After stuffing himself full of pizza, Auggie had a bit of a tummy ache, and so Josh helped him get ready for bed so he could lie down and rest. It was around eight o'clock when Josh returned to the living room, running a hand through his dark brown hair. Maya watched him come closer, wanting nothing more than to let her own fingers roam free through Josh's chocolate locks. She bet it was soft. It looked soft… and shiny and perfectly messy, yet another one of her favorite features on Josh. Suddenly, her eyes locked with Josh's and a light smile played on his lips from catching her staring. Maya just rolled her eyes to indicate that he was making something out of nothing.
"You look fine, Casanova." Maya told him. "Now get over here so we can play another game."
He just shook his head and took a seat in the free spot on the opposite end of the couch next to Lucas. Maya was teasing him a lot, but she couldn't help it. It was amusing to watch his reactions, plus it helped to keep things friendly. Tonight Josh was not an object of her affection but rather her competition, and you can't be in love with the enemy. I mean, it is called "friendly" competition for a reason, right? "Yes, exactly." Maya assured herself. Impromptu game night was a good idea. As long as she saw and treated Josh as the enemy, then she would be able to keep her feelings at bay and everything would be just fine.
"Let's play Heads Up!" Riley suggested as she lifted her cell phone with her right hand for emphasis. "We can play teams-I call Lucas!" She hurried to add the last bit as she scooted closer to Lucas and threaded her arm through his.
A broad smile stretched across Lucas's face, matching the one on Riley's, as he simply replied, "Works for me."
"Looks like that leaves you and me, blondie." Josh winked.
"Crap." Maya thought. "So much for Josh being the enemy."
"Okay," Riley started. "So we can just take turns, getting our teammate to guess as many correct answers as possible. After we all get a chance to guess, we can just add up our points and see who wins. Sound good?" She finished, awaiting confirmation from the group. They all nodded in response and began to play.
They played six different categories: Accents and Impressions, Animals, Music, Movies, TV Shows, and Celebrities. Riley and Lucas managed to win the first two categories, while Josh and Maya dominated the rest. They would have won the animal category too, but Josh took too long to get the word ferret, not understanding her clues until Maya jumped on his back.
Maya had been worried about partnering up with Josh, but it turned out to be a lot of fun. They could read each other's minds pretty well, almost too well. Maya didn't want to dwell on that fact though, so to avoid overanalyzing it, she simply said, "Nice job partner. Seems we make a pretty good team."
"Seems we do." Josh answered with a tentative smile. He had played Heads Up a number of times with his friends from home, sometimes as a big group, sometimes in teams. However, when they did play teams, he never scored anywhere close to what he had scored with Maya. It's like they had some sort of special connection. It was weird, but Josh liked it, probably more than he should. Something about being on a team with Maya just felt...right.
They just sat there, staring at each other for a moment, taking in the other's intense gaze. It was a silent question they were asking.
How deep did their connection run?
Neither had an answer.
Josh had dated here and there, his most serious girlfriend being a five-month affair, but he never felt connected to her or any of the others like he did with Maya. He wasn't sure what to make of it. Did that mean that they were destined to be great friends...or possibly more?
Meanwhile, Maya had never had a boyfriend before or anything close to it. Therefore, she had nothing to compare her connection with Josh to, and yet... she really believed that it was real, that it meant something. Maya didn't know what it was, but something deep down told her that Josh was special and that the feelings she has for him are too. He wasn't just a friend...or a crush...but what he was, well, that totally escaped Maya. If only she knew what he was thinking. I mean, he had to feel the connection too, right?
"Josh?" She questioned, always willing to make a bold move.
"Yeah?" He answered, voice sounding a bit husky.
Just then, Riley and Lucas came back to the living room. Lucas had been using the bathroom, while Riley had been checking on Auggie.
"Well, little bro is sound asleep." Riley stated. "So, our next game should probably be something quieter." She finished as she sat back down on the couch.
"Like what?" Lucas questioned, taking a seat next to Riley.
"Hmmm..." Riley thought for a moment. "How about Truth or Dare?"
All of a sudden, a cheeky smile formed on Maya's lips. She wanted answers from Josh, and Riley wanted a quiet game. Truth or Dare sounded perfect. Quickly, she hid her smile and played it cool.
"That works." She replied, sounding indifferent to the situation.
"I don't know..." Josh trailed off. That game never ended well when he played it with his friends back in Philly.
"Oh, come on, Josh." Maya couldn't help but tease. "You're not afraid of little game are you?"
"Of course not." Josh affirmed. "Let's do it." He finished, eyeing up Maya and rising to her challenge. Why did he always feel like he needed to prove himself when it came to her? Better question: how was she always able to get under his skin so easily? Josh didn't know, all he knew for sure was that he had to play this game with them, so he relented. Besides, he was seventeen, playing with a bunch of fourteen year-olds, what was the worst that could happen?
"Okay, me first!" Riley clapped happily. "Lucas, truth or dare?" She smiled.
"Hmmm..." Lucas thought for a moment. "Truth." He decided with a curt nod.
"How many girlfriends have you had?" Riley asked calmly, but on the inside, she was a nervous wreck. She was always curious about Lucas' past; there was still so much she didn't know, but ex-girlfriends was one of the topics that worried her most. Did Lucas have a lot experience with girls? If so, what did that mean for Riley? She had no experience herself with dating, making her encounters with Lucas that much more awkward. Riley was just figuring things out as she goes. What if Lucas wanted someone more practiced and, well, normal?
Riley cleared her mind and bit her lip as she waited for Lucas to respond.
"I've had three girlfriends: Daisy, Celia, and Vanessa." Lucas replied. "My relationships with Daisy and Celia didn't last more than a couple of days, but Vanessa and I dated for three months before I had to move to New York."
Riley gulped. Three whole months? She couldn't even keep a pet goldfish alive that long. Vanessa must have been someone really special to him. How was she supposed to compete with that? Riley suddenly felt deflated and annoyed.
"The number three would have sufficed." She grumbled.
"What?" Lucas questioned, unsure of what she just said.
"Uh..." Riley hesitated. "I said that's very nice." She covered, giving him a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes like it usually did.
"Yeah," Lucas nodded. "They were all pretty cool girls, but..."
"But what?" Riley inquired, a little hopeful.
"As cool as Texas girls may be, they've got nothing on New York girls...well, at least one New York girl." He explained, finishing his statement with a wide grin and a wink, aimed directly at Riley.
With that last comment, all of Riley worries disappeared and she beamed back at him, her smile definitely reaching her eyes this time.
"Lame!" Maya coughed, making fun of her friend.
Josh smirked and joined in the teasing, coughing into his fist, "Whipped!"
Maya burst out laughing, then high-fived Josh. She suddenly felt a jolt of electricity zap through her hand and up her arm, then quickly pulled her hand away. She immediately missed the warmth of his palm and noticed her arm was prickled with goose-bumps. Sparing another glance at Josh, she saw that he also appeared to have goose-bumps. That, accompanied by the serious look in his eye as he stared at her, gave Maya the impression that she was not the only one who felt something.
Maya broke eye contact and looked back at Riley and Lucas before asking, "So, who's next?"
"Riley," Lucas smiled again as he turned to face her. "Truth or dare?"
"Truth." Riley answered. "No, dare...no, truth..."
"For the love!" Maya yelled playfully. "Just pick one already, would ya?"
"All right, all right...dare." Riley chose, feeling a bit risky after her Lucas filled pick-me-up, then stuck out her tongue at Maya who just smiled and shook her head. "Do your worst." She added, looking to Lucas.
Lucas tapped his chin as he thought, then a small smirk appeared on his face. He suddenly stood up from the couch and made his way over to the kitchen where he began riffling through the cupboards.
"Um...Lucas?" Riley inquired with a quizzical look on her face.
"Watcha doing there, Hop-a-long?" Maya queried, wearing a similar expression to Riley's.
"Ah-ha! Found em'!" Lucas called out to himself, ignoring the girls as he walked back over to the living room area with a bag of standard-sized marshmallows and tossed them onto the small coffee table.
"This ought to be good." Josh said to no one in particular as he crossed his arms and waited for an explanation.
"Riley..." Lucas paused for dramatic effect, giving her one of his adorable grins. "I dare you to shove as many marshmallows as you can into your mouth then sing the chorus to your current favorite song."
Riley just quirked a brow at him, while Josh and Maya both stifled a chuckle.
"Where on earth did that dare come from?" Riley questioned.
"Zay." Lucas shrugged.
"Ah." Riley and Maya voiced simultaneously, signaling their understanding. Suddenly, the dare wasn't so weird anymore.
After struggling with the bag for minute, Riley finally got it open and proceeded to shove the marshmallows into her mouth one by one. She got fifteen to fit before stopping and singing, as loud as she could muster, the lyrics to "Love Myself" by Hailee Steinfeld.
Everyone clapped to the muffled beat, as they laughed at Riley's expense, not that she minded. She knew she looked and sounded ridiculous, so she just embraced it as she spun in circles and interpretively danced to her newest musical obsession.
Finally, she ended her impromptu routine and struck a somewhat awkward, yet very Riley-esque, pose with her hands sticking up in the air and her hip jutting out to the side. Her friends just smiled and applauded for the lovely and extremely humorous show they just bore witness to.
As Riley scurried over to the kitchen to spit out all the white, sugary goodness that had been in her mouth, Josh took control of the situation and glanced at Maya.
"Okay, Miss Hart," he smirked. "Truth or dare?"