Total pages in book: 108
Estimated words: 103753 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 519(@200wpm)___ 415(@250wpm)___ 346(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103753 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 519(@200wpm)___ 415(@250wpm)___ 346(@300wpm)
Well. This is awkward. I wish the ground would swallow me up.
A small smile breaks out on Nikki’s face and I’m not sure what to make of it. It’s almost like the Mona Lisa smile. I narrow my eyes while searching her face. She’s hiding something.
Dave blinks a moment before he blurts out, “Well, this sucks. I thought I’d feel all triumphant, but now I just feel like poo on a shoe! Thanks, Nikki. Thanks a lot,” then shoves not one, but two niknaks into his mouth in an attempt to show his current state of depression.
My wide eyes drift from Nikki to Dave, while trying to blend into the background like a chameleon.
I read somewhere that they can smell fear. Be still and impersonate a leaf.
That’s when Nikki picks up a niknak and nibbles on it. With a sigh, she looks upset as she tells Dave, “Don’t sweat it, babe. But you’re wrong.”
Still nibbling her treat, Dave looks confused as he asks her, “What do you mean I’m wrong?”
Shoving the niknak into her mouth, she replies a garbled, “Oo didit in. I id.”
Dave and I look at each other, unable to decipher her food-talk. Dave shrugs. “Yeah, I didn’t quite catch that.”
Taking her time chewing, she finally swallows, stands, and points at Dave, shouting, “You didn’t win! I did!”
Poor Dave. His level of confusion just went from I don’t get it to I’m special.
He mutters, “What? Whe—?” Gasping, he stands, points right back at Nikki, and yells, “Extra-long bathroom break at the masque!” Narrowing his eyes accusingly, he shakes his finger in her face. “There was no line, was there? You were getting porked! By the hottie!”
I can only watch in surprise as Nikki curtsies and announces, “Best fifteen minutes I ever spent in a bathroom.”
Unable to stand being a mere spectator any longer, I also stand and holler, “Who are you people and what have you done with my best friends?”
Nikki and Dave look shocked at my outburst before they look at each other and burst into laughter.
Dave moves to stand by Nikki, wrapping an arm around her waist. “Honey, this isn’t news. We do stuff like this all the time. You know? Playing who can get the guy.”
Nikki leans into Dave and nods, “Yeah. He’s right. Not the first time. Won’t be the last, either.”
I’m dumbstruck. Mouth gaping, I clarify, “So neither of you are pissed at each other? You don’t care that you’ve slept with the same guy?”
Nikki scoffs, “No way. It’s all just for fun. We haven’t done it in a long time. Not since Dave and Phil were together, so it was overdue.”
Dave chuckles, “Yeah, we’ve even done three in a bed—” Nikki’s eyes widen as she elbows Dave in the ribs. He scowls at her, “Ow! What the hell was that for?”
My jaw hits the floor.
No. Effing. Way.
Leaning forward, I whisper-hiss, “You guys have done threesomes together?”
Dave’s eyes narrow at my outburst. He quickly realizes why Nikki elbowed him to keep his mouth shut. Slowly walking towards me, his eyes watch me carefully as he says, “Yes, baby, we have.”
I’m a little miffed that I didn’t know this. Best friends tell each other things like this. When he spots my obvious hurt, he wraps me up in a hug. “It’s got nothing to do with how we feel about you, babe. We were both just in places where we didn’t want you to judge us for what we like. I’m not saying you would’ve done that, but the possibility was enough to make us keep it to ourselves. We love you.”
Taking a moment to ponder what he just said, I wrap my arms around his waist and squeeze him tightly. Arms come around me from the back and Nikki kisses my hair. “We do love you, Lex. Thinking you wouldn’t get it or think we were weird was scary as fuck. Do you think we’re weird?”
God, are they right? Am I judgey? I thought I was pretty open-minded, but my initial reaction shows that’s not entirely true.
If they only knew about the things Twitch likes to do to you…
Sweet lord in heaven. Here I am, silently judging them when I’ve done the same thing. I haven’t told either of them the extent of my sexual relationship with Twitch; all I’ve told them is he likes it rough. They know nothing of his need for constant control, or the belt…
Sigh.
The belt. I love the belt.
Swallowing hard, I realize I’m not unlike them. And now that I’ve had a moment to gather myself, I tell them both, “No! I don’t think you’re weird, guys. It was just a shock. I guess I felt left out a little. So if you want to look at it like that…I’m the weird one!”
Group-hugging a little while longer, we release each other and spend most of the night chatting and eating niknaks. Around eleven, my friends leave. Waving them off, I shut the door behind me and make my way down the hall to my room.