Smile - CrankGameplays

6. Flame

No one expected... this. A room full of guys, one girl, all huddled around the coffee table as they casually carried out their Saturday night routine. Not two, but three pizza boxes were flung onto the table like usual, soda filled to the brim with their plastic cups as they slowly sipped from them. The typical theme song of Mario Kart echoing in the background as Mark was setting up the game while Tyler lent a helping hand. Ethan sat on the floor and bit into his pizza, paying no mind to the rest of the crowd as he scrolled through his phone. Reese followed Ethan as she was also munching down on her pizza but only this time around, Tucker was next to her.

"Babe," Reese chuckled, "Don't get mad at me but I'm definitely eating another piece." She bent over to retrieve another slice and the blue boy tried his hardest to look everywhere but her.

Tucker, however, had his eyes undressing her as he spoke softly, "Go for it."

"Mad?" Mark asked with a flustered tone.

She bit down on the pepperoni pizza and grinned, "Tucker thinks I eat too much food and cuts me off when he thinks I've eaten enough."

Ethan widened his cerulean eyes at the statement, slowly shaking his head. "You don't need to be watching what you eat."

Which was very much true. One of the best parts that Ethan appreciated about Reese was that she wasn't skinny. She was completely average, a normal body weight. She didn't have a flat stomach but she wasn't in that unhealthy zone either, she looked great and I'm sure that's a huge reason why many of the guys stopped what they were doing to look at her.

"Tucker thinks I do." Reese side-eyed her boyfriend as she mockingly sank her teeth into her slice of pizza. "But I try not to listen."

Tyler rolled his eyes, "You shouldn't listen at all."

"You're also the guy that came onto my girl," Tucker muttered, crossing his arms over his chest. "So... I'd watch it."

"Is that supposed to be a threat?"

Mark darted his eyes back and forth between the two boys as he quickly tried to change the subject, "Hey, look! Mario Kart is set up."

Reese immediately jumped up to snag a controller, "Let the master take the first round."

"You sure about that?" Ethan teased, shocked that he grew a voice in the tension-filled air.

"You got fourteenth place last time!" Reese commented back, the life restoring in her chocolate eyes as she grinned deviously. "You already know I'm going to destroy you this time around."

"Are you so sure about that?" Ethan smirked.

"Oh, yeah. I'll even bet on it."

Ethan stood up to meet her stare and his eyes couldn't help but to wander down to her coral colored lips as she slightly stuck them out in a small, little pout. He tried to abstain from locking his eyes with her but he couldn't tear the ogle he cast on the two fine edges of her mouth. It was the short, brief situations like this where he questioned it all. He felt it, that sinful electricity. The spark of the match, igniting an unearthed flame.

Tucker shared small glimpses between the two of them, "Come on, Reese. Don't make a bet you know you can't win."

She flipped around, that small flame instantly dying down. "Hey!" she stomped over to him and grappled his cheeks. "I'm a beast!"

Tucker did exactly what Ethan did, trace his eyes over her lips. "Oh, yeah? Then kiss me."

Ethan shifted his weight over to the side and looked away, fumbling with the controllers. No matter how hard he tried to block out the sound, he couldn't. He could essentially hear the placement of their lips pressed together. The little entwine and the little sound a kiss would typically generate. The blue boy shook the thoughts out of his head as he whirled around to glance at Reese, finding her batting her long lashes at the bulky man.

"Done!" She yipped, "But Ethan, you're still on."

Ethan barely acknowledged her again as he found his way onto the floor, controller in between his lithe fingers as he mashed the buttons. Figuring out distractions that would keep his mind away from the inevitable... the fact that she wasn't available. But why did he sense that sudden electricity? Why did he feel the heat of the ignited flame? He was sure she felt it too, it said it in her eyes. She noted that electric ambiance and the warmth of the little fire that caressed her skin, he knew just that and only that... and maybe that was okay. He was working towards something because sooner or later, she would have to realize Tucker wasn't the one for her. The one for her was standing right off to her side, nearly invisible.

The night was winding down and everything throughout the night seemed to be perfect. Perfect in the eyes of Reese, Tucker, Mark, maybe even Tyler. But for Ethan, everything was going but perfect. His ocean colored orbs painfully witnessed the interaction between the couple and he desperately wanted to be happy for the two of them, because she was happy. Well, she acted pretty damn happy about it. That eye-catching smile rested on her lips through the many rounds of Mario Kart and never once did he see her curve fall.

"Ethan?"

Ethan thwarted his attention away from Reese as she called his name out, "Huh?"

"Why are you staring at me like that?"

The immediate flush of blood rose to his cheeks as he shook his head, "Oh, my bad. I just spaced out." Which was semi-true, he did zone out. But he zoned out thinking about her.

Reese raised a curious brow and giggled, "Well, okay then. Anyone know what time it is?"

Her boyfriend clicked his phone and stretched his arms above his head, "It's a little past midnight. Time for me to get you home and into my bed."

"Tucker, stop." She scolded, that same blush radiating from her cheeks.

"It's fine," he soothed, resting his hand down her lower back and trailing farther down, inch by inch. "They already know."

Reese swatted his hand away but he placed it right back, this time straight on her bottom. "Maybe they do but I don't feel comfortable talking about it out loud." She once again pushed his forceful hand off her body and stepped away from him, the smile that was on her mouth suddenly vanished and was replaced with a frown.

"Dude," Tyler's voice shook the living room, "You might want to keep your hands off her."

"She's just messing," Tucker rolled his eyes and stood up, immediately establishing dominance with his staggering height. "Why are you so shy with me today, babe?"

Reese's eyes fell to the carpet as Ethan desperately tried to initiate eye contact with her.

"We can take her home if this is such an issue." Mark's low voice announced to the crowd.

Reese frantically shook her head, "No, that's not necessary." She finally lifted her amber eyes and met Ethan's. "But I think we should go."

"Good idea." Tucker spat out and began walking out of the guy's place, "Let's go, Reese."

She bit her lip back and eventually walked forward, hesitance in her steps.

Ethan decided he had to do something. Do something, prove something, anything. Mark and Tyler both assured her with a type of comfort, but it was time for Ethan to prove he could be her safety.

He lunged for her arm and encaptured her wrist with his hand, pulling her back to meet her eyes. "You don't have to leave."

She offered up a small smile and that's all it took for him to know that she knew. Knew that there was safety in the three of them.

"I'm okay, goodnight Ethan." She retracted her arm back to her side and closed the door behind her.

Whatever flame that may have still been fighting through the triumph, the awkwardness, the fast forwarding of time, was completely and utterly gone. Extinguished.

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:) Thanks for reading if you all have gotten this far. I really enjoy writing this in my spare time, I don't have much but it's a great stress reliever while being up here in college.

I hope you're all enjoying the story and remembering to take care of yourselves!

- domducky <3