Johnny had a crush on Beth the moment he saw her. It was on the first night of the college year where Beth's roommate knocked on his apartment door.
"Hey, we want to meet everyone on the floor so come out and hang!"
Never the one to leave beautiful woman disappointed, Johnny rounded up his roommates and went outside. He sat next to the tall, athletically built woman with jet black hair smoking a cigarette.
"Hey, I'm Johnny nice to meet you."
"Hi, I'm Beth nice to meet you too Johnny. You don't go by John?"
"No, going by Johnny keeps me from growing up too fast. Plus everyone on my team calls me it anyway."
"Oh, what do you play?"
"Baseball and hockey."
"Oh nice. I play soccer."
"Nice. You look like a soccer player."
"Is that a compliment?"
"Do you want to be?"
"Um...yes."
"Then yes, it's the nicest compliment I can possible give."
The two laughed and talked throughout the night. They both had busy schedules, but Johnny always found excuses to see Beth. She made it clear that she probably did not have time for a boyfriend, and there was still someone back home whom she had feelings for, but Johnny still stuck it out. If it was not for the fact that they generally liked each other as people, Johnny may have stopped spending time with her. But the two shared similar personalities and had a very brother-and-sister like rapport.
Johnny's friend Lucy would often tease him for not being able to get a date with Beth.
"It's not like I haven't ask! If she only wants to 'hang' and not go on an actual date, then that's what I'm going to do." Deep down Johnny did not like the situation he was in, but he was just happy to be there, since he had witnessed firsthand how Beth treats men who she wants no part of...and it was not pretty.
Little did Johnny know, Beth would often get teased by
her
friends about not dating Johnny.
"C'mon!" would proclaim her roommate, Emma. "You two are like everyone's parents anyway. It makes sense for you too to start dating."
"I know, but I don't have
that
much time for a boyfriend."
"Neither does he. And don't you try to use that guy back home as a reason. Johnny is
here.
And he's hot!"
"Then you date him."
"Why do you not think he's hot?"
"No...I do."
"Well then, he's all yours. At least fuck him."
The closest Johnny and Beth every got to hooking up was grinding up against each other at a bar one night. They never eve kissed, but Johnny was satisfied with that level of contact. He never expected to hook up with Beth, which kept everything between them cool and collected. He definitely did not expect anything when he got a text from Beth the night before everyone at Eastern State left for break.
"Hey bud, I know a lot of people already left, but I have some friends swinging by so you should come over and get drunk with us, lol."
"You had me at 'bud'. I'll be there."
Johnny kept everything casual, as he usually did. He threw on a hockey jersey and a pair of cargo pants. He walked to Beth's apartment and knocked on the door.
"Heeeyyy you, come in" said Beth as she opened the door. She had her jet black hair down, something she rarely did. She had on a pair of jeans and a dark green tank top that ended just above the waist line.
"Has someone been hitting the sauce already?" said Johnny as he walked in the door.
"Don't judge me!"
"I never judge you, darling. It just means I have to play catch up."
The combination of alcohol and being referred to as "darling" caused Beth to blush a little. Beth introduced Johnny to everyone in the apartment and pointed him towards the beer. There were only about eight people at the party and Johnny only knew about three of them, including Beth. The guy versus girl ratio was almost even which meant as the night went on people might start pairing off. While all of the girls at the party were pretty and flirty towards Johnny, he was only there for Beth.
The first drinking game of the night was a round of Kings. Johnny always liked it because it got everyone involved and kept the drinks flowing freely. Every couple of rounds, while Johnny would be talking to someone else, he would glance over at Beth. Almost every time he would, he would catch Beth quickly looking away. Was she being shy around him? That was unlikely especially since alcohol tended to make people
less
shy. Still, what was going on in Beth's mind right now? Johnny was more than willing to wait and find out.
After Kings, a few people, including Beth, snuck out for a smoke break. Johnny didn't realize Beth left so he was confused when he couldn't find her in the small apartment. When she walked back inside, a smile came across his face.
"There you are! I thought I lost you."
"Aw, did you miss me?"
"Like the desert misses the rain, baby doll."
"Hehe, you're pretty smooth when you're drinking."
"I'm always smooth, drinking just enhances it. So what's next?"
"I think we're getting the beer pong table ready. Do you want to me my partner?"
"Do you want to win or lose?"
"Win."
"Then you should have me as your partner. You'll lose if you go against me."
"Oh really?"
"Yeah, it's a scientific fact."
"Oh well fuck you then, you can find another partner. It's on now!"
Johnny formed a team with Emma while Beth found a partner in one of the people he did not know, named Travis. Travis was wearing black suit pants, green dress shirt, red tie, and a black vest. Someone asked him why he was dressed so formally, to which his response was that he was "just dedicated to looking my best when I go out." From his gelled up hair, to his dress, to him only drinking the craft IPA that he brought and would describe to every person that would sample it, Johnny knew Travis as going to get on his nerves. Travis pairing up with his girl, Beth, was only going to make matters worse for him.
The game started out slow for both teams. Emma sank a cup early, and then Johnny followed suit on the next turn to put his team up 2-0. It was then that Travis made his first comment of the game.
"Do you guys play the rule that if you get shut out, you have to take a lap around the table naked?"
"Uh...sure that could be fun" responded Beth.
"Well if that's the case, I'm going to start tanking to give everyone a show."
"If you have to tank a beer pong game to get a woman naked" said Johnny, "you have some serious problems, man." The room laughed.
"Oh I'd be the one putting on the show."
"Yes, because everyone would be looking at
you."
The room erupted in laughter and Beth put her hands over her face. He could not tell if she was once again blushing. Either way, Johnny felt good about making her laugh and felt a slight bulge in his pants at the thought of Beth naked.
As the game continued, Johnny and Emma went on a cold streak while Travis started to take over the game. With every cup Travis would hit, Johnny felt his competitive fire begin to burn brighter. With his team down one cup versus his team's three, Emma sank one cup while Johnny's shot missed, but bounced back to him and he managed to catch it before the ball hit the ground.
"Ok hot stuff" called out Beth. "Behind your back toss, let's see it."
"And if I make it, we win" responded Johnny.
"Yeah, but you won't."
Johnny took a deep breath, loosened his fingers and warmed up his wrist. He swung his arm behind his back and twisted his hips. He released the ball right before his wrist hit the other side of his body. Everyone in the room watched the ball glide through the air and splash water out of one of the cups. There was a brief second after the ball made it into the cup that was complete silence, before everyone erupted in cheers.
"Woo! What's up?!?" cheered Johnny as he threw both arms into the air. Emma jumped up and down, then jumped towards Johnny and gave him a loud high five. Travis had a stunned look on his face while Beth looked at Johnny across the table with a shocked smile on her face. Johnny gave her a wink and a finger gun.
"Never bet against me baby doll."
"Oh I'll never make that mistake again, dear" said Beth and she playfully blew a kiss to Johnny. Johnny caught the invisible kiss and put it in his pocket. Travis noticed that Beth was paying more attention to Johnny then him, and tried to interfere.
"Good try, partner we did our best" said Travis. He held his arms open for a hug and she loosely hooked her arms around his lower back. Travis held her close, and attempted to lock eyes with Johnny, as if he was letting him know he was marking his territory.
After letting go of Travis, Beth got two more beers, walked right past Travis to walk to Johnny, and handed him one of the beers.
"Aw you're so kind."
"I'm a gracious loser."
"Well I'm a gracious winner. Come on, lets hug it out, bitch."
Johnny put his arms around Beth and pulled her close. Beth put both arms tightly around his waist and reciprocated the hug. Johnny looked up and saw Travis looking in his sense of direction and felt a feeling of satisfaction. The next feeling he felt was Beth's hands rubbing across the top of Johnny's butt before playfully spanking it.
"Hey now!" proclaimed Johnny. "You can only do that if I can do the same to you."
"Fair." Beth put both hands on the table and hunched her ass in the air. Johnny licked the palm of his hand and gave a loud smack across Beth's backside. Everyone in the room, except Travis, laughed at the act.
The party began dwindling down, but Travis remained. Beth was near Johnny the entire night, but Travis was close by as he continued to try to swoon Beth. When Travis stepped outside for a cigarette, Beth let out a curse in frustration.
"Shit!"
"What?" asked Johnny.
"I want one last smoke for the night but freaking Travis just walked out."
"So?"