Mark arrived last, always last. He thought it made a statement, one others would notice. Mostly it just made him look like he didn’t care.
The group dinner party was at my place this time. We tried to take turns so no one felt overwhelmed too often. I already had appetizers out and I was working on finishing up the main dish. It had already been in the oven for 30 minutes, I was just basting so it would stay juicy and then it would go back in for a final 20.
Ari walked over and slid in right beside me, bumping my arm a little in the final moment “need any help?” He was looking down at my efforts but then tilted his head up enough to give me a sideways glance. Why did him looking at me so closely give me a shiver deep inside.
Ari and I were friends but mostly because of the friends we had in common. We had never hung out outside of our group get togethers and as far as I knew he was the biggest player in our bunch. Don’t get me wrong, I have dated, especially in the last 6 months. After my last relationship I just wanted to feel anything at all from literally anyone. There were a couple people I had almost ended up in a relationship with, Adam and Sarah, but I knew I wasn’t ready and they were, so I had to get out before it got too deep. I guess you could say I was just enjoying the hang outs and the sex while it remained casual. In the last 6 months I had maybe 5 partners, each lasting a few weeks, the longest ones lasting a month or so. What I heard from the others about Ari though was that it was a new girl weekly, sometimes nightly. He hit it and quit it, some of our friends would say. Most of the guys said it in reverence, as most of them were in committed relationships. While most of the girls said it with what seemed like a hint of jealousy or disgust. Ari was handsome but rough looking. He was tall, 6 foot 1, had hard chiseled lines to his face, lean but muscular arms and abs you could wash your clothes on. He dressed like some modern version of peaky blinders and he had a slight Scottish accent from his childhood in Scotland before his parents moved him here for his fathers job.
I had always found him incredibly attractive but he was both too loose with himself for my standards and, in my opinion, out of my league.
Don’t get me wrong, I am beautiful and confident in how I look but I am also realistic. On top of that, men I find that attractive, I also find I cannot trust them. I just feel like they are always looking at or for something else.
Before I could answer Ari’s offer of help, Mark blew through the kitchen entryway with an empty bottle of wine in hand, almost yelling to the other room that he would be back with more. It was apparent he was already buzzed, likely due to pregaming the evening. As soon as he saw Ari standing elbow touching distance from me he couldn’t help himself “Watchout Claire, Ari is swooping in for his woman of the night it seems” He stated this with a spin on his way to the next bottle of wine on the counter.
I think maybe I am mistaken but Ari looked almost flushed and slightly angry at this comment. If it was there though, he managed to clear it from his face in a moment. I laughed it off “Good Lord Mark, are you already drunk?”.
“I am just at the beginning stages of inebriated m’lady” he said this with a swoop of the arm into a bow and then backed out of the kitchen, twirled and started off back into the living room.
I smiled at Ari “He’s such an idiot sometimes”. I grabbed the pan and placed it back into the oven, set the timer and started toward the doorway “Thanks for the help but it just needs to finish cooking and it will be time to eat. Let’s go join the others while we wait.”
“No problem” he smiled “But hey, before we head out there I had a quick question”
I looked at him more puzzled than I meant to “sure what’s up”.
“Are you still with Sarah?” his face was mostly blank when he asked it, not giving me any indication of why he would want to know or care.
“Um, no. I am not really doing relationships and she was wanting one so I broke it off” I said this a little slowly and hesitantly, it seemed odd to be telling him this.
“Oh ok cool, was just curious if it had gotten serious” He smiled and started out the doorway to the living room. I paused for a moment, eyebrow raised, confused and intrigued. I shrugged and followed.
The group had been in the living room arguing about some new movie that had just come out, with half the group thinking it was a brilliant second movie in the series and the other half thinking they botched it and should have just stuck with the first. I squished in next to Mark on the sofa and listened while they argued. Dinner and conversation went by, as usual, with conversations about each other’s dating lives, jobs and current events.
Mark was dating a new guy who was supposed to show up this evening but bailed last minute. This really explained the need to be drunk for the evening and I found myself less annoyed with him now that I knew why. Mark dated a lot but not because he wanted to just date but because he was desperate to find “the one”. He believed every new guy had the potential and so far they had all been a let down.
By the end of dinner it was time for games, which was the usual post dinner entertainment. Mark loudly announced he wanted to play truth or dare. A large portion of the group groaned. Trevor spoke up “Mark, we are in our late 20s, I think we might be a little old for truth or dare”. Several people chimed in their agreement.
Mark frowned and clicked his tongue “Listen here ya old bittie, you’re only as old as you act.” “Come on! It’ll be fun”. Mark looked around “Please, just for a little bit!”
The group finally caved after a little more pleading from Mark and we were all back in the living room and Mark was starting the game. The first two people chose dare and were dared to take multiple shots and to make fart sounds with their armpit. Yeah, we were adults I guess. It ended up being fun though. Everyone was choosing dares that were funny or made them feel like teenagers. It came to me and I chose dare. It was on Mark to choose which dare to give me and a big mischievous smile dawned on his face “I dare you and Ari to kiss, with tongue”. I gave him a quick death look, but not wanting to seem too phased I shrugged my shoulders and said ok. I got up from the couch, walked over to Ari, pulled him up from his seat by his shirt and yanked him into me. I slid my free hand around his neck and pulled him into a kiss. My lips landed on his and I closed my eyes, he parted my lips with his tongue and caressed my tongue with his. It was electric and I couldn’t bring myself to stop but after a moment he pulled away. I stood there for a second dazed. His kiss was perfection. I felt warm and everything tingled. I wanted him wrapped around me, I wanted to climb on top of him and continue that kiss until it led somewhere else.
The moment was gone as soon as it started though when Mark’s voice crashed into the room and my thoughts with “OOOO that was SEXY” he exclaimed “My turn Ari! Just Kidding, unless you’re down” He laughed loudly, he was so drunk.
We ended up winding down the evening shortly after that and mostly people started departing. Each person using the person before them announcing their leave as a way to announce their own. I walked into the kitchen to start cleaning up, Mark and Trevor were in there still talking about something while they gathered things and put coats on. I was putting things in tupperware and moving dishes to the sink to wash when I felt eyes on me. I glanced up and noticed Ari leaning on the kitchen doorway just watching me. He smirked ever so slightly but didn’t take his eyes off me. I smiled a little back and continued what I was doing. Mark and Trevor came over and each gave me a hug, Mark giving me a kiss on the cheek and then they headed out. I watched them walk out the door and say goodbye to Ari. Once they were gone it was just Ari and myself, alone. He stood there a moment longer, just watching me. His eyes trailed down my body and back up and then he walked over and stood beside me by the sink. He grabbed a towel and looked at me with a slight tilt of his head “I can stay, if you want”. I burst into flames from my pelvis up to my heart. I was imagining our kiss all over again. I don’t know where this is headed but I was all of a sudden all in “Yes please, that would be nice”.