When I head back upstairs, I've thoroughly exhausted myself. America catches me outside the kitchen and asks if I want to train with her tomorrow, and I agree, looking forward to seeing how much she's grown. I grab a snack and make my way to the living room so I can rest a bit. Maybe I'll watch a movie or something. When I get there though, Kate and Yelena are cuddled up on the couch, Kate giggling as Yelena whispers in her ear. My chest constricts, and I go to turn back around, but Cassie bumps into me on her way into the room. She takes one look at the two on the couch and rolls her eyes. "Just because we all know doesn't mean we wanna see that," she teases them, and sits down. They spring apart and Kate looks sheepishly at Cassie.
"Cassie, are you jealous?" I sit next to her. "Because I'll cuddle you if you want, but that's all I can do for you." She shoves me and laughs.
"No, but I hope we get through this shit with Val soon, because I'd like to be able to leave the tower so I can date," she admits. "I just met a cute guy on Hinge."
"Let me see him!" Yelena holds her hand out for Cassie's phone.
"No! I don't wanna jinx it before I meet him in person!" She clutches her phone to her chest. I grab the remote and flip on the TV.
"What are we watching? I don't really watch TV these days."
"Too busy getting drunk and seducing innocent women?" Yelena quips, and I bite my tongue. I shrug as I answer.
"Nothing on TV is better than sex." I toss the remote to Kate. "You pick something. I trust your judgment." Kate picks a channel playing classic sitcoms, and we all settle in. As we're watching, the rest of the team ends up joining us. Q sits next to me, and Johnny and America flop on the floor. Eventually, Quint groans and stands up.
"As cute as this family night is, I'd like to suggest a different activity." He waits for everyone to look at him before continuing. "Shots, anyone?"
"Quintavius! You are not 21 yet!" Kate chastises him.
"So America and I will do shots of energy drinks," he amends, and laughs. "Come on, Kate! It's boring on lockdown."
"What kind of drinking game should we play?" Cassie asks, perking up.
"How about whenever someone says something misogynistic on the TV we take a shot?" Johnny suggests, and gains a few points in my book. Quint runs into the kitchen to get supplies. When he comes back, he has Cassie and I scoot down so he can sit on the end of the sectional, and we start playing. A couple episodes in, I'm feeling pretty tipsy. America is bouncing off the walls and she looks seriously at Yelena and I.
"Okay, there's this game kids play in old movies that I never got to play." She flops onto the couch between Cassie and I, halfway on both of our laps. "I doubt you guys did either."
"Spin the bottle?" I ask, and she looks confused.
"What? No!" America smacks me.
"Seven minutes in heaven?" Yelena guesses, and I feel my cheeks turn pink at the thought of being in a closet with her,
"Ew, no! Truth or Dare!" She bounces back up. As she does, I feel my phone buzz. I look down to see a text from Nina.
N: [Image] So, this is your 'friend'?
The picture is of Yelena and I while Kate was giving her speech. I'm clutching her for dear life, and she's whispering to me. It must have been when she was helping me focus.
N: I guess you just have a thing for Russian girls, huh?
N: Fuck you.
I put my phone down and try to just ignore it. I'm not in a headspace to answer her right now. America is trying to get the group to agree to play 'just one round' of truth or dare. She's practically begging, but Yelena is not budging.
"We are adults. That game is juvenile."
"Oh, come on, Lena, let her fulfill her childhood dreams," Kate nudges her, siding with America. "It's a fun game." That's all it takes for her to give in.
"Fine. America, Truth or Dare?" Her voice is monotone.
"Dare!"
"I dare you to stand on one foot and sing the alphabet," Yelena says, clearly not into this, but America, slap happy as she is, makes quite a show out of the dare. We're all in stitches before she even gets to the letter 'T'. When she's done, she asks who wants to go next, but nobody else really wants to play. Her face falls, and I can't stand the sight.
"Fine, fine, ask me." She does. "Truth." I am not about to make a fool of myself.
"Who texted you a minute ago?"
"Really? You can't ask a less boring question?" I roll my eyes. "A girl I know in Paris." Yelena raises a brow at that. Kate blurts out what she's thinking.
"You mean you stay in contact with all of your flings?"
"No, I don't. I was just in Paris before I came here, and she's mad that I left so abruptly." I shrug. "Que puedo decir?"
"Oh, do not start speaking Spanish, America's the only one that's fluent," Johnny groans. America excitedly starts talking to me in Spanish, but Johnny's complaining in English that he can't understand and Yelena's complaining in Russian that nobody else knows the language. Essentially, I can't hear her. Quint shouts over the chaos.
"Okay, but let's see what the girl said!" He grabs my phone off the coffee table, and quickly opens the message thread. His eyes widen comically as Cass leans over to look with him. "Oh shit! THAT'S Nina?" He blurts out at the same time that Cassie says:
"She looks like Kate!" Confused as to how they know what she looks like from the messages I already read, I snatch my phone back. She's been texting me while we've been talking. There's a photo of her in a black teddy I bought her, captioned 'Regret leaving yet?'
"You clearly were not supposed to see that. You should be ashamed of yourselves," I reprimand them both.
"Oh come on, she's not naked!" Cassie giggles.
"Not the point," I deadpan, and Kate pipes up.
"Okay, I think we all ought to call it a night anyway. Quint and America, go train or something, get the energy out," she instructs, and Quint laughs.
"Aw, Kate, you really thought I wasn't gonna drink alcohol?" He pulls a bottle of Malibu from behind the arm of the couch. That explains this behavior.
"Quintavius Quire!" She exclaims, and he chortles again.
"I'm almost 21, it's fine!" He defends himself.
"Q, you crossed a line. Let's go to bed. Come on." I get up and pull him with me, leading him back to his bedroom as he stumbles. When I open his door and shove him through, it's like something clicks.
"Oh, fuck, dude." He swipes a hand down his face and flops on his bed. I cross my arms and lean on the door frame.
"What?"
"The most significant person you've been with in the past two years is Russian and looks like Kate," he slurs. "You really never got over them."
