"Dude, don't be a douche. If you're in the kitchen, grab a beer for everyone!" My boyfriend, Liam, then turned to me and asked, "Babe, you want another beer?"
Before I could answer, Liam's roommate Mark yelled back from the kitchen. "Asshole, you had half a beer left. If you didn't drink like such a fucking pussy, this wouldn't be an issue."
At this point, Danny, the third member of their trio, spoke. "Pure class, as usual. Chrissy, I'd like to apologize on behalf of all clueless guys, but these two in particular."
"It's fine." I said quietly. "I'm used to these two." I glanced quickly at Danny as I said this, but glanced away just as fast when my eyes met his speculative gaze. Liam, my boyfriend of six months, is a huge sweetheart, but clueless is a good term for him. Danny, on the other hand, always seems to see more. He has a way of gazing at you, seeming to look right into your soul and see your deepest secrets.
This was not the night to allow that.
"I'm good," I finally mumbled, gesturing towards my mostly full beer.
"She'll take a G and T!" Danny yelled to Mark.
My eyes snapped back up to Danny. "Wait...uh...what? No, I'm good."
"I don't know why you're even attempting to drink that shit. You don't even like beer. You need a G and T."
"I don't, um..." I began uncertainly, wondering how he knew that I didn't care for beer, seeing as my own boyfriend appeared to be oblivious to the fact.
"Chrissy, trust me." Danny's eyes locked on mine and I was unable to look away. "A G and T."
"OK," I whispered. "I guess I'll take a G and T."
Danny's smile managed to look both approving and self-satisfied.
"Awesome!" Liam exclaimed enthusiastically. He threw his arm around my shoulder and gave me a quick squeeze.
Inside I sighed. This night was not going at all in the direction that I had hoped. All that planning, the anguish about what to wear...or not wear, as the case may be. Maybe it was time to bail on the whole thing and head home. I peeked over at Danny, who had risen to help Mark carry the drinks in. He would be disappointed if I didn't stay to drink my gin and tonic.
I sighed again, but apparently this time I wasn't as successful in keeping it to myself.
"What's wrong, babe?" Liam asked, looking concerned. His arm still around me, he stroked my shoulder up and down. "You look down. Is it the job?"
His blue eyes looked down on me, showing concern. He really was awfully sweet, cluelessness notwithstanding. And so cute. His blond, tousled hair was in need of a cut and hung a little shaggy over his ears, tending to give him a bit of a surfer look. And his body...good Lord. He'd been out of college for four years now, but his six foot two frame hadn't lost the cut physique he'd earned rowing crew.
"Yeah," Mark threw in. "Are those little rug rats giving you a hard time? Just give the word and I'll come knock some sense in them!" He demonstrated his willingness by punching his fist into his palm a few times before flopping down on the couch on the other side of me. As he retrieved my drink from Danny and handed it over to me, he dropped the pretense of his fierce scowl and instead gave me his trademark 100 watt smile. Mark's boy-next-door good looks with sandy hair and single dimple in his right cheek usually resulted in a revolving bedroom door on the weekends. I gave up trying to make small talk with the skanks I'd run into in the mornings. It was pointless anyway, as Mark hustled them out the front door before they could think about asking for coffee...or cab fare.
"No, the kids are great." I couldn't help but smile, thinking of the third grade class I taught. I took a sip of my gin and tonic before looking back over at Mark. "I'd love to see you try to whip them into shape, though." I grinned. "They'd have you running out the door and straight to the nearest bar within the hour."
"Then, drink up, sunshine!" Mark laughed. "You deserve a bucket of gin for spending the entire week with them!"
"Maybe I do." I took a larger sip before tilting my glass towards him. "Cheers."
It was time to give myself a mental shake. There were worse ways to spend my Friday night than sitting on a couch between two incredibly hot guys. I glanced over at Danny. Make that three hot guys.
Shit. They may all be hot, but so what? Where does that get me? Not laid, at least not in the smutty fashion that I was hoping for. So much for the sexy librarian look I had attempted tonight. Liam didn't even notice. I looked over at him and wondered, not for the first time, if he was secretly gay. We'd been together for six months, and had never graduated to anything other than straight missionary. No doggy or reverse cowgirl for me. Not even any oral...giving or getting! What's up with that? I couldn't decide if he was against it ("it" being fun in the bedroom of any sort) or if, for some reason, he thought I was. I'd somehow been saddled with an image of being all prim and proper, and I just couldn't seem to shake it. And, to top it off, I couldn't even talk to anyone about our sex life (or lack of) to get advice, because at this point it was just too mortifying to admit.
I took another big sip of my drink. It was time to finish it and head home. There was no way I could spend another night pretending to have fun in the bedroom with Liam. Tomorrow I would have to break up with him.
"Liam, I think we should share with Chrissy what we were talking about before she showed up."
Liam's head whipped around to look at Danny. "What the fuck, dude?"
Mark shook his head and muttered under his breath, "Not cool, man."
I put my drink down on the coaster and stood up. "You know what guys? It's been a long week and I'm just not up for games tonight. I'm going to let you all off the hook and head out." I bent over to give Liam a kiss. "Good night, babe."
"Chrissy, stop." Danny's voice held a surprising amount of authority and I paused in my exit, looking to him.
"Danny, really, I..."