My voice trailed off as her expression changed upon hearing me mention the word ‘creamy’. That, in turn, made me remember Nora’s words when she put my own cream on the pastries, and the fact that I never inquired about whether or not Mia actually ate one of them. Now she looked at me with a wide grin.
“Creamy. I definitely like the creamy version. If you make it.”
And with that, the minx turned and made us continue walking, leaving me lost for words and desperately trying to figure out if there was an actual insinuation, or if I just imagined it because of what I knew. Just like on my way home the day before, I spent the entire drive pondering how I even got to this point with Mia.
Any doubt I may have had about her intentions was cleared up, however, when we were in the kitchen together. It started with subtle and seemingly innocent touches whenever I passed her something or had to step closer to her to give instructions. But when we were done and I wanted to taste-test our creation, I scooped a little bit of the Guac up with my finger.
Before I had a chance to taste it myself, Mia grabbed my hand, pulled it to her face, and then engulfed my finger with her lips while looking directly into my eyes while slowly sucking it into her warm mouth. I almost shivered as I felt her wet tongue meander around my sensitive fingertip. The sensation caused me to involuntarily swallow while my blood rapidly rushed into my groin.
“So I can compete with Mom, huh?” she nonchalantly commented on the tenting in my pants, before turning towards the door and leaving the room to get ready for the arrival of their guests.
Was THAT the reason for her weird behavior during the last few days!? Surely she could not be still hung up on that simple comment I made in the car weeks ago. I was left speechless once again, as I watched her behind sway out of the kitchen, displaying a whole new level of confidence in the way she carried herself. I finally reached the conclusion that it would be better for me if her affectionate demeanor was actually nothing more than her attempt to get a rise out of me, and joined Jack on the couch.
The ‘Party’ was interesting. It was like a tamer version of what I had imagined high school parties to be like after seeing them in movies. Maybe fifteen to twenty people showed up, mainly girls from the cheer team and their boyfriends who, incidentally, were also Jack’s friends.
There was music, but barely anyone was dancing. Instead, most people had gathered in the kitchen and were eating pizza while talking and laughing. After learning that Nora and George would be out of the house for this party, I had expected it to be a lot ... wilder. But since I still got push notifications for every mobile device appearing on the premises, I was kinda glad they didn’t invite any more people.
I noticed two things in the makeup, though. First, Ava had apparently not been invited. And second, including me, there was an equal amount of men and women in the house.
I tried to keep to the sidelines, preferring to not draw any unneeded attention to myself, since the last time I was close to some of these guys was a rather violent altercation. Mia, however, had completely different ideas. She made it a point to drag me around like she did at the party on Christmas Eve, and made sure everybody knew that I wasn’t crashing her party. Once she had introduced me to basically every single guest, I decided to address Ava’s absence.
“You seem to have invited the whole cheer team, but where’s Joan and Ava?”
“Oh, Joan’s in Ohio. And Ava...” she looked a little uncertain. “I did call to invite her and bring Logan along. But she said she wasn’t in the mood. I don’t know about Logan. Haven’t heard anything back from him.”
I watched her demeanor a little more closely after that, though I could not reach a conclusion as to what it could mean. Maybe it was because she knew that I would not have enjoyed being around Logan, or she was worried about Ava.
She continued keeping me close for a while as she mingled with the different groups. I felt extremely uncomfortable. Not only did I have nothing to add to their conversations, I could also see the disapproval regarding my presence on some people’s expressions. But as time went on, and more alcohol was consumed, that seemed to change. Although I only noticed that after I was suddenly approached by one of Jack’s former teammates.
“So, I hear you’re working as an escort now.”
“What!?” I asked while turning towards the voice, and found myself face to face with Jack’s best friend. The one who got that very close look of my knee after I had knocked out Jack. To my surprise, he handed me a beer.
“My girlfriend was here on Christmas Eve. Mia told her something about your ‘hourly rates’?” he chuckled, and it was not a mean laugh. He was joking, and I was greatly confused.
“Uh ... well...” I stammered as I accepted his drink and immediately eyed it suspiciously, looking for powder residues and excessive foaming. He noticed my confusion, and his demeanor turned awkward.
“Tim, uh ... Look...” he said, not looking me in the eyes. I didn’t think he even knew my real name! “College is very different from high school. Truth is ... I made an ass of myself pretty quickly. My attitude didn’t fly with anyone from the new team, and they let me know it. I kinda learned that my shit does stink. I’ve had to do a lot of self-reflection, and...” he sighed “I’m sorry for all the shit I pulled on you, man. I was a giant asshole, and you didn’t deserve any of it.”
“You ... well ... thank you?” I was still unable to form complete sentences.
This was highly unexpected. Borderline surreal! Though, at that very moment, I realized something essential that no educator or responsible adult would ever say to a child. Beating the shit out of him and his teammates was fucking therapeutic!
Not only had I already paid them back, I had also bested each and every guy who thought he could use me as a punching bag, and then put the whole ordeal behind me with newfound confidence. I finally understood how that male bonding moment with Jack on Christmas Eve was even possible.
“I got to say, though, it looks like you did well for yourself after our last clash.” he grinned, his hand gesturing up and down my body. “Kinda makes me wonder if Mia’s joke about your job was really just a joke.”
“Well, at least half of it was true. I do get paid by the hour to be around her, just not to be with her.”
I found myself chuckling while answering him, and decided to at least acknowledge his efforts by taking a small sip of the beer he had given me. After that, though, I had no idea what to say to him. There was an awkward silence between us until Mia suddenly jumped up behind him.
“Hey! We’re gonna go down to the entertainment room to play a few games. Wanna come too?” she smiled, her eyes jumping between the two awkward guys that just reached some kind of truce.
“Nice! I’m game! How about you?” he looked at me expectantly, like he was genuinely hoping I would join as well.
As I had already realized after Nora told me about Mia’s honest efforts to change, I did not want to discourage him if he, too, wanted to better himself. And I was inclined to believe him when he apologized. After all, he had just publicly humbled himself in front of his old friends. If this was just the buildup to another ‘prank’, it would have to be a ridiculously elaborate one that somehow required them to put me in a false sense of security. Somehow, I doubted they would put that much effort into it. These guys would just jump me when I was occupied with something else.
So, I told them that I would join them in a minute, made my way to the bathroom, and emptied the beer bottle into the toilet. I rinsed it out a few times before I refilled it with water. I was only inclined to believe him, after all. And, strictly speaking, I was on the clock. If Mia told me to drive anyone home, and Bill found out I couldn’t because I had been drinking, I could kiss my job goodbye. If there had been something in that beer, I would be seeing some expectant and appraising looks as I sipped away at the bottle.