Playing the Part

7. got em'

Everett

I yell over the shitty club music for the pizza delivery guy to leave the pizzas on the table while dozens of people start to pile into the house. 

Some familiar pretty faces eye me up and down with salacious smirks and some strangers dap me up like we know each other. 

But when the face I'm most expecting to see appears at the doorway, I don't expect to physically be unable to peel my eyes off of her. 

The tight yellow dress Allie is wearing shows off all her curves in the sexiest ways possible and her wide doe-eyes and pink lips?

Lord have mercy. 

I walk over to her, feeling severely under-dressed in my jogger shorts and grey Nike sweater. 

"So what's The Game Plan?" Allie asks distractedly while playing with the hem of her dress.

I pull her flush against my chest making her yelp. 

Immediately, I'm hit with the same warm scent of figs. 

"The Game Plan is Zach just walked in through the door and he's going to come over and say hi." I mutter into Allie's hair while my hand rests on the small of her back. 

She looks up at me with her big, forest-green eyes and rests her chin on my chest. "Give me a warning before you do that." 

"Warning: second target is here too." I gaze over to Tori walking through the door, her long, straight blond hair rests over her shoulder and she's wearing her favourite outfit: daisy dukes and a tube top. 

Allie turns around and immediately looks back up at me. "I'm scared." 

I let out a genuine chuckle. "Don't be. She's got nothing on you." 

"What do I do." She's panicking now; she's gripping onto the back of my sweater tighter than she was before. 

"Zach is-" before I can continue, Zach is hollering my name. 

"Everett Scott!" Allie moves aside, her left hand still clutching onto me as Zach fist-bumps me. "And Allie?" 

She smiles at Zach's general direction awkwardly, unable to meet his eyes. 

I run small circles around Allie's back, trying to get her to calm down but her heartbeat against my side doesn't stop soaring. "Yeah, we decided to give it a try a couple of days ago." 

Zach lets out an understanding 'ah' before letting his eyes wander Allie's body from head to toe. 

"Well, this party is pretty cool. I better get back to it. It was nice to see you two." He pats Allie's shoulder and turns to disappear into the crowd. 

She finally lets go of my sweater and smooths her hand down her dress. "Holy shit, Zach Riley just touched me. And I said nothing to him. God, he probably thinks I'm such a fucking weirdo." 

"Did you see the way he looked at you?" Allie shakes her head weakly. "He liked his view." 

"Are you sure? Also, I'm sorry I'm really bad at this. Where's Tori? Is she looking at us?" 

"Ms. Beaudart, calm down. You did great." 

"You know my last name?" She raises an eyebrow, skeptical. 

"Yeah. It's in the flashcards." Allie grins adorably and I'm not sure if she knows I'm kidding about the flashcards. 

Some names you just commit to memory.