30 Days Too Late

Social Gatherings

Rudy

"Help me," Dexter demands.

"I'm not helping you with your trigonometry exam," I reply. I pour chips into a large bowl and then position it next to the popcorn.

"But I don't understand this material," he clicks aggressively.

"You should stop skipping class," I advise.

I stop at his side; I thought he was good at math. "You got a hundred!?" I gasp.

"I just wanted you close," he admits. He pulls me onto his lap and rests his head on my shoulder. I scroll through his answers, feeling envious. I didn't get a perfect score. "I'm worn out from the scrimmage."

"Do you want me to ice your back again, oldie?" I ask and he chuckles.

I rise from his lap to retrieve our ordered pizza I was keeping warm in the oven. "Stop running away," he whines. He hugs me from behind and nibbles on my shoulder.

"I'm running around because of Jeff, it'd Jeff's fault we have to host a stupid social," I say with distaste.

"Fuck Jeff," he states.

"Yeah, fuck Jeff," I smirk.

I stand on my tiptoes and tilt my head back to kiss him. His lips meet mine with a fervent intensity, and I can feel the heat radiating between us. His hand slides down to rub my abdomen, sending shivers through my body. As the kiss deepens, he squeezes my briefs, drawing a gasp from me.

A knock lands on our door; we're always getting interrupted. We withdraw from each other slowly, basking in small pecks. "It's open," I announce and in comes our team.

"Their dorm is so much better than ours," Jeff says while walking in.

"It's the exact same," Michael necks him.

"Please take your shoes off," I tell everyone.

"Yo sick guitar," I hear someone say. "Wait please don't touch that," I try to push past all the people.

I release a breath of relief as Dexter takes my guitar from Jeff's hands. "Okay, everyone, please gather around the couch," I shout. They start following my instructions, which is a good sign. I wipe my forehead and head back to the kitchen area.

"Knock knock, we're coming in because it was unlocked," says Lily.

"Oh, hey guys," I respond, too busy to wave. I pick up the four pizzas and set them in front of the couch.

"Do you need help, man?" Devon asks, following me.

"No, I'm fine," I shake him off.

"It was smart to rearrange the couch and add the bean bags," Viola says, looking proud of me.

"It was Dexter's idea," I reply, handing Devon the two bowls of chips.

"Is that pumpkin pie I smell?" Lily asks, hugging the oven.

"Careful, that's dangerous," I say, moving her away.

"Rudy, the TV isn't working," Dexter says, fiddling with the remote.

"Remember, we needed new batteries? Try hitting it against something," I suggest.

"Please help," he calls.

I walk over and gasp as I lose my footing. "Got you," Jeff says, catching me. I shake my head to move my hair out of the way and glance to my right, seeing Dexter was just a second too late to catch me himself.

"Thank you," I say, readjusting myself. I nervously laugh, aware of Jeff's hands still on me. I can feel Dexter's glare without even looking.

"I should fix the remote now," I say, gently removing Jeff's hands. I take the remote from Dexter and smack it against my hand, then against the counter for good measure. "That should do it," I say, pointing it at the TV. The team celebrates as I put on the comedy dodgeball movie.