Ready or Not

Chapter 6

As promised, Warren returns looking freshly showered with damp hair. He sees you sitting next to Namjoon with his arms around your shoulders and smirks, shakes his head, and looks away. He thinks, "Damnit, I think he is into her. How do I maneuver around this?"

Then Eric emerges from the kitchen looking at his phone screen and says, "Hey, do you guys mind if few of my friends drop by? They just texted me and apparently, their plans were cancelled, and they are all dressed up pretty and have no place to go."

You wonder if these "friends" Eric is talking about are the pretty girls that he had mentioned at your first meeting. The general consensus seems to be shrugged shoulders. When Eric sees the response, he goes back to text something on his phone. You turn to Namjoon and ask, "Are these the 'pretty girls' that Eric talked about the other night?"

Namjoon replies, "I think so."

"How many of these friends does he have?"

"I think I've seen about 10  or 15 different girls at one point or another."

You ask, "Is this like boy/girl hang out kind of thing?"

He looks at you with a curious smile and asks, "What is 'a boy/girl hang out?'"

You reply, "Well, you know...." And give him a face that says, "Duh... you know exactly what I am referring to."

Then he chuckles and says, "I am not sure. Why do you ask?"

"Well, if it is one of those boy/girl parties, maybe I should get out of here. I don't want to cramp your style by being here. I'll go home before I inadvertently become my friends' cockblock."

Namjoon suddenly turns to you with a bit of shock on his face before he starts to laugh and say, "What did you just say?" Then he turns to the rest of the room and says, "Hey, you are going to want to hear this." Then he turns to you and nudges you. "Go on. Tell them what you just told me."

You ask, "What? Why? Did I say something I wasn't supposed to?"

"Just say what you just told me exactly."

"I asked if this was going to be one of those boy/girl parties because if it is, perhaps I should go. "

Namjoon gestures you to keep going. "I said I didn't want to inadvertently become my friends' cockblock."

Nate almost does a spit take but is able to keep it down to a bit of a dribble. Then Warren says, "Boy, you are one considerate chick."

"I've had it go both ways. Some women feel more comfortable talking to men that other women trust enough to be around, and other women are, for whatever reason, repelled by it. I just want to make sure that I am not ruining anyone's evening."

Eric shakes his head and looks at you. Then he says, "Maybe this is why you've had such a long drought."

"What do you mean?"

He explains, "You were going to just lay down and let these girls march over you. Where is your sense of entitlement. You've been with us all day and were here before they got here. Is there no sense of competition in you?"

You laugh and say, "What competition? If I remember correctly, only a handful of hours ago, you guys were arguing about who gets to end my drought. If I understand all this, I don't need to compete. I'm asking what I am asking for you lads' benefit. Not mine, you Dum-Dums."

When the talk of ending your drought comes up, Warren suddenly averts his gaze from you and looks around the room with a smirk on his face. You act as if you don't see him at all and continue. "So, you just say the word, and I can be out of your hair to do whatever it is that you do with these pretty ladies. I think I may have hogged you guys to myself long enough anyway."