A Hard Place Ch. 04

A whole month passed without me even thinking about the mischievous cop. Due to our schedules and just living separate lives, Scott and I didn't get a lot of time for deep conversations throughout that time.

We'd just casually catching up about life and all seemed well. It wasn't weird for us, sometimes life would get like that but we knew we were still the closest of friends.

My birthday came around, and I was celebrating with a group of ten friends including Scott. It was at our rich friend Jeff's house, who was our go-to guy for extravagant events because of his big house.

I was in my most casual outfit, gray sweatpants and a t-shirt as I drove there because I knew I'd be staying the night. It was about seven in the evening as I made my way to the door after I parked.

"Surprise!!!" everyone screamed in unison as soon as I opened the door.

"Oh my God guys, you shouldn't have," I faked shock with my hands dramatically covering my lips. We all had a laugh about it as my eyes scanned the room. It seemed I was the last to arrive.

My jaw almost dropped to the floor when I saw who was peeking from behind Scott. The devil himself.

I promptly regained my composure.

I was not going to let them ruin my birthday.

Having decided to give them my attention on another day, I made my way into the house and made myself comfortable on the sofa after greeting everyone with hugs and kisses, giving our resident liar a quick ingenuine hug and a "hi" before taking my place.

All eyes were on me that night, unusual but surprisingly endearing. We caught up on everything as our host poured us drinks. I was cautious about drinking since I had a work deadline the next day so I knew that one glass would probably last me through the night.

The conversations flowed for some time while a movie was playing on the television, and occasionally we'd pick from there for a laugh.

"I need a glass, anyone need anything from the kitchen?" I said as I stood up.

"A beer," Shane spoke up holding his finger up. He was notorious for overdrinking at events.

"Same."

"Me too."

Two other people spoke up. I rolled my eyes, already regretting asking.

"Some water," Jeff spoke up slowly, sounding ever so amused. I looked at him and saw a sneaky smile creeping on his lips. It made me smile.

"Should've had this party in the kitchen," I quipped under my breath as I began to walk away.

"Don't worry, I'll help," a familiar yet unfamiliar voice spoke up. I looked at him, and he smiled innocently at me. I had to remind myself the promise I had made myself earlier.

It was my day.

I would worry about them later.

"Fine," I said as I led the way.

As soon as I was sure nobody could see us my eyes widened at him, the most dramatic shocked expression on my face. He looked at me innocently, bracing himself for what was coming.

I just turned and made my way to the fridge, speaking under my breath but loudly enough for him to hear me.

"The balls on this guy."

He followed me and took the beers I was laying on the counter into his hands.

"And how exactly do you find yourself here?" I finally asked him in a loud whisper. He stared at me for a second.

"Umm, I dunno," he shrugged. I couldn't tell if he was being flippant or just buzzed.

"No seriously, why are you at my birthday party? We hardly know each other."

He contemplated for a second.

"Scott thought it would be a good idea if I came," he said, leaving me at a momentary loss for words yet again. It seemed my default expression whenever I was with him was with my mouth wide open, innocently.

"What, what are you guys, a couple now?"

I scanned his face for my answer before he found the perfect lie. The truth I could gather was not pretty. He had rather honest features for someone who lied so much, like someone who could never lie to you, but I knew better.

He shrugged again.

"I dunno."

My mouth fell open again, and yet again I quickly regained my composure.

"You know what, not today, I've had enough of this," I quickly said pointing an accusing finger at him.

"It's my party, and I'm going to enjoy it, okay?" I said turning my pointed finger to myself. He feigned shock, doe eyes looking back at me like I was losing my mind.

I left him in there with two bottles in his hand and went back to trying to push him to the back of my mind, hoping for better results this time.

* *

An hour of just watching a movie and occasionally making jokes and taking sips went by. We were all buzzed at that point. I could feel that I wasn't as grounded as I usually am.

"Happy birthday to you," Jeff randomly started singing. Everyone else joined in while I tried to hide myself. The embarrassment that song brings never fades. The song finished and we ate the cake. The cake was also one of the things that I had not anticipated would be there for some reason. I was delighted.

"Time for a game," Taylor spoke up after the cake-eating. Taylor was always the life of a party, and, in a setting like this, someone who spoke up only when he was needed to. He must have been getting bored. But he was bored as long as there was no sexual tension in the air so I didn't take it to heart.

"Ooooh," excitement went through the room.

"What game?" I innocently asked. The innocence was genuine, it was always something wild with him.

"Easy, spin the bottle," he said smugly.

The crowd hollered but I was skeptical.

"We're not in high school," I told him flippantly. I was hesitant yet excited. His games always made the night.

"But you're the birthday boy," he added.

"That, I am," I agreed, wondering where we were going.

"So you get, three turns," he said while wiggling three naughty fingers with an equally naughty grin. I laughed, because something told me he wasn't done.

"And," he spoke up, with everyone enthusiastically tuning in.

"You get two minutes with whoever the bottle lands on, in the closet."

The hollering and naughty laughs got louder. I knew it was going to be something ridiculous.

"But the closet is all the way upstairs," Jeff spoke up. I let out an unintentional sigh of relief, but Taylor was quick to knock me down by looking around and then finally pointing at a door.

"In there," he said.

It was the pantry in the kitchen, visible from where we were. I looked at Jeff with pleading eyes, but knowing him, I didn't expect him to give in.

"That, could work," he said extra slowly, to my disappointment.

"High school games, really guys?" I asked everyone. The all looked at me skeptically. It seemed I was the only one who was reluctant.

These games had a history of getting wild, so even if this one was tame by usual standards, I didn't expect it to be that way for long. Some of his games started with everyone in their underwear, and those ones weren't even the raunchiest ones.

"Fine," I said defeated as people began moving around to be in a circle.

I denied being the first to go, which in hindsight was not the best decision since everyone wasn't horny yet.

Taylor volunteered to go first, taking a big chug of his beer before setting the glass bottle on the empty coffee table in the middle of the group.

I could sense the excitement in the room, but I couldn't help feeling uneasy. There was one person I didn't want to kiss in the room, but three turns had the odds against me.

I quickly glanced at "David" just to see how he was feeling about this. He looked just as excited as everyone else was, almost making me forget his standout quality of being a liar. My eyes turned to the other faces, and for a second I saw Jeff give him a curious look.

So I wasn't the only one who felt uneasy about him.

Jeff and I locked eyes for a second and I raised a brow at him. He only looked away, leaving me confused.

Taylor spun, and the bottle stopped facing James, a hunk with a bushy moustache and a goatee. The heavy bush could not hide his full lips. He licked them slowly in preparation, and I fuck did I feel like kissing him right then and there as well. The drinks were definitely getting to me.

They moved into each other and their lips touched, slowly at first, before they started really going at it. The rest of the group felt like we were intruding on their moment. But it was hot, I could feel the excitement of finally getting a turn starting to flow through my body, to one particular part. This was despite that I'd deliberately made it so that I was one of the last to play.

"Alright guys we get it," Michael chimed in interrupting their moment. Michael was Taylor's other half like Scott was my other half. I could never tell if they were in a relationship or if they were just friends, and they remained mum about it.

Taylor and James separated and moved back to their original positions.

"Don't worry Michael," James said, "you'll get a turn too."

He finished by planting a small peck on Michael's lips.

"That's not the game James," Taylor said, sounding a little annoyed by the rule-breaching. Part of me was convinced they were doing it on purpose, just trying to see who would be first to address the elephant in the room. James raised his hands defensively before taking his place.

Next it was Eric's turn, then Scott, then everyone else. A lot of making out happened and everyone made out with someone. The sexual tension could be cut with a knife, I knew most of the guys were sporting wood before the second turn.

I finally got that kiss from James when his spin landed on me. It was as hot as I anticipated, and there was no jealous maybe-boyfriend to stop us. There was a lot of touching and I could feel his erection rubbing on mine through our clothes. We finally stopped ourselves, breathing heavily as we found our places.

"Damn guys," Jeff barely said. I locked eyes with him, looked down to his crotch area where I could see a barely concealed boner, then looked back into his eyes. I only smiled, words were not needed.

That was before a few more turns and raunchy kisses were had. Our resident liar made out with Michael, and they both seemed totally into it. It felt weird for me to be the only one who knew his big secret, but for the night I'd let him have it.

Then, finally, it was my turn.