11 • The Game

"He doesn't want to do it, I told you," Pinky says, raising an eyebrow at me. His blouse is now completely open for some reason, but i don't let myself pay much attention to his marked abs.

"I'll do it," I accept, partly to appease Cain and maintain his friendship. And partly because I want to shut Pinky's mouth. I also want to strangle him and force him to disappear from my perfect life, but I'll settle for the former.

Pinky's face changes with my words and he settles on his chair to watch me as I decide who to kiss. I should choose him and kiss him until he's speechless, but I won't. Only because I know that's what he's waiting for and I don't want to give him the satisfaction.

"I call dibs on Vic," I say when my gaze finds him, chatting with two girls. Pinky's face breaks down with fury.

"No, no. Not Vic," he demands, sounding harsh, "Anyone but Vic."

"Pinky... you sound jealous," Cain sneers and my eyebrows rise, "Vic and Pinky were dating until Vic dumped him."

"That's not the way things were," he defends himself, but I don't pay attention to him. I keep thinking about him and Vic together. I don't know if I see it as possible. Vic is short, too pretty to be a man, and he's always smiling. He wears makeup sometimes and moves like he's dancing. He's a complete stereotype of a gay person and Pinky is the opposite of a stereotype of anything. He's enigmatic and confusing.

"Well, then I guess I'll kiss that guy," I say, pointing to someone I've never seen before but who looks equally stereotypical. Not that it's a bad thing, it just assures me that he won't punch me in the face when I try to approach him.

"Gerald, okay," Cain says, smiling as if he's having a lot of fun with this game. Pinky on the other hand has his arms crossed across his chest and looks annoyed, "Let's go."

"Not so fast. You heard the lady," I point to Sam, my drunk friend, "We all have to do it. Pick someone, too."

"Easy, I pick Pinky," he answers without thinking about it for more than a second and doesn't even give me time to process what he said, he just gets up from his seat and walks around the table to stand behind Pinky.

My mouth drops open with a thousand questions stuck inside, but again Cain moves fast.

He catches Pinky's angular jaw, moves his head back and leans over him for a backwards kiss, like Spiderman. And it's not even a quick kiss, their lips meet with familiarity and I even see Pinky's tongue peeking out for a second before Cain pulls away.

My mouth never got a chance to close, let alone now, while I'm looking at Pinky's wet lips and the wicked gleam in his eyes when he looks at me.

I feel weird... Uncomfortable.

Not very happy.

Whatever happens, I'm most likely going to marry this man. And I'm not thrilled that my best friend kissed him like that, let alone that it was so obvious that they've kissed before.

"It's your turn," Cain says, pointing at the two of us. I turn back to look at Sam, who is leaning back against her seat with droopy eyes, blowing air at herself like she's suddenly very hot, "Did you like that, Sammy?"

Cain is loving the fact that Sam looks so excited about what she just saw. Just like Pinky is loving my dumbfounded, scared face.

"It's hard not to enjoy a kiss between two such... beautiful beings," Sam blurts out, getting up from her seat with difficulty. I move to help her.

"If you're really drunk, we can save this for another day..."

"You're crazy," Pinky interrupts me, also getting up to meet my gaze, "You're not going to get away with this unless you want to make it clear to us that you're homophobic."

"Okay, I'll do it," I reply, moving closer to him to intimidate him, but it doesn't work. His eyes fall to my lips and that makes me walk back, me being the intimidated one, "Sam, do you want to go first?"

"Sure," she answers easily and walks over to a blonde girl sitting two tables away from us. Pinky, Cain and I follow her until she reaches the girl and without needing words, she sits on her lap.

"Hey, Sammy," Amelia greets her with a smile, not looking the least bit surprised.

"Hey, Amelia... Can I kiss you? Cain's orders," she says and my friend chokes beside me, taking a step towards them.

"I didn't order it, we're just playing," he defends himself, but Amelia just laughs and nods. Sam grabs her face gently and pulls her in for a slow, sensual kiss that makes me feel warm inside. I can't look away from their lips, "Ah, fuck..."

"I want to join in," Pinky says next to me, but Cain hears him and gives him an annoyed look before returning his eyes to Sam and Amelia, who slowly pull away. Everyone at the table starts whistling and clapping.

"Thank you, thank you," Sam says, bowing awkwardly to them before turning back to us, "You're up, Beautiful."

"His name is Bernabeu," Pinky butts in, "And I don't think he dares."

I don't answer anything, I just walk towards the innocent man I chose, who is now walking somewhere next to another man. I have to jog until I reach him before he disappears, my friends follow me.

"Hello... Gerard? I'm Beau," I introduce myself, making him raise his eyebrows in surprise.

"Hi, I've heard about you. It's nice to meet you," he says, stretching out his hand to greet me, trying to be formal. Oh my. This is worse than I thought. I open my mouth to ask permission to kiss him, but he stops me, "Can we talk later? I have an emergency. I'm so sorry."

"Oh, sure, go ahead," I say and step aside to let him go, covering my face in defeat.

"Boo!" Pinky exclaims, crossing his arms again over his half-naked chest, "He chose him on purpose to get out of it."

"Just pick someone else," Cain says and we all start looking around for a new victim. Vic is right there, but Pinky refuses to let me kiss him, so I have to keep looking.

"I found someone perfect for you, your ideal partner," Pinky says with a strange tone and an evil smile appearing on his face, "Dylan Warght."

"No, Pinky," Cain complains immediately, grimacing. Dylan is away from everyone, talking on his cell phone and carrying a glass of liquor in his other hand, "He doesn't have a funny bone in his body or any friends, he's not going to let you kiss him for a game."

There's something about Dylan that makes me feel anxious, like when I saw Cain or Sam. I feel like I know him well, but really it's because I'm going to get to know him well in the future. Almost as well as my best friends.

I access a bit of my future memories with him and only need a few seconds to know what I need to know. I pinch my hand to bring myself to the present and focus on Cain, who is waiting for my answer.

"I'll do it," I answer, eliciting strong reactions from everyone. Sam gasps dramatically, Cain looks at me as if I just betrayed him and Pinky hardens his jaw as if he wants to come and hit me, "What, you're jealous?"

I don't know why I asked that. I don't know why I asked that. I don't know why I asked that. I don't know why I asked that.

I fucked up again. I know when I see Pinky losing his mind.