As if on cue, we heard a knock on our door. Mia looked at me questioningly.
"Fine," I said, "I may have already invited them. But I knew it would be a good idea!" I ran to the door in a lame attempt to dodge Mia, throwing it open quickly and gesturing grandly for Isaiah and Rian to enter.
"Boys! Welcome to Ruth and Dottie's Gin Mill, where a good time is guaranteed!" I smiled and stood aside, hugging them both as they passed. Isaiah was actually the one who started calling our home by that name, and to this day I'm still not sure if it's supposed to be a dig at our old lady names or our tendency to overindulge. Either way, I loved it.
Both Isaiah and Rian already knew Mia, Perry, and Rebecca, so I went to introduce them to Austin.
"Austin, you gotta meet a few people! This is Isaiah, he's one of my best friends and the only reason I haven't switch my major to something easier." I stood in front of Isaiah, pulling his arms around my waist to make him hug me from behind. I reached my left hand out towards Rian, pulling him towards me by his upper arm. I held his face close to mine, cradling his head like a grandma would do. I suppose it could have looked slightly sexual to an outside observer, but the dynamic was more zany than erotic. "And this," I said, turning to kiss his cheek while still hugging Isaiah, "is Rian. Rian is Isaiah's roommate and my... friend!" I tried to breeze over the awkward pause that came before the word 'friend,' but it probably didn't matter too much anyway; everyone but Austin knew we would never date one another. I pushed on, saying, "Isaiah and Rian, this is Austin. He works at Grounds now, too, and we actually have a few shifts together."
The guys bumped hands and did that weird half-hug back-slap thing, and I heard a knock on the door once again. This time I knew it would be Yael, Ruth's old friend from high school that actually happened to live in the same apartment building as Isaiah, Rian, and Matty. Given the large student population at our university, the shared connections and coincidences never failed to amaze me.
"It's so good to see you, Yael! How was Austria?" Yael had just returned from a semester-long study abroad program in Vienna, where she took a few specific classes for her double majors of German and Art History. Let's just say that Yael looked like an art chick. She had just about everything you could imagine pierced, but the jewelry was never intimidating; she typically wore diamonds or opals. She had beautiful (and natural) red hair and she rocked the standard "bisexual bob." If it was summer, she was wearing Birkenstocks and cutoffs; if it was winter, she was wearing a beanie and Doc Martens. Tonight was no different.
"Hey, Dot! Austria was amazing, I brought you and Ruth a little something, but I didn't want to bring it tonight." She said while giving me the standard European greeting of double cheek kisses.
"That's too sweet, thank you! Speaking of, Ruth is in the living room getting ready for Drunk Jenga. I think you've met everyone already, except maybe Rebecca. She's a freshman who works at Grounds with me. She's super cool, you'll like her. Can I get you a drink?" I rambled on as we walked through the house, hoping my secret intentions weren't showing. I knew from the moment I met Rebecca that she'd have to meet Yael as soon as she returned; they were both each other's type and fun as hell.
"I'd love a PBR, if you have one."
"Coming right up!" I rushed back to the kitchen, literally sliding across the linoleum floor in my socks. By the time I got back to the living room, Yael and Ruth were hugging and giggling, catching up on months of gossip. Everyone else was just waiting for us to start Drunk Jenga.
The rules of the game were pretty much normal Jenga, but you also have to complete the challenge that is written on whichever block you pull. So some blocks are simple and just tell you to take 5 sips of your drink, but others make the whole group engage in a game of sorts where the loser has to drink. Everything was going well until about 20 minutes in, when the dreaded "Truth or Dare" block was pulled. Now, everyone knows "Truth or Dare" is just an excuse to ask your friends about sex or make them do something vaguely sexual, meaning that I was pretty comfortable with it, but others were not. That's why I volunteered to go first. Plus, Perry pulled the block, and I knew their questions and dares wouldn't be terrible.
"Okay, Dot. Truth or Dare?" they asked, eyebrows wiggling suggestively.
"Dare."
"Hm, okay. Well, seeing as you already have one hickey on your neck, I dare you to have someone make it two."
My hand rushed to my neck, just then remembering it was visible. Austin and Rebecca looked at each other and laughed while Rian just smirked at me.
"Right now?" I asked. Perry nodded. "Right here?" They nodded again. "Okay fine, who?" Perry looked around and their eyes landed on Rian. Perry knew all about our casual hookups, and they took an educated guess when they asked, "Rian, I assume that is your handiwork?" I felt my face flush.
Rian laughed and nodded, adding, "Yeah, my bad, Dot." I saw Yael and Austin glance at him, a look of surprise on both of their faces. He was probably not who they'd imagined I'd be with.
"Alright, my friend, it's time for round two." Perry said encouragingly, pointing at me.
"Well I'm not sure a
real
round two would be appropriate for an audience, but I'll try to tone it down." Rian countered, setting his drink down, standing, walking around the table to me, and pulling me up. He slid both his hands into my hair and made two fists, pulling me in for a kiss with no hesitation. There was no slow build-up, no teasing; he just went right in with the kind of passion that makes you forget where you are. My hands went around his tight body and rested on the small of his back. His tongue claimed my mouth right away, and the kiss grew heated and hungry. I tried to remind myself of where I was, but a little moan escaped my mouth anyhow. Our audience started with little cheers, the occasional "ow-ow-ow" or whistle, until Perry shouted, "get to the hickey!"
I felt Rian chuckle against my mouth right before he pulled back and looked me in the eyes. His were already dark and dazed, and I'm sure mine looked the same. He started kissing across my cheek to my ear, where he nibbled and sucked for a while. He trailed down my jaw, eventually making his way to my throat. His placement was more visible from my front this time, since last night he had been kissing me from behind. I moaned again, and he gently pulled my arms from his body, gathering both of my wrists into one of his hands, holding it against the small of my back, while the other remained in my hair to position my head
"Fuck." I mumbled, loud enough to garner a few light laughs from the audience. Rian sucked on me hard, his tongue poking at me all the while. At this rate, I knew it wouldn't take long to leave a mark. A little gasp came from my lips when Rian bit me ever so gently, gripped my chin with his free hand, and forced me to look up. He stepped back as much as he could and inspected his work.
"What do you think Perry? Will that leave a mark?" He asked calmly, as if we had just done something as unsexual as a high-five.
"Uh..." Perry trailed off, "Yeah, yeah, that'll do."
Rian pulled my chin back down and kissed me quickly one last time before releasing me. I stood there, next to my coffee table completely bemused, and Rian returned to his spot and sat back down. We were all quiet for a second, hushed by the weight of arousal that was just laid on us.
The rest of the game was a little tamer. Mia pulled the "Strip" block and had to lose her shirt, Yael had to share her body count (3), and Isaiah confessed to having tried anal once. By the time the game ended, everyone was at least 3 drinks in and felt good enough to begin the hike to Goose's house, winter coats be damned.
Chapter 11
The music was loud, the sound coming from speakers that had been dispersed around Goose's house. No matter where you were you could feel the vibration in your body. At this point in the night, Isaiah and Mia had gone somewhere to "talk," and while I'm sure they did do plenty of that, there's no way it stopped there. Perry, Yael, and Rebecca were all participating in a Beer Pong tournament, for which I had convinced Yael and Rebecca to team up. I could tell from the second Yael walked in the door that she was into Rebecca. Yael tended to flirt with women by starting normal conversations, but she would find subtle ways to work in her sexuality within the first few minutes. Rebecca, on the other hand, tended to get very nervous and didn't speak much when she was flirting. As a result, I ended up guiding them through their first conversation of the evening on our walk over to the party.
"So, Rebecca, Yael just got back from Austria! She was there for a whole semester. Weren't you considering a study abroad biology research program in Germany?" I asked, standing between the two, linking arms with Rebecca to my right and Yael to my left.
"Yeah, I was. I mean, I still am... we'll see, it looks pretty tough. Plus, who even knows if I'd be okay so far from home." Rebecca explained.
"I was worried about the same thing, but I swear, you get so immersed in the city and all the crazy experiences. Like, literally the first week I was there, my host sister and I spent an entire day just checking out gay bars, it was incredible. I'd say that as long as you've been feeling okay at college this past year, you'll be fine for a study abroad." Yael reassured, straining her neck around me to look at Rebecca.
