Between Us (all of us #1)

T H I R T Y S E V E N

T R E N T O N

 "So...what's the big obsession with 'would you rather'?" She laughs, taking a sip from the bottle of pink, carbonated liquid. Aubree isn't a big drinker unless it's wine. I always thought it was cute, her pretty nails wrapped around a wine glass. Her sipping on the red drink while she read. But tonight she needed something a little stronger. Something that would lower her guard and get her to spill.

My plan for tonight was to get her to talk about some things I know are hard for her, so earlier we went and picked up some drinks just to hang out on my living room floor.

Honestly, this feels the most intimate we've ever been. Her sitting directly in front of me, both of us slowly letting the alcohol lower our inhibitions as we talk about whatever is on our minds. The room is dim and the only noise filling it is our voices and laughter. It's perfect.

"I mean, every damn party in my backyard was Gio shouting something like, would you rather fuck Mrs. Brown from English, or give head to Principal Thompson?"

I laugh because her impression of Gio is spot on, also because of the fact that Principal Thompson's this long haired Fabio type of guy and Mrs. Brown is like eighty, so that's definitely something he's probably said.

I run my hands up and down her thighs. "Damn, I didn't know you heard all that, you little eavesdropper."

"It's not eavesdropping when it's my house." She shrugs with a pretty little smirk. "But I did. I heard it all." Her eyes narrow at me and something reminiscent of a smile tugs on her lips. "Even the few times I was a choice in the game, and you picked me without any hesitation."

"Of course I did," I tell her. "They all thought I was joking—I said it like I was, but I meant it. I'd always choose you."

She huffs a laugh, placing her bottle against her lips before the liquid seeps into her mouth.

Marina: It's not going to work out. You can't possibly be with her.

Marina: I don't know what you expect to come out of this.

Marina: You're only hurting yourself in the end. She's going to hurt you.

Marina: I'd never hurt you.

Marina: I just don't get why you went back to her. She doesn't love you.

Aubree clings to me. "Who's been blowing up your phone all day?"

"Mm, Pinot Grigio..." Aubree smirked at the bottle in her hand.

I crinkled my nose at her. "No, no wine. We need something a little stronger."

"What, like Mike's hard?"

I laughed, my arm sliding around her hip. "Oh, you're so fucking cute. Mike's hard," I mocked, kissing her temple three times before she grinned at me.

"Don't make fun of me! I don't drink this kind of stuff. I'm classy."

"Oh, so I'm not classy?"

She shook her head, biting her lip.

At that point, we were shameless. We'd still glance down the aisle to see if the coast were clear enough to hold hands for a moment, for me to swat her on the ass, or for her to hug the back of me. But it was still tricky to be affectionate in public because anywhere I'd turned, I was worried I'd see someone I knew or that she knew. Then the secret would be out sooner than we wanted and I didn't want anything getting back to Roger or Diesel before we even have a set plan on how we wanted to come out to everyone. But being seen together wasn't such a big deal to her anymore and to me, that meant Aubree was serious about me. She wasn't trying so hard to hide me or deny me. And everything felt natural.