, not movies, but we could watch an episode and see how you like it. This one is a classic, it’s set in space and has great phaser shootouts, and this one takes place on Earth and involves paranormal antiques.”
“And since they’re both series, we’ll be able to watch more episodes at future movie nights,” adds Sebastian. His optimism about the likelihood of a repeat of tonight is cute.
“Let’s do whichever series is longer, then.” I don’t know what more movie nights will look like in terms of interacting with them. Given my body’s response to Lukas’s leg touching mine in the car, there’s a good chance I’ll have to tap out of future hangouts just to keep myself from doing something embarrassing like kissing one of them just to see what it feels like. Especially with them having mentioned wanting to date me, allowing myself to explore my physical attraction to them feels like a terrible idea.
Both Elliot and Sebastian smile brightly as if I’ve just made their entire day.
Lukas and Felix return, carrying bowls of freshly popped popcorn and pretzels and a towering tray of nachos.
“You don’t have a movie queued yet?” asks Lukas, setting the popcorn on the coffee table.
“Are you still trying to decide on one?” Felix deposits the nachos next to the popcorn and begins to pull bottles of water out of the pockets of his hoodie.
I realize I’m still wearing Lukas’s sweatshirt. I should probably give it back, but it’s so comfortable I decide to keep it until it’s time to go home or he asks for it back, whichever comes first.
“Rebecca pickedStar Trekand said we can watch more episodes in the future, so we’ll have to arrange our movie night schedules to coincide,” says Sebastian as he puts the disc into the player. He sounds … almost proud? Like my agreeing to future movie nights is a huge win for them. And actually, it probably is.
Sebastian glances over his shoulder at me as the DVD player drawer closes. “We may have to pause the list we were workingon on our own, but I’m fine with it if it means we get to do more movie nights with you.”
Well, that’s incredibly sweet, not least because I get the feeling that breaking routine is not something Sebastian typically enjoys.
The guys all hover around the coffee table, arranging the snacks and drinks, then stand back and stare at me expectantly.
“Have a seat,” says Lukas, waving to the sofa.
I sit on the end, but they all look at each other and I fear I’ve done something wrong. “Should I move? Is this where one of you usually sits?”
“No, but …” Felix’s fingers twitch at his sides even though he’s not holding a cube. “Would you mind sitting in the middle? That way two of us can sit by you instead of just one.”
“It’s more fair that way,” says Sebastian, nodding.
“Oh. Sure. Sorry.” They all watch as I scootch over to sit as much in the middle as possible. I’m sitting right on the crack between two of the cushions, it’s the only way I think we’ll all fit. This is a decent size sofa for four people, but five will be a bit tight. There will be no way to avoid touching each other. That pulsing thrill between my legs begins to beat again at the thought.
Elliot and Sebastian slide in to sit next to me. I realize that they’re taking turns. Lukas and Felix already got to sit next to me in the car, so now it’s Lukas and Felix’s turn. Is this how they all date the same girl? By making it all a rotating schedule? They do like fairness, after all.
Lukas starts handing out plates. “Help yourself, Rebecca.”
They’re digging in and the popcorn smells incredible, so I scoop up some popcorn and pretzels. It’d be rude not to since they went to the store specifically to get it for me. I just hope I don’t get any kernels stuck in my teeth. Having to ask them fordental floss is a level of embarrassment I’m not sure I can handle tonight.
“All right, we’re all set,” says Elliot, clicking through on the DVD so the episode starts. “This is a utopian futurism science fiction about space explorers boldly going where no one has gone before.”
“Hey, no spoilers,” says Sebastian, cutting him off. “You’re going to ruin the episode for her.”
“I can’t believe you haven’t seen it before,” says Lukas, dishing some nachos onto his plate. “We feel lucky that we get to experience your first time with you.”
