Phillip is at his last fraternity meeting, and Danny is out with Lori. I’m home alone, lying on the couch in my PJs. I’ve been absentmindedly spinning an empty beer bottle on the coffee table while channel-flipping between 16 and Pregnant and Gossip Girl and drinking a couple of beers.
Well, maybe more like four or five.
I think I might be slightly depressed and, well, maybe getting slightly drunk, too.
Phillip opens the front door. I take a good look at him. Lori is right; he is so handsome.
My heart literally flutters every time I see him.
He walks into the living room and scans my row of empties. I watch the sexy backside of him as he walks to the kitchen, grabs a beer from the fridge, and then plops down on the couch beside me. He opens the bottle with Danny’s bottle opener that plays the NU fight song. My mind swirls back to dancing with him last night.
Maybe.
“What’s up with all the beer? Lose another boyfriend?”
I ignore his comment.
“Wanna play Spin the Bottle?” I surprise myself by asking.
“You know, it’s been a while since I’ve played, but aren’t there usually more than two players?” He squints at me, wondering what joke I’m trying to play.
“Yeah, stupid idea.” I sigh a little bigger than I should.
What the hell was I thinking?
“Hey,” Phillip says as he leans forward and holds both hands up in the air in front of his chest, “I said nothing about it being a stupid idea.” He gestures toward the bottle on the table. “Spin away. Hell, you don’t even have to spin. I’ll kiss you anyway. Do you want me to kiss you?”
“What about Moaning Monica?” I roll my eyes when I say her name.
In case you can’t tell, I don’t particularly care for her.
That girl is always moaning about something.
Usually me.
“Uh, well”—I get the feeling he would like to ignore the question—“it seems, she broke up with me today.”
“Why?”
He laughs. “Well, it might’ve had something to do with our wild dancing last night.”
“I didn’t realize it was wild.”
“Yeah. Well, what’s worse is that I didn’t even realize she was there. She never crossed my mind. I was having too much fun with you.”
“What did she say?” I’m trying hard not to smile and show my happiness about his unfortunate breakup.
Sorry, but, yay! That girl was not nearly good enough for Phillip.
“I don’t know.” He runs his hand back through his hair, leans back into the couch, and takes a pull off his beer. “It was something like, when she saw you and me dancing, she just knew that what she had always suspected and I always denied was true.”
“And what’s that?”
“That you and I have—and I quote,” he says while making quote marks in the air, “a ‘thing’ going on.”
“A thing?” I laugh.
“Yeah, a thing.”
“That’s ridiculous,” I say. “We’re just friends; we have been for a long time. I mean, God, somewhere, there are pictures of us as naked babies together. And we’re just, you know, comfortable around each other. We’re able to hang out and have fun without having things happen.”
Then, I stop and realize it’s not the first time I’ve heard this.
“Why does everyone think that?” I ask him seriously as I rest my chin on my fist. “I mean, I’ve done way more with Danny. How come no one ever accuses us of having a thing? I don’t get it.”
“Um, well, could it be the fact that I always seem to run out on my dates to rescue you, and he never does?”
“You’ve never done that, have you?”
“Princess …”
“No, I’m serious.” I put my hand on my chest. “I always take care of myself. I’ve never needed to be rescued.”
“Oh, really?” Phillip chuckles. “What about all the times you’ve had flat tires? Who has come and changed them? What about when you hit the deer or the time you ditched Richie Rich at winter formal or the time you had the huge fever and I had to take you to the hospital?” He pauses, giving me a grin. “Shall I continue?”
Okay, so he might be right.
And there is nothing I hate more than not being exactly right.
In fact, I’m getting a bit irritated right now.
“You didn’t have to come and do those things. I could have figured it out on my own. And I didn’t know you, like, left dates to do them. You didn’t have to do that. You could’ve been like Danny and said to just call Triple A or whatever.”
“I know I didn’t have to do it. I wanted to. I guess,” he states, sweetly looking at me with his adorable brown eyes, “like you”—he pauses and stares intently at me—“I haven’t met anyone who makes me want to stay with them more than I want to go and rescue you. What can I say?” He rolls his eyes at me. “You’ve made me play your knight in shining armor for so long that I just can’t seem to get it out of my system.”
God, he is adorable.
He laughs lightly and looks at me. I can tell by the intensity in his eyes what he is about to say is important.
He puts his hand on my knee and leans toward me. “Seriously, you are kinda special to me.” Then, he adds sneakily, “Now, speaking of Spin the Bottle, should I start?”
“Would you really kiss me, Phillip?” I ask, scrunching up my nose.
“I think I might be able to be persuaded.” He grins, grabs my arm, and throws it up over his shoulder. “Wanna try to persuade me?”
My face is so close to his. I could easily start kissing him. I’d only have to lean forward just a bit.
“No. I mean, really? What if we kissed and then we dated and then you got mad at me and ended up hating me like most of my other boyfriends? I couldn’t stand to lose my best friend. I’m going to bed,” I decide suddenly, getting up off the couch and walking quickly toward my room.
“So, you want to play the game in there, huh?” Phillip asks with laughter in his voice as he nods his head toward my bedroom.
“No!”
Then, I hear him chuckling behind me, and it makes me mad because that boy knows all too well how to get under my skin.
