As always, please feel free to comment or send messages letting me know if you like my work or what I could improve on. I love hearing from you!
***********************************************************************************
It had been one of those nights--the slow, ego-bruising grind of rejection after rejection. Tony went first, making a play for a girl in a leather jacket. He came back two minutes later, shaking his head. "Not feeling the vibe," he muttered, classic Tony confidence masking the sting.
Kyle struck out next, losing a brunette's attention halfway through a story about his summer job. "She just walked off," he said, downing his drink. "Not even a fake excuse." His fingers drummed against the glass before he set it down, and I caught myself remembering the way those same hands had lingered on me once, tentative and warm in the quiet of his basement. The memory flickered like a spark before I buried it, focusing instead on his frustrated grin. "Maybe she just wasn't ready for all that charisma," I joked, forcing a laugh.
Chris, ever the optimist, went big. He bought shots for a group at the bar, flashing his best smile. They took the drinks, thanked him, and turned right back to their conversation.
By the time I tried chatting up a woman reading alone in a corner booth, I barely had the energy to laugh when she said she was waiting for her boyfriend.
"Alright, guys," I said, slumping back in my chair. "Plan B. Let's drink until we're stupid."
We flagged the waitress for shots and beers, determined to drown our collective failure.
Tony, Kyle, Chris, and I stumbled out of "Sips and Secrets", the local dive bar. We'd been friends since we were kids, but had all gone our separate ways for university. The summer had come, though, and we were back in town to either cause trouble or find it. The cool summer air hit us as we walked out the door, sobering us up, but only a little. It was a good thing Chris lived walking distance from the bar, or we'd have been in real trouble.
As we turned a corner, we realized we'd gotten a bit turned around and didn't know exactly where we were. After a few more blind turns, a neon sign caught my attention. "Hold on a second," I said, stopping dead. "Is that...is that a fucking video store? I thought these things were all gone!"
The other guys followed my gaze and started laughing. "Oh, we have to go in. When was the last time we rented a movie? Fucking middle school?" I laughed and headed for the door. The other guys followed me, shaking their heads and chuckling to themselves.
Kyle reached out and pulled the door open, the smell of old carpet and popcorn hitting us all at the same time, a wave of nostalgia washed over us. Rows of DVDs and VHS tapes stretched toward the back, where a section marked "18+" was half-hidden behind a beaded curtain. "What's the plan here?" Tony asked, scanning the shelves and pretending he wasn't curious about the curtain. I shrugged and walked for the curtain, turning to face my friends as I walked through it. "We find the most ridiculous thing we can, and we make a night of it. Something so bad it's good," I said.
Tony shook his head and laughed, "You mean 'so bad, it's awkward as hell,'" he countered, though he couldn't stop the smirk creeping onto his face. "Alright, fearless leader, I'll set up an account while you pick the prize."
While Tony was talking to the clerk and setting up an account, Kyle, Chris, and I ducked behind the curtain to see what was hidden within. Kyle leaned in close to whisper something about one of the titles, his shoulder brushing mine as he spoke. His breath was warm against my ear, sending a flicker of heat down my spine. "These titles are insane," he muttered, his voice low. I laughed nervously, stepping aside to put some space between us, but my heart pounded in my chest.. Finally, I picked it up and headed back for the curtain, telling them I'd found the perfect one.
As Tony turned around, I held aloft the case to the other three, letting them see it. A woman face down on a truly massive cock, and the title "Mouthful of Mischief" in what looked like dripping white letters. They groaned, but Tony motioned for me to hand it over so he could check it out.
The four of us stepped out of the shop, the neon glow of the sign reflecting off the cracked sidewalk. I held the DVD up high, like a trophy, as if it wasn't the most questionable decision they'd made all night. "This," I declared, "is going to be legendary."
By the time we reached Chris's place, we were buzzing with the remaining high of the booze and the adrenaline of excitement. None of us wanted to admit to the others how badly we wanted to watch this. "Alright, gentlemen," Chris said, fumbling open the door to his parents' house. He was lucky they were gone for the weekend. "Welcome to a night of cinematic excellence!"
We all went downstairs to the rec room we had watched a million movies in there before, and Chris and I got to work setting up the video while Tony and Kyle got the snacks and drinks together.
Kyle and I sat together on the old brown couch, Chris and Tony each took a recliner and we turned off the lights and started the video. The title sequence was cheap text on black background and music was everything that every porn video could hope for.
At first we joked around a lot, making cracks about 'I love it when a girl does that', or 'man, look at her, can you imagine fucking her?' or laughing at the bad acting or music, but the remarks got further apart and you could soon see everyone shifting in their chairs. After about 15 minutes, there was near silence in the room, except for the heavy breathing.
After the full, torturous hour, the credits rolled and no one wanted to stand up. We were all probably suffering from our jeans suddenly being tighter than we remembered them being when we put them on.
Pretty soon, Tony called himself an Uber and mumbled something about needing to get up early to go see his family and headed for the door. Chris, Kyle and I laughed and told him to enjoy his time in bed at home beating his dick like it owed him money, and went back to the rec room to watch more TV and hang out.
Before we knew it, the clock had hit 3, and I was getting tired. Kyle looked to be fading too. Chris glanced at the two of us, his face relaxed in that easy, friendly grin that always made him seem like the host of life's weirdest sitcom. "You guys can crash here if you want," he said, gesturing toward the couch and the makeshift mattress of blankets and cushions already sprawled across the rec room floor. "I mean, it's not exactly the Ritz, but it beats walking home or waiting for an Uber at this hour, like that baby Tony"
"Yeah man, that'd be cool, thanks," I said "I wasn't looking forward to getting out of here at this hour. I'll head home in the morning"