This chapter got longer than I expected it to, cause I couldn't think of a nice place to end it. Ah well. This is pretty much just a filler chapter, because there's very little RT interaction. Sorry!
Anyway, I hope you all enjoy!
I wake up cranky, because getting myself off last night wasn't exactly the same without his voice egging me on, so I'm still a little unsatisfied.
Luckily Summer doesn't notice my bad mood, because she's still trying to find out what I have planned for today. The thought cheers me up a little – tonight is gonna be awesome. She glares at me, knowing I won't tell her until the actual event, and goes back to eating her eggs. I make myself some French toast, pouring a massive amount of maple syrup on it, because I really need the sugar rush.
My cell phone rings, and I smile at the display. "Hey, Kaitlin," I greet cheerfully, my co-conspirator's voice automatically making me brighten up. Summer quirks an eyebrow – I think she knows Kaitlin's in on the plan – and I lift my own eyebrow in response.
"Ok, so Kirsten and my mom have no idea what's going on. I told them meet us at Cesar at eight."
"Sounds good," I tell her, smiling pleasantly at Summer, who's obviously trying to overhear this.
"See you then."
"You bet!"
Screw Ryan, I think, happiness coursing through my veins. He can be as repressed as he wants, I'm not going to let it ruin my day.
"So what's on the agenda for today?" Seth asks from the passenger's seat. "Gambling? Alcohol? Strippers? Maybe some breakdance fights with the local gangs?" He makes some motion that I assume is supposed to be dancing, "you know," he continues, "a little poppin' and lockin'?"
I swear, sometimes I could punch him right in the face. Instead, I ignore his idiocy to answer the first question. "We're going golfing."
He stops mid-pop-lock, and stares open-mouthed at me. "Golfing?" I shrug.
"Bullit loves golfing, so does Sandy. And so do you, as I recall. Something about an old Jewish man?" I make a right into the upscale course and spot Bullit's car already there.
"Yeah, but it's my bachelor party. Golf doesn't exactly scream 'these are my last days of freedom'."
"Like you ever had freedom with Summer," I mutter, shutting off the engine and stepping out of the car. Seth follows me, still pouting. "Plus, I think we need a break from the alcohol." We both understand that 'we need a break' means 'you need a break, because you've been getting a little too handsy with the strippers'.
"Hey kiddo," Sandy calls across the green. "You ready to be thoroughly beaten?" I'm really glad when Seth gets offended, going off to argue with his father – they're way too much alike. He seems to be into this all the sudden, and that means less whining.
"I can't golf for my life," Frank whispers to me, and I try to smile at him. Neither can I.
I guess it's just one more thing to add to the growing list of Atwood traits.
"Ok," I begin, grin permanently etched on my face. Kaitlin's looking smug next to me, and Summer, Kirsten, and Julie are all waiting with folded arms for the plan. "Tonight's challenge – specially coordinated by Miss Kaitlin and I – is a scavenger hunt!"
"You mean like looking for stuff?" Summer scrunches up her face, and Julie looks a little disappointed.
"No," Kaitlin cuts in, smirk tugging at her mouth, "like there's a list of things to do, and you have to complete them by the end of the night." Julie begins to grin, and even Kirsten covers a smile at the horrified look that takes over Summer's face.
"Just me?" she asks, looking at me angrily.
"Of course not, silly," I tell her, linking my arm with hers. "We all have to help."
"I guess," Summer relents, taking the sheet of paper from Kaitlin. "Ok, number one…" she looks up at me, eyes wide, "'do a body shot off a random guy'. I am not…"
"Hey guy!" Kaitlin grabs a passing boy's arm, "my friend wants to do a body shot off you."
I giggle as Summer turns bright red. The random guy turns even redder, but he doesn't protest. I slide my cell phone out of my purse, making sure Summer can't see it.
"I forgot how nice golfing at sunset was," Sandy remarks, and I sigh, reminding myself that I'm doing this for the Cohens and Bullit. Frank looks just as bored as I am – we both gave up trying to actually play long ago.
"So how's Julie?" I ask as we trail behind the other three to the next hole.
"She's good," he tells me, a smile coming over his face. I wonder if I look that pathetic when I talk about Taylor. "Although," he continues on, smile getting wider, "I don't even want to know what she's doing right now."
We see Julie emerge from the bathroom with a smug smile, and we all cheer. She holds up the red fabric proudly, making her way over to us.
"You can check number 6 off," she tells us, shoving the guy's boxers into her purse.
"I can't believe you made that guy give you his underwear," Kaitlin shakes her head proudly.
"Oh, I've still got it in me," Julie nudges Kirsten, who shakes her head, laughing.
"Ok," Kirsten grabs the paper. "Number 7, 'have a guy give you a condom'."
"Go Kirsten!" I giggle, and the woman sets her shoulders resolutely, finding a college boy – she's so evil – to prey upon.
"Oh," she turns back to us with a warning look, "no one tells Sandy about this."
I grin, because let's face it, we've all been snapping pictures the whole time, and there's no way the boys aren't finding out about this.
I hear a noise from my pocket, and I grab the cell phone out, flipping it open. Taylor just sent me a picture, and I'm not sure I want to see, since her message says 'are you having fun at YOUR party?' I decide to risk it, and open the picture.
"Holy-" I break off the sentence as the others look at me curiously.
"What's up?" Seth asks, and he's probably the last person in the world I want to see this.
"Nothing, man," I snap my phone shut.
"Oooh," Bullit grins, grabbing my cell phone from me. "A naughty little message from the ball and chain?" He opens my phone and hits a few buttons, breaking into laughter as I shut my eyes. "I think this is for you," he hands the phone to Seth.
I watch my brother's eyes widen, Sandy and Frank looking over his shoulder.
"What is Summer doing?" Sandy begins in horror.
"It's called a 'body shot'," Frank manages to get my cell phone away from Seth, closing it and handing it back to me.
"Jesus and Moses," Seth whispers, "my fiancée's turned into Julie Cooper…"
"Hey…" Frank tries to protest, but he's drowned out by our laughter.
"Hey," Kaitlin smiles seductively, placing her hand lightly on the boy's arm. His face breaks out into a goofy grin, and his friends begin to laugh like idiots. The boy raises his glass to his lips, trying to look cool while sipping his beer. She licks her lips before continuing, "would you like an orgasm?"
He chokes, and we try to suppress our giggles, because we're trying to make it look like we're not watching.
"What?" the boy asks in confusion as his friends hit him.
She gives him her best 'duh' look, "I asked if you wanted an orgasm?" He opens and closes his mouth a few times, gaping, before nodding dumbly. She smiles brightly at him.
"Hey bartender! Can I get two orgasms over here?"
The bartender – who we have befriended (after he let me draw a pretty tattoo on his bicep) – has the drinks ready, giving them to Kaitlin, who in turn slides one to the bewildered boy.
"Cheers!" she downs the shooter, winking at the boy before walking back to us.
"I'm so proud," Julie sighs, draping her arm around her daughter's shoulder.
"I think you're the only mom in the history of ever to say that about her daughter talking to strangers about orgasms and downing shots." Kaitlin shakes her head in mock sadness, and we all laugh because we're all a little drunk. Except Kirsten, who laughs anyway, because it's Julie.
We're sitting in the restaurant, staring at our cell phones, barely touching our food. There's a noise, and we all jump, looking around wildly, and it's Sandy's that's going off this time. He opens it warily, looking almost relieved before handing it to me.
That's the protocol with this. First the person who gets the message looks at the picture, then the person it was obviously meant for, then the rest of the group. And because he's giving it to me first, I know it's Taylor. Oh God.
I make myself look, and sigh in relief. She's standing next to some guy who looks like a bartender, pointing at his arm with a marker. The guy's grinning at her – giving her that familiar look of 'you're insane' – and on his arm is a hastily drawn tattoo. I take a closer look and shake my head, because it says 'SS 4ever.' And beneath that 'ILRA'. I know from her blogging that it's her personal message to me: 'I Love Ryan Atwood'.
I hand the phone around, and they all glare at me because I didn't get something mightily embarrassing. First there was Summer's body shot, then Julie smugly holding up a pair of boxers that were not Franks, then Kirsten taking a condom from an obviously uncomfortable college student, and finally one of Kaitlin throwing back a shot with some boy looking at her, eyes bugging out of his head.
"Oh, I'm so glad my phone has a video recorder," I hear Julie whisper to Kirsten, and I can't help but feel my heart rate pick up, knowing Ryan will be seeing this. I hope he enjoys it.
Summer giggles at me drunkenly, waving dollars bills in my direction. "Come on, Townsend!" she calls, "I want my show!" I throw her a seductive look, grinning and walking over to where she's slouched on the cushions of the sofa.
"Uh oh," Frank mutters. "It's a video…" we all glance around nervously, waiting for him to watch. It doesn't bode well that he snaps the phone shut, face going red. "This is for you and Seth," he tells me, handing me the phone. Seth scoots closer to me and I open the phone warily, finding the message and pressing play.
Holy shit.
"Jesus and Moses," Seth whispers reverently next to me, but I'm not really paying attention because it's all focused on the little screen.
They're obviously at a strip club, and Summer's reclining on a couch, and I watch as Taylor walks over to her, swaying her hips. She gets on Summer's lap and starts giving the brunette a dance, the smaller girl shoving bills into my girlfriend's shirt. I completely forget how to breathe as I watch Taylor's hips sway, Seth's girlfriend smiling up at her drunkenly.
The video ends after only a minute or so, but Seth and I continue to stare at the little device, not sure how to process it. "Oh my God," I hear Seth mutter, taking a shuddering breath, and I don't blame him. Suddenly I'm finding it hard to focus, and my jeans are getting a little restricting right about now.
"I don't think I need to see that," Sandy says off our reactions, and I'm eternally grateful. It's one thing for Frank to have seen it, but Sandy's known Summer and Taylor longer – he thinks of them as daughters. Bullit doesn't seem to have the same dilemma, because he grabs the phone from me, settling back in his chair with a grin to watch.
"Oh my God!" Summer giggles, and I fall onto the couch next to her, breaking into laughter as well. "Seth's gonna lose it…" we begin to laugh harder – it's funny, because it's true.
I wish I could see their reactions – Ryan's is sure to be priceless. I know all about his so-called 'pedestrian fantasies' – hell, we've played most of them out. At least the ones he'll tell me about, anyway. I'm betting that if he's fond of girls in wet clothes, then he's probably a fan of the girl-on-girl action. He just won't admit it, because he knows I'd never go for it. No way am I sharing him with anyone else. But it's still fun to tease him...
I gasp as the idea hits me. "Oh my God," I gush, turning to face my best friend, "we should call them!" Her face lights up with glee and we both pull out our cell phones.
Bullit hits the play button again, and I really want to jump across the table and kill him. That's my girlfriend… dancing on another girl's lap… having bills pushed into her shirt… dear God. Seth gives me the puppy dog look, but I can only shrug. It can't be good that our cell phones both go off at the exact same time.
"Taylor," I greet warily, turning from the table slightly so there's less chance of anyone hearing.
"Hey baby," she giggles, and for some reason when she says it, it's not cheesy – it's just fucking hot. "Did you get our video?"
I glance over my shoulder and it looks like Seth is having the exact same conversation. "Yeah," I grunt, voice low. I hear her giggle again and I realize she's probably more than a little tipsy.
"Did you like it?" she breathes, making little jolts of electricity shoot through my stomach. She's being a fucking tease, I realize. She knows I liked it, and she's teasing me, because she knows I can't reach her.
"Yeah." I can't believe the tone of my voice. It's the voice I reserve specifically for times when I'm alone with her. Especially for times when I want her to do things. Bad things. She seems to recognize it as well, because she moans a little, and the only reason I'm not saying something very dirty to her right now is because I'm in public…
"I was thinking of you," she tells me, and it's not exactly helping my situation.
"Taylor," I force out, "not now." She makes a whimpering sound, and I can see her face in my mind – lips pouting, eyes giving me that pleading look I know only too well. "I'm in a very crowded area," I tell her, trying to think of something other than Taylor's lips.
"So am I," she moans again, and I know she must be drunk.
"I'll talk to you later," I say forcefully, trying to make myself sound authoritative.
"Fine," she pouts. "Summer says hi." I shut my eyes as the dial tone blares in my ear.
"Ok," Seth's voice cuts through my thoughts. His voice is just a little too loud, and he's acting all twitchy. "I think we should call it a night."
"Ryan was using his sexy voice," I inform the group and Kirsten mumbles something like 'oh my God', putting her hands to her face. The rest of them shake their heads – they must be used to me saying stuff like that. Sometimes… little comments just slip out when I'm talking to them. Sometimes when I talk about Ryan I just go into this haze, and I can't really control myself, and I end up telling people exactly what I'm thinking – and usually when I talk about Ryan, I'm thinking very naughty things.
I remember the time he got so angry at me, because I let slip to Julie and Kaitlin about his penchant for playing 80's rock music while we have sex. Of course, it hadn't helped that the two would burst into song every time he was around. And then Kaitlin had gotten 'Pour Some Sugar On Me' as a ringtone, playing it constantly when he was around and asking if it was 'getting him in the mood'.
I drive home, and for once in his life Seth is actually silent through the whole ride. Probably because the only thing we have on our minds is that little video, and that conversation is going to be highly unpleasant if we ever talk about it. Twenty minutes and one very uncomfortable elevator ride later, I'm in my room, and I pull out my cell phone. I have six voicemails. Fantastic.
I press 1 on my phone, holding the plastic up to my ear as I kick off my boots. First message, the phone lady blares at me.
"Ryaaan… guess what song I'm listening to? Remember that one from that band – the one that sounds like a cat? It's still Kaitlin's ringtone, and it makes me think of you… because of that time, remember? That time- what? No, Kaitlin, I'm not gonna ask him if he's 'in the mood'. No. Go away, I wanna talk to Ryan…"
There was a beep, and the phone lady asks if I want to delete the message. I don't because I'm thinking this will be a good way to blackmail Taylor later. Second message.
"Kaitlin is so mean! I was talking to you, and she made me stop. She says I'm not allowed to talk on the phone and walk at the same time. She said I kept walking into things, but I don't know what she's talking about, Ryan, because I'm very coordinated, and yes, I may have hit that telephone pole, but I meant to. I just can't help getting distracted when I talk to you. I wish you were here. Or I was in Vegas. Remember how you were talking about spending hours in a hotel room? I really want to do that… Summer wants me to stop talking. I think our cab driver's listening."
I can't help but grin - drunk Taylor is hilarious. And I'm not deleting that one either.
"Ryan, it's Summer. I'm calling from Taylor's phone, cause she's sooooo drunk, and I told her she's not allowed to call you anymore. She says you liked our video! Seth liked it, too. Taylor, no. No, I'm not giving you the phone back... I don't care if you want to talk to him... he's not even talking to me. Ew! No I'm not saying that. You two are diiirty
They must be drunker than I thought, for Summer to be leaving me a message about the video. She must be drunk to even make the video in the first place. I press the appropriate button for the next message, hoping slightly that it's Taylor, because I kind of want to know what she wanted Summer to say.
"Hey honey, it's Kirsten. I'm really sorry about tonight; they just got a little out of hand. I hope our scavenger hunt didn't make you all too uncomfortable. I know Kaitlin took a picture of me, but please tell me only Bullit and Sandy saw it… Have a good night. Get some sleep."
I smile, because sometimes she's just so Kirsten. She never has to know that – yes – I did see the picture of her. I delete that message, because there's no blackmail potential in it. Next message.
Babyyyy, I love you! I miss you so much! Why aren't you answering your phone? I wanna talk to you…
Alright, short message. Next.
"Pour some sugar on meeeee, in the name of love! Pour some sugar on me, come on fire me upppp! I'm hot, sticky sweet! From my head, to my feet!"
I flip my phone shut, reminding myself to kill Kaitlin when I get home. I told her once that I'd always be her big brother, but I never expected her to take this 'annoying little sister' gig so seriously. She gets it from Julie – who, of course, was singing backup over the phone.
Then I remember Taylor's messages, and that video, and I decide to call her.
I snuggle deep into my pillow, and pretty music starts to play in my head. I'm half asleep, and having a wonderful dream about Ryan, and we're listening to this song. In the back of my mind I realize it's the same song as my ringtone. Huh... weird.
I sigh and hang up. She must've passed out or something, because she's not answering. Maybe it's a good thing, because I'm not exactly sure what I would've said to her anyway.
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