“You know…” I said, trying to sit up. It felt like sitting in a ditch. My legs were everywhere, about to kick Matthew, and I had already injured the poor guy. And the way Darius was holding made it impossible for me to move. Damn it, what was, he iron man? “I can sit,” I continued trying to get up.
“I know.” Darius took out his phone, which I was surprised stayed in his pocket for that long. I looked at the screen to try to figure out which one of his three phones it was. Nope, don’t even know.
“I did not cheat.”
My head turned to see Kristoff and Lee glaring at Adrian.
“My hand accidentally hit the ball in. Not cheating if it’s an accident.” He threw the stick down, stomping to us. “I’m hungry. Let’s get lunch.”
Darius looked up from his phone to his whining cousin and raised an eyebrow. “You just ate doughnuts.”
“Well, I’m still hungry.”
Darius shook his head. “I don’t understand how you two can eat so much.”
“Excuse me!” I snapped, sitting up, or trying to. “We have fast metabolism. Sorry if ya’ll are jealous.” Adrian nodded his agreement.
Matthew shot up from beside me, the whole couch shaking. “Let’s get food.”
Adrian took his place on the couch. “Good. You three go get food. We will chill.”
“You’re the one who wanted the food, Adrian,” Matthew reminded and glared at him.
Adrian just shrugged at him. “Well, I decide I’m going to take a nap. Bring me something warm, and oh yes, some ice cream too.”
Matthew opened his mouth to argue but Lee threw an arm around him, dragging him off. “All good, you three mind our stuff. We’ll get food.”
Darius just nodded. He was too busy on his phone which was too normal for me now.
“Ivory, do you want anything special?”
I shook my head. “I’m not whiney.” I heard Darius chuckle behind me. I could feel his chuckle vibrate through my body as the others left.
“What?” I said, turning around.
“Not whiney?” he raised an eyebrow. “No seafood, no popcorn, no-”
“I get it,” I said, cutting him off. I was a bit whiney when I came to food. Just a bit, I had a very delicate palate and a large stomach.
“Hey, there’s no more beer.” Adrian was leaning over the couch as he opened the bar fridge.
“There’s more downstairs,” Darius told him, standing up. I moved so that I was finally sitting on the soft couch. He stretched his hands over his head and Adrian let out a laugh.
“You’re wearing shorts,” he snickered and I joined him.
“I know.”
“What?” Darius asked, annoyed at us both as we laughed.
“I’ll get beer,” Adrian said when he caught his breath while I was still rolling in my seat.
“Can’t I wear shorts?”
Of course you can, but instead of saying it, I shook my head. It was… different. I would never imagine him out of his suits like this. Not that I was complaining. I thought he wore suits way too much.
“Do you want a beer?” Adrian asked me and I shook my head.
“No, thank you. I don’t like-” I met Darius’s raised eyebrow. Right, another thing I didn’t like. “I don’t feel like it,” I corrected myself. Beer was personally too bitter for me.
Adrian nodded and rushed back downstairs while Darius walked up to the pool table and setting up.
“What are you doing?” I asked as I watched him. Was he going to play a game by himself?
“Playing,” he replied as he took off the triangle template that arranged the balls in a perfect triangle.
“By yourself?” I asked as he grabbed a cue.
“Do you want to join?”
I shook my head. I was too comfortable in my seat and I would rather watch. Plus, we already played too many games.
I watched as he moved around the table with the cue. I kicked my feet out onto the couch and lay down watching him. He played swiftly and smoothly.
“Did you play often as a kid?” he asked, breaking the silence. I rolled onto my side rather than turning my neck so I was facing him.
“I played during our breaks at Uni, there was a cheap pool table in the cafeteria.”
We played a lot. Those were the good times, Rose, myself and a few of our other friends who I had no idea what they were doing now.
I lost all contact with most of them when I quit, and of course my mother never let me out of the house to meet my friends. That part of me did want to stay back and join Uni all over again. That was the only time I got to spend time with my friends.
“How did you do that?” I asked. He had hit the white ball at the edge, letting it rebound and hit the other ball, making it go in. Now that was a move I had to learn.
I wasn’t the best, but I was okay. I could get shots in, but it was fluke most of the time. Really good fluke.
He motioned for me to get up and I did, walking to the table. He handed me the cue and walked to the opposite side, setting it up again.
I stood on the other side, watching it. “Hey, that’s cheating. Put it back where you hit it,” I said as he moved it into an even more difficult position to hit. He grinned and shook his head, placing it where it was before.
I nodded. That was better.