Page 6 of Just for Fun
His entire body tenses at hearing her name. Theirs is the weirdest relationship I’ve ever witnessed. It doesn’t make any sense. He’s constantly bitching that he’s done with her. Then, they run into each other, and they just happen to fall into bed together. The next morning, he sends her away, but then he calls her back. She always comes back. The cycle repeats.
“Nothing happened,” he now tells me. “She knows the score…”
“Which is what?” I recognize that my voice slurs a little, and I should probably shut up. Alcohol definitely loosens me up though. “That you’re taking advantage of her?”
The shock on Alex’s face makes me laugh. He really can’t believe what he’s hearing.
“What the fuck are you even saying?” he demands to know, a most menacing look in his eyes.
Unfortunately for the both of us, I am a little on the drunk side, so I don’t care.
“I’m just saying that you’re stringing that girl along, and she’s just too stupid to figure it out.”
I lift the glass to my lips, ready for another healthy sip, already anticipating the burn of the alcohol down my throat. That’s why I am very surprised when it flies out of my hand.
“Hey,” I protest. “That’s expensive scotch. You’re gonna have to pay for it.”
Alex is the ultimate cheapskate. He’d rather die than pay for anything extra for any of us. He constantly thinks that people are out for his money. It’s got something to do with his parents. I’m not sure, though.
Now, as he sticks his finger in my face, I have this overwhelming urge to poke him some more.
“If you call her stupid again, it’ll be your head rolling on that floor,” he threatens.
“Okay,” I laugh. “You’re the one taking advantage of her, and it’s obvious to everyone but you and her, but sure, kick my ass for it.”
His face gets instantly turns red. “I am not taking advantage of anyone. She hangs out with me of her own free will.”
I huff at that. “Probably because she loves you or some shit.”
The blood drains from his face, and he is rendered speechless. He stares at me, breathing heavily in my face, to the point where I have to push myself back a little along with the chair I’m sitting in.
“No offense, but your breath stinks a little,” I tease.
Alex doesn’t stink, and he also doesn’t find me amusing. Meanwhile, we managed to gather everyone’s attention. They are all staring at us, unsure of how to react to whatever is going on between me and our friend.
“Boys, I would appreciate it if you didn’t ruin my wedding with your antics,” Hayden speaks first. “I want joy and happiness,” she continues. “That applies not only to the day of, but to all the days leading to. Do not disappoint me.”
Ray, her fiancé, lets out a snort that he tries to hide behind a weird cough.
“You’re going to make such a good mom, baby,” he tells Hayden. “Get these losers in line.”
“Nobody is ruining anything,” I assure them, although, I have no idea what I’m talking about. “I was just telling Alex here…” I point to him like they don’t know who I’m talking about. “That instead of messing around with the lovely Mona, he should let her go. Maybe she’ll find someone else who wants to be with her.”
“Like who?” he grows from next to me.
I shrug at that. “I don’t know. I guess I could ask her out if she’s looking for something casual…”
All the guys around the table grown in unison. “Dude…”
I start laughing. “He knows I’m joking.”
But, apparently, he doesn’t. I realize that when he topples me in my chair with a hard push. It all happens so fast, I don’t have time to grab onto anything, and before long, I am on my back, with my legs up in the air. The wind gets knocked from out of me, but it’s only temporarily. Besides, the alcohol helps with numbing the pain from the impact.
“You are dead to me.” Alex points at me when he says that.
For a second, I think he’s joking, and I start laughing. But then, I see the desperation on his face. It sobers me surprisingly fast.
“Dude, I was only joking.”
