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July 14, 2010

Addie

I don’t know what the hell I was thinking when I put this ridiculous plan to together, but it’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever come up with.

How the hell am I supposed to seduce my best friend?

I mean, granted, we’re more than that now, aren’t we? If his lips were the antidote to world hunger, I’d have been able to cure it more than a week ago. However, there’s no proof of that and besides, I’m pretty sure curing world hunger has never had the potential to be so humiliating.

I feel like I’m gonna throw up.
I think as I try to steady my rapid breathing.
That should turn be a total turn on.

The fact that I’ve never done anything remotely close to this before is enough to have me sweating bullets. Add to that him putting a stop to things yesterday,
twice
, and I’m not even sure I can go through with this.

I’ve never been so nervous in my whole life
.

Once I pull myself together, I look over my bedroom, swatting at my own hand in an attempt to stop my imminent polish scraping. Everything looks the same as always, exactly as I want it. He left a few minutes ago to pick up some clothes and help his mom with a couple things around the house. He’d asked me to come along, but I’d refused, feigning a headache in order to get everything ready.

He wasn’t all that crazy about the idea of leaving me alone, so I know he won’t be gone much longer.

At least I’ve thought far enough in advance to plot an escape plan. I may feel like an idiot, but I have to admit, my plan isn’t really all that bad. I’d decided that the least painful way to do this is to act like I’ve planned nothing. Act natural, hang out and when he relaxes and least expects me to, I’ll make my move.

Taking a final look at all my stash points, everything is in its place. I’m in the middle of stroking my imaginary mustache, letting out a hushed version of my favorite evil plan laugh, when I hear his front door shut loudly.

“Mwahaha- holy shit!” I curse under my breath as I drop to the carpet, peeking over the windowsill to see him walking across my front yard.

Oh my God.

He’s taken a shower and changed into a Grateful Dead t-shirt that hugs his abs and he’s got his aviators on. His dark hair is messy, but in a way that screams ‘seduce me best friend/make-out partner’ and not ‘I’m a homeless alcoholic with an ice pick.’

I bet he smells like cinnamon rolls and sex.

I’d spent the past thirty minutes trying to amp myself up for this and all he had to do to turn me inside out was walk outside.

I’m so screwed.

I’m still staring out the window like a complete dork when I hear my bedroom door swing open and his deep voice.

“Hey.”

“Huh?” I say, spinning around to see only a few feet separating us.

His deep chuckle reverberates through my veins and as he takes his sunglasses off, his indigo eyes shoot through me as he towers over me.

“I guess your head’s feeling better then?” he smirks, motioning toward the stereo that’s blaring Kesha.

“Yeah,” I nod, shaking my head clear and finding his eyes again.

“You feeling okay?” he asks, taking the couple of steps to close the distance and extending his hand to help me up before flattening his palm against my forehead.

“Yeah, why?”

“I don’t know,” he shrugs. “You’re acting weird.”

“Sorry,” I say, my nervous laughter growing breathy as he kisses my forehead and I get a full whiff of him.

Oh my God.

“It’s okay,” he smiles, making his way to plop down onto my mattress, stretching out and picking up the book on my nightstand before facing me. “So what do you wanna do tonight?”

“I don’t know,” I shrug through the lie, sitting next to him and pulling at a stray thread in my comforter to salvage what’s left of my vibrant manicure. “Just thought we’d hang out.”

“Cool,” he says, moving his legs apart and pulling me to him.

After a quick kiss on the lips, I rest my head against his hard chest and am savoring his familiar scent when he breaks the silence.

“Hey, where did you find that?” he asks, the smile obvious in his voice as his eyes fall on the first part of my plan.

“Closet,” I say quietly as I take in the Battleship game in front of my bookcase.

Okay, so maybe it’s not a great plan, but I panicked.

“Man, we used to play this shit outta that game,” he beams.

“Yeah,” I smirk, moving my eyes to his. “Wanna play?”

“You want to play Battleship?” he asks, his eyes holding a mixture of disbelief and amusement. “Do you not remember how bad I used to kick your ass?”

“I remember how much you cheated,” I chuckle.

“I didn’t cheat!” he scoffs, feigning offense.

“My ass you didn’t cheat!” I laugh. “You can’t put all the ships in the middle of the board! That’s
clearly
cheating, Zeke.”

“That’s not cheating, that’s strategy!” he says defensively, looking down at me. “Nowhere in the rules does it say... You know what? Get up. We’re playing,” he grins as he gently sits up, pulling me with him.

“Alright,” I say with a smile as I grab the box and move it to the middle of my bed, glancing over to watch him kick his shoes off and empty his pockets. Taking a deep breath, I steady myself for step two of my plan as I toss the empty box aside. “Care to make it interesting?”

“Sure,” he smirks, looking over his shoulder. “What did you have in mind?”

“My dresser,” I manage. “Top drawer.”

As I hear the drawer slide open, I hold in a nervous breath at the thought of him staring at my panties.

“Uh…”

“All the way back and on the left,” I cut him off.

I hear fabric moving and the sound of him touching the contents inside that drawer have me blushing furiously as my insides begin to tingle. His voice as he finds what I’ve sent him rummaging through my intimates for breaks through my racing thoughts.

“Oh thank God,” he groans, pulling the bottle cherry flavored vodka my cousin snuck me at Christmas a few months ago. “I was starting to think you were gonna make me wear a thong.”

“No,” I smirk. “Although if we finish that bottle, you might want to anyway.”

“I do look good in lace,” he winks, resuming his place across the bed from me.

With the board set up, I raise my eyes to him and watch him stretch out, his shirt riding up slightly and giving me a peek at his abs as he sets up his side. Once he’s done, he meets my gaze and waits patiently.

“Ready?” I ask and watch him reassess his ships before giving me a nod. “Okay,” I smile, reaching up and flipping the board around, watching his jaw drop.

“And you called
me
a cheater?” he shakes his head in amusement at my flawed logic.

“You miss, you take a shot. Those are the rules,” I laugh, ignoring his outburst. “However, I’m a bit of a lightweight so I need an advantage or I’ll be passed out in a half hour. And as a bonus, I now have my proof that you’ve been cheating for ten years.”

Not to mention, I can miss the first couple on purpose and gain that liquid courage I’ve been hearing so much about.

“Ass,” he smirks, shooting me a wink surely designed to set my soul on fire. “Alright fine, let’s go. Sink my Battleship, baby.”

Zeke

If I didn’t know any better, I’d swear she’s missing some of these on purpose.

As I watch her stare at her board in deliberation, she begins to absentmindedly chip away at her nail polish in nervousness.

“You okay?” I ask her in a low voice, making her jump slightly in surprise.

“Yeah,” she says, her cheeks becoming flushed. “Why?”

“You’ve been staring at the board for like five minutes,” I start as the corners of my mouth turn up slightly. “And you’re still acting a little weird, Add. You sure you’re okay?”

“I’m great. I just think I maybe need to use the bathroom,” she says, smiling nervously as she moves from the bed. “Are you good?”

“Yeah,” I smirk, watching her make her way out of the room.

I’d not only grown use to Addie’s quirks, but I’d embraced them over the years. While most people judged her, her originality was one of the things I loved most about her. However, even I had to admit she was acting more weird than usual right now.

I know she’s been crazy stressed out about whatever is going on with her dad. She told me earlier she’d overheard another weird conversation this morning while he was on the phone. He’d been arguing, swearing he’d have the object of discussion to the person on the other end of the line in time. She said she’d asked him about it, but he told her not to worry, promised everything would be fine. I tried bringing it up again a few minutes ago, but she shook her head and said she didn’t want to talk about it, that she’s fine. Judging from her behavior, though, it’s clearly still bothering her.

Maybe that’s what her nerves are about.

When I hear the door begin to crack open again, it pulls me from my thoughts and she walks back toward her place on the bed. She seems calmer, but almost like it’s forced.

“You good?” I ask and am met with a nod.

“Yeah,” she says before giving me a goofy grin. “I think I’m drunk.”

“I’m not surprised,” I laugh. “You took five shots right out of the gate.”

“Yeah,” she giggles. “And I took another one when you were in the bathroom that I didn’t tell you about.”

“Oh geez,” I chuckle, pushing the game out of the way and reaching for the bottle. “Well, I guess I better catch up then, huh?”

“Maybe,” she admits, reaching for the remote to her stereo and turning the volume up on the Missy Elliot song that’s just come on.

Tossing back the five shots needed to even the score, she watches me as though she’s in a trance. When I move to replace the lid on the bottle, she reaches to stop me and clutches the bottle in her hand.

“You’re drinking more?” I smirk in disbelief.

“I have to take at least one more,” she argues as she pulls the bottle to her lips. “Seven’s my lucky number.”

“Shots don’t really work that way, Addie,” I counter, watching her throw the bottle back.

When she lowers it, she makes a face at the bitter taste and swipes her hand under her lower lip, catching the drop that threatened to escape and sucking her finger clean.

Holy fuck, that was sexy.

As her eyes meet mine, she takes in the way I’m staring at her lips and the corners of her mouth turn up mischievously as her cheeks begin to flare.

“Hmm…” she starts. “Maybe they do.”

“What?” I ask, the alcohol beginning to take effect and making me unsure of what she means.

“Nevermind. Do you mind if we do something else?” she asks, pulling a shrug from me.

“Sure,” I start, looking around the room. “Do you want to watch a movie or something?”