“Half your team is downstairs playing video games. Why are you up here?”
“I’m studying.”
“That’s why your book is closed and upside down?”
“Uh… ok, I was watching game tape of a team we’re playing in a few weeks. But then I was going to get right back to studying.”
“I have a better idea. Why don't you come downstairs and hang out?”
“I don’t really hang out a lot. I mean, I did last year, but…”
“That’s what they said. So come on. Besides, you chose to hang out at the party a few weeks ago, and look how well that turned out. Think about it. If you’d have skipped, you’d have missed all this.” She does a turn in my doorway, and shakes her ass a little, and yeah, maybe going to that party was the smartest thing I’ve ever done.
I look longingly at the bed. “You sure you don’t want to hang out up here and watch a movie?”
“Another time,” she promises. “But right now, a Call of Duty tournament awaits. And I told the guys you’d play the winner, so come on.”
We head downstairs and the guys are sprawled on couches and chairs, and a couple are lying on the floor. Doyle and Meysy are gaming, but everyone else is just chilling. I grab a beer for myself—I’m being social for once, I deserve a drink—and a water for Paige. I take the big chair in the corner by the window and pull Paige onto my lap. “You’re right. This whole hanging-out thing has its merits.”
Paige
“We’re out of M&Ms, but there are some raisins and some sketchy-looking circus peanuts in Zac’s cupboard,” Meysy calls from the kitchen.
“Hell no,” Spence calls. “All circus peanuts are sketchy-looking. They’re not actual food. And raisins are all sugar. I’m not putting that shit in my body. Look in my cabinet. I have unsalted peanuts and rice crackers. We can use those.”
“Fuck you, Briggsy,” Meysy calls out cheerfully. “One of you fuckers has to have some chocolate chips…”
I’m still perched on Spencer’s lap and I have no intention of moving anytime soon. The guys are no longer playing Call of Duty. Herrera was declared the winner, so he got to pick the next game.
He chose Drink with Friends, but it’s not off to a great start. First off, the guys aren’t drinking because the season is right around the corner and they’d be dragging in the morning.
“How’s this even gonna work? What, every time Joey says,How you doin?You eat a raisin? Wow. The hockey house sure has earned its reputation for a good time.” Emma rolls her eyes.
“We can’t drink, Emma. Besides, it’s not just Joey. If someone mentions Monica’s former weight, you eat a raisin. If Chandler says something sarcastic, you eat a raisin. If Rachel messes up a coffee order, you eat a raisin. And if Ross even mentions the word break, you eat a raisin.”
“No raisins. I’m telling you. They’re pure sugar and you’ll be slow as shit tomorrow,” Spencer tells them, but they pay no attention.
“And what about Phoebe?”
Herrera laughs. “Oh, yeah. Every time she comes on screen looking hot, you eat a...rice cracker. So, get ready to eat a fuckton of rice crackers.”
“How do you know this much about a show that ended when you were a baby?” Emma asks.
“Because it’s one of the greatest shows ever,” Herrera answers like Emma’s the crazy one.
“Are you a forty-year-old woman in disguise?”
Just before Herrera loses his shit, Meysy emerges from the kitchen, hoisting a bag of chocolate chips in the air like a trophy. And then he tosses a box to Spencer, who catches it effortlessly in his left hand. “Rice crackers for you, Briggsy. I know how you feel about devil chips.”
“Thanks, man.”
It’s crazy and it’s stupid fun, but I wouldn’t change tonight for the world. Would I have loved to cuddle up in Spencer’s bed? Of course. But he needs to bond with these guys, to let loose, and have fun, all without going off the deep end. I am proud of myself for making it happen. Now, if only my people skills translated to a career my parents approved of. Because I have another LSAT practice test tomorrow morning and I’m afraid it’s not going to go well.
9
Spencer
“Dude. How do you even drink that?” Zac asks as he watches me stuff more spinach into the blender.
