Drinks 'n Dares

My Life Just Became a Comedy

Chapter Nine - My Life Just Became a Comedy

Jon's POV

"Dude, you came!" Harvey cried almost the instant I stepped through the door.

Resisting the urge to snap 'I said I would, didn't I?' I raised a brow and glanced at the other guys, "Does he remind anyone else of a golden retriever?"

A few laughed and another made barking noises. Jason rolled his eyes, "Either that or a teenage girl."

I ruffled Harvey's hair and he grinned, "I'm sure there are a lot of teenage girls out there that would resent that."

We laughed and while someone pointed me in the direction of the beers I took a moment to check out the crowd. Darren, Ben, Jason and of course Harvey were here, as well as some bloke who I was pretty sure was called Scott. There were a few others that I didn't know, but all in all it seemed a comfortable crowd. Of course it had been quite a while since I'd been to any of Harvey's get-togethers. But the first one is always the hardest, I reminded myself. After grabbing some beer and grabbing a seat the part I'd been dreading began. It was Jason who started it. Of course.

"So mate," he said. "Long time no see."

"You said it." Jason had one of those voices that sounded like it was being friendly or sympathetic or whatever, but made it obvious that it wasn't.

"Got hit a bit hard after Laura left you aye?" he ribbed. It was meant to sound teasing but I could tell it wasn't.

"For a while yeah," I conceded.

"More than a while I'd say." He chuckled. "It's been months mate!"

"What's your point mate?" I asked sharply.

"Nothing, nothing." He said soothingly. "Just that she must have hurt you pretty bad."

I grunted in acknowledgement. When was the damn game going to start? A few of the other blokes took their seats, including Ben, who sat to my left. He was an easy-going guy and as we hadn't caught up in ages it was cool to see him.

"It has been a while hasn't it?" he smiled.

I nodded. I heard a snicker to my right. My head whipped around to see Jason making a face. One of the other guys laughed.

"You wanna go?" I demanded.

He waved a hand at me. "Take a chill pill Jon. You don't need to feel threatened just because some of us have girlfriends and you don't."

"Who said I don't have a girlfriend?" I asked defiantly. There was a pause.

"You don't do you?"

I met Harvey's eyes. He looked at me questioningly.

"Yeah I do actually. She's my fiancée."

"Wait, what?" Jason asked. A few other guys who had settled down with their drinks raised their eyebrows at me.

"I said I have a fiancé. Her name is Claire. Check it out on Facebook if you don't believe me." I said as casually as possible. Really I was just trying not to be smug.

Harvey dropped into the seat on my right and gave me a quizzical look.

"I had noticed that." He muttered discreetly. "But I didn't want to mention it until someone else did."

"Why not?"

He looked at me sternly. "You're not just using this as an excuse to get back at Laura are you?"

"No!" I said, shocked.

"Hmm, just checking." He took a swig of his drink. "She seems like a sweet dudette. I wouldn't want you breaking her heart now."