An hour later and the movie is over. We have all seen it hundreds of times before – thanks to AJ’s obsession with it – and can quote lines along with the characters. Brian does a mean Travolta impression that has us all in fits. I drop to the floor giggling and lean against Nick’s leg. Ali shoots me a look and I move away. She was doing her possessive thing. She just had a total thing for Nick so I’d better stay away. Which was fine by me cos Brian was really making me laugh.
AJ looks kinda pissed off and stands up, rattling his empty glass, “Re-fills?”
I figure his state is to do with the lack of alcohol than anything else. “Just wheel the liquor cabinet in here,” I suggest.
“Can do!” he grins and races off, returning with a box full of spirits bottles.
Everyone hits the floor around it – trying to decide what to drink next. Ali suggests tequila slammers and AJ and I agree enthusiastically. Nick and Brian look confused.
Ali decides to explain. “You lick some salt, down a shot of tequila and then suck a piece of lime.”
“’K!” Nick agrees. Brian nods cautiously.
A few tequila slammers and a lot of drunken giggling later and I decide to do a body slammer on Nick. Mainly cos he was the closest to me. I’m picky that way…
He grins at me dopily. “Body slammer? How’d that work?” I lean closer to him and whisper in his ear. He blushes and then pours me out a shot. “Cool.”
Ali and AJ know what I’m about to do. They both shoot me a glare. That was another thing which definitely ran in their family – killer glares.
Ali stands up, “Jade, come with me for a minute…”
“After.”
“Now,” she practically pulls me into the hallway. “What are you doin’ with Nick?”
I giggle. “I thought THAT was pretty obvious.”
“You don’t even LIKE him.”
I shrug and fall against the wall, the movement having ruined the little balance I had left. “He apologised.”
She folds her arms across her chest and wobbles slightly. I stifle a giggle. We are both pretty trashed already. She ignores my stifled giggles. “Jade, I like him.”
“Aww, c’mon,” I whine. “I only want to do a body slammer with some guy. ANY guy.”
“Yeah?” she almost looks convinced.
“You could do one too…”
“I guess.” A wicked smile spreads across her face. “Yeah. But I do Nick, you get Brian.”
I shrug. “Suits me. Brian’s smile almost melted me earlier.”
We go back into the lounge and Nick pats the floor next to him. I sit down. He’s already put the salt on his neck and as I sit down he puts the lime in his mouth with a grin. I look across at Ali and shrug. It’d be just plain rude to back out now… She’ll understand. So I ignore her warning look and lean closer to lick the salt off Nick’s neck. He groans softly and I down the tequila shot. Now I had to suck the lime out of his mouth. I move closer until our lips are touching and take hold of the lime gently with my teeth. As I suck, the juice falls into both our mouths. Nick flicks his tongue inside my mouth to take some juice. The sharp sensation of the lime juice brings me crashing back to my senses, cutting through the alcohol-induced haze. I move away from Nick. He opens his eyes which look dazed – a look I’m sure my eyes mirror right back at him. He moves closer as if to kiss me but AJ coughs harshly and Nick hits reality with a bump. I glance at Ali who shoots me a glare and then looks away. I move away from Nick, feeling incredibly guilty. I had TOTALLY overstepped the line. I reach for the vodka bottle and pour out a shot which I down quickly. AJ gives me a sharp look and hands Ali a vodka shot which she downs with a grimace.
“Thanks AJ.”
“No prob.”
He pours himself a drink and we all sit in silence for a while. I’m too embarrassed to look at Nick. AJ and Ali are pissed off with me and every time I look at Brian he just gives me this sad, disappointed look. A few drinks later and Ali starts giggling. She throws me a sly look.
“I just remembered that time in the mall…”
“Yeah,” I groan.
I guess Ali needs to tell this story and embarrass me the way I had just embarrassed her. Then everything will be ok again. She is cool that way – she never stays pissed for long. Unlike me, I just sulk for all I’m worth. Well, at least until I forget to be mad.
Ali giggles again and looks at the three guys. “Jade had this letter and found this mail-box which had two slots. And she stood there for like AGES tryin’ to figure out which slot she should use. And then this guy came over and asked if she was ok. And she told him. And then he told her that BOTH slots fall into the SAME box!” she chuckles and AJ joins in. “The guy thought she had escaped from the local asylum!”
Brian and Nick glance at each other uncomfortably. I smile, they follow my lead and pretty soon good humour is restored.
“Hey, I know!” Ali downs another vodka shot.
“Let’s play T or D!” I yell, excitedly.
The others nod in agreement.
“I have a better yet. How about nothing but dares?” AJ suggests.
Again, everyone nods in agreement.
“Who wants to go first?” I ask.
“I will!” Jade looks around for her first victim. “AJ.”
He smiles and raises his eyebrows seductively. “Yes, baby? Gimme your best shot.”
“I dare you to…streak in our backyard.”
Nick, Brian, and I groan in disgust as AJ scrunches his eyebrows up.
“That’s it?” he asks.
Jade shakes her head. “You didn’t let me finish. You gotta streak in our backyard … singing Digital Getdown at the top of your lungs for all our wonderful neighbours to hear,” she grins.
He cocks his head, thinking about it, and then frowns.
“Don’t like the dare, AJ?” I ask.
He laughs. “I don’t like the song!”
We all chuckle as he runs outside. Taking off his clothes he runs around the backyard as we gather at the window to laugh.
“Digital Digital Getdown! Just you and me! If we can’t get together naturally then we can, we can get together on the…” AJ screams as loudly as possible.
“Shut up!” bellows Mr. Robinson, the grouchy man living next door.
AJ runs inside embarrassed as he struggles to put back on his jeans. Nick and Brian are rolling on the floor as Jade and I clutch our stomachs doubling over in laughter.
“Okay, can we get on with the game now?” AJ blushes.
“Hey, there are no drinks left!” Brian complains as he peers into the cabinet.
“I think there are some more in the cabinet above the fridge,” Jade recalls, and I nod.
“I’ll go get them,” Nick heads off into the kitchen, AJ following.
“So, what’s the deal with you and Jade?” AJ asks, struggling to reach the cabinet. Nick stretches up to help him.
“I’m not sure. But I know she’s a good kisser,” he adds, smiling.
“She sucked lime out of your mouth, that’s not kissing. Besides, you don’t even know if Ali’s a good kisser,” he reasons.
Nick nods his head. “Good point, I guess I’ll have to find out.”
AJ smiles to himself, knowing he’s got Nick out of the way for now. They walk back into the room.
“So, shall we continue?” Ali asks.
“Yeah, I got a dare,” AJ says. “This one is for Nick.”
Already knowing, Nick asks what it is.
AJ grins wickedly. “You gotta play ‘7 Minutes in Heaven’ with Ali. You can use her room if you want.”
I look over at Ali who’s blushing happily at the prospect of being alone in her room with Nick. I’m not sure what to think. I mean I should be pleased for her cos she’s had a thing for Nick ever since we met. But I had just practically KISSED the guy myself, and it had been real nice. Ok, he was a jerk at times but boy was he a sensual kisser. And the way he had looked at me, I kinda thought that maybe he liked me. I look up and find AJ staring at me with a weird look on his face. I smile at him, more brightly than I feel. He returns the smile as Nick finally pulls himself together.