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“That’s, uh, very interesting.” I couldn’t really form words. Ironic, considering my career was built on doing exactly that. I swallowed again, this gulp much louder than the last.
Gabriel chuckled and grabbed his phone. He went to the couch and sat down, leaning forward so his broad shoulders pushed against the fabric of his thin T-shirt. “If I do end up bothering you, just tell me and I’ll move.”
“I’ll poke you, how about that?”
“I might end up liking that,” he said, not looking up from his phone, but I could still hear the smirk through his tone.
I didn’t respond. I turned my attention back to cleaning and not to the rapid beating of my heart or the sweat that had started to form at the base of my neck. Was Gabriel flirting with me? And was it okay if I did it back? I wasn’t entirely sure if there was a rule against hooking up with clients.
I was getting ahead of myself. My romance-starved brain was simply latching on to the littlest things. Thirsty. That’s exactly what I was, and not in the way that would be helped by the glass of water I drank earlier. This thirst went a little deeper.
The rest of the house wasn’t too bad. A quick surface wipe down and some rapid-fire organization attempts made the mess move from the living room to my closet floor. Laundry could be done later, even though the overflowing hamper was beginning to scare me.
Still, I managed to finish up about thirty minutes before the first people started to show up. It was just enough time to pop open a beer and sit on the couch, where Gabriel and I scrolled through a feed of funny videos, sharing the ones we liked most with each other. It was interesting because his account had much more content around the military and cars, which were two of his bigger passions, but he did have some solid comedians that he followed, all of them either women or gay, which were the only comedians I normally found funny in the first place.
The doorbell rang as I showed him a video of the newest dance move. “You’re learning it with me,” I said as I got up to answer the door.
Noah and Jake stood on the other side, Jake holding up a bottle of Veuve champagne, the pink wrapping serving an instant serotonin hit. Steven was also with them, having hitched a ride with the smiley couple.
“How you feeling?” Noah asked after we broke from our hug, swapping Noah out for Steven. His hugs were also so tight and warm. Some people just knew how to hug, and Steven was one of them, his hands pressing tight against my upper and lower back.
“Good. Better now that you guys are here.” I welcomed them in, trying not to take a prolonged look out to the street. It was just a regular night, with the neighbors all home and my driveway beginning to fill up with cars. My house was located right in the center of a cul-de-sac. There weren’t many places to hide if someone was in fact watching me.
“Safety in numbers,” Jake said as he walked in and shrugged off his coat. “I’ve seen enough nature documentaries to know that.”
“Still doesn’t stop the lion from picking off the weakest one,” I rebutted.
“Well, that’s probably good news for you, then,” Noah said. “We all know I can’t run for shit. You’d smoke me.”
“I wouldn’t leave you behind,” I said, nudging my friend with a shoulder. “I already saved your life once. I think I could do it again.”
“Touché,” Noah replied. He shot me a wide grin and went with Jake to the kitchen to grab drinks. They greeted Gabriel with warm hugs as they crossed paths in the living room. He’d already met most of my close friends, but tonight, he’d be meeting the entire book club, and we’d grown pretty steadily over the last few months. I had to bring chairs in from the garage to fit us all for tonight’s meeting.
It didn’t take long for the rest of the crew to arrive. We settled in with our drinks and our books, and the laughter quickly filled the air, my friends able to lift my spirits in a way that was very much needed.
Too bad none of us knew just how bad things were about to get.
So much for it being a regular night.
4
GABRIEL FERNANDEZ
I just finished doinga lap around the house, coming back into the living room, where a lively discussion about penis size was going on. I would have been surprised if it hadn’t been brought up right before I left. Apparently, the book everyone was reading had to do with a man who was deeply ashamed of something, but the reader wasn’t made aware of what. There was also a killer on the loose, who seemed to be targeting the main characterbecauseof whatever the man had been ashamed of. It had been Yvette who suggested it: “What if he’s just got a monster dong?”
The room had burst into laughter and apparently got hung up on this man’s hang-up because they were still talking about it when I sat back down. I noticed Tristan shoot a glance in my direction. I gave him a reassuring nod and a smile, which seemed to ease some of the tension coiled up in his stiff shoulders.
The group was arranged in a rough semicircle in Tristan’s spacious living room. There were pillows on the floor, where some sat cross-legged while others took up space on the couch. A pile of snacks sat in the center of the group, with the donuts I had brought earlier nearly wiped out. Tristan leaned forward and grabbed a half-empty bottle of champagne, filling up his glass.
“I don’t know,” he said, attention turning toward him. “I think big dicks are actually really nice. Like there’s a beauty to them.”
I straightened my back and tried to ignore the flush of heat that spread through my core, as if someone flipped a switch inside me.
What the hell conversation did I just come back into?
And why does Tristan talking about big dicks turn me on?
Noah scoffed at that while Eric nodded his head. Those two were apparently the core of Tristan’s friend group, having been best friends since back when they were kids. Tia, Jess, and Yvette were also close to Tristan, from what I gathered, but the others were all either plus-ones or relatively new members of the friend group. Evan Wilson was the newest addition. He was Yvette’s boyfriend and seemed to be a man of very few words, having only spoken a couple of times throughout the night. Was he possibly being the only straight guy in the group making him uncomfortable?
