Well, maybe more like four or five.
I think I may be slightly depressed and well, maybe getting slightly drunk too.
Phillip opens the front door. I take a good look at him. Lori is right. He is so handsome.
My heart literally flutters every time I see him.
He walks into the living room and scans my row of empties. I watch the sexy backside of him, as he walks to the kitchen, grabs a beer from the frig and then plops down on the couch beside me. He opens the bottle with Danny's bottle opener that plays the NU fight song. My mind swirls back to dancing with him last night.
Maybe.
“What's up with all the beer? Lose another boyfriend?”
I ignore his smart ass comment.
“Wanna play spin the bottle?” I surprise myself by asking.
“You know it's been awhile since I've played, but aren't there usually more than two players?” he squints his eyes at me, wondering what joke I'm trying to play.
“Yeah, stupid idea,” I sigh a little bigger than I should have.
What the hell was I thinking?
“Hey,” Phillip says, as he leans forward and holds both hands up in the air in front of his chest. “I said nothing about it being a stupid idea.” He gestures toward the bottle on the table, “Spin away. Hell, you don't even have to spin. I'll kiss you anyway. Do you want me to kiss you?”
“What about Moaning Monica?” I roll my eyes when I say her name. In case you can't tell, I don't particularly care for her.
That girl is always moaning about something.
Usually me.
“Uh, well.” I get the feeling he would like to ignore the question. “It seems she broke up with me today.”
“Why?”
He laughs. “Well, it might've had something to do with our wild dancing last night.”
“I didn't realize it was wild.”
“Yeah. Well, what's worse is that I didn't even realize she was there. She never crossed my mind. I was having too much fun with you.”
“What did she say?” I'm trying hard not to smile and show my happiness about his unfortunate break up.
Sorry, but, YAY! That girl was not nearly good enough for Phillip.
“I don't know.” He runs his hand back through his hair, leans back into the couch and takes a pull off his beer. “It was something like, when she saw you and I dancing, she just knew what she has always suspected, and I have always denied, was true.”
“And what's that?”
“That you and I have, and I quote,” he says, while making quote marks in the air, “a thing going on.”
“A thing?” I laugh.
“Yeah, a thing.”
“That's ridiculous,” I shrug. “We're just friends, have been for a long time. I mean, God, somewhere there are pictures of us as naked babies together. And we're just, you know, comfortable around each other. We're able to hang out and have fun without having things happen.”
Then I stop and realize it's not the first time I've heard this.
“Why does everyone think that?” I ask him seriously, as I rest my chin on my fist. “I mean, I've done way more with Danny, how come no one ever accuses us of having a thing? I don't get it.”
“Um, well, could it be the fact that I always seem to run out on my dates to rescue you, and he never does?”
“You've never done that, have you?”
“Princess…”
“No, I'm serious.” I put my hand on my chest. “I always take care of myself. I never needed to be rescued.”
“Oh, really?” Phillip chuckles. “What about all the times you've had flat tires? Who has come and changed them? What about when you hit the deer, or the time you ditched Richie Rich at winter formal, or the time you had the huge fever and I had to take you to the hospital?”
He pauses, giving me his eat shit grin. “Shall I continue?”
Okay, so he might be right.
And there is nothing I hate more than not being exactly right.
In fact, I'm getting a bit irritated right now.
“You didn't have to come and do those things. I could have figured it out on my own. And I didn't know you like, left dates to do them. You didn't have to do that. You could've been like Danny and said to just call Triple A or whatever.”
“I know I didn't have to do it. I wanted to. I guess,” he states, looking at me sweetly with his adorable brown eyes, “like you,” he pauses and stares intently at me, “I haven't met anyone that made me want to stay with them, more than I wanted to go and rescue you. What can I say,” he rolls his eyes at me, “you made me play your knight in shining armor for so long, I just can't seem to get it out of my system.”
God, he is adorable.
He laughs lightly and looks at me. I can tell by the intensity in his eyes what he is about to say is important. He puts his hand on my knee and leans towards me. “Seriously, you are kinda special to me.” Then he adds sneakily, “Now, speaking of spin the bottle, should I start?”
“Would you really kiss me, Phillip?” I ask, scrunching up my nose.
“I think I might be able to be persuaded.” He grins, grabs my arm and throws it up over his shoulder. “Wanna try to persuade me?”
My face is so close to his. I could easily start kissing him. I'd only have to lean forward just a bit.
“No, I mean really? What if we kissed, and then we dated, and then you got mad at me and ended up hating me like most of my other boyfriends? I couldn't stand to lose my best friend.”
“I'm going to bed,” I decide suddenly, getting up off the couch and walking quickly toward my room.
“So you want to play the game in there, huh?” Phillip asks with laughter in his voice, as he tilts his head toward my bedroom.
“No!”
Then I hear him chuckling behind me and it makes me mad because that boy knows all too well how to get under my skin.
This morning, Phillip brings me coffee in bed.
It's 6:30am.
Way early for me, but for Phillip, it's the perfect time to get your day started.
He and Lori are both the kind of people who sign up for 8am classes. Danny and I try to never start ours until at least ten or eleven.
“Thanks,” I say, taking the cup from him. “Coffee in bed. You must want something.”
“I do.” He looks squarely at me.
He is sitting on the edge of my bed. I fight the temptation to just grab him and pull him in with me.
“So, what do you want?”
“You.”
“What?”
“I want you,” he repeats. “Go out with me for real, Princess.”
“I can't.”
“Really? So what was last night all about?”
“Oh, nothing really. Well, Lori and I had been talking. She just asked if you and I ever, you know, dated or kissed or anything. I told her not since eighth grade. Remember spin the bottle?”
“Yeah, so you thought you might want to play it with me again?” His head is cocked slightly sideways, like a puppy that is trying to understand me.
I hope he can. I'm not sure I do.
I shake my head sideways. “Maybe. Yes,”
“Well, at least that's progress,” he laughs.
“Progress? What kind of progress?”
“Don't tell me you can't see it. God, Princess, I swear everyone sees it but you.” He shakes his head at me like I'm completely clueless.
I may be. But in this case, I know exactly what he is talking about it.