—This Isn't the Game I Was Playing—
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JENNIE
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Hindsight. It's a bitch. I should have warned Lisa about my family and how insane they are. But at the same time, she's been messing with me since day one, and a little payback never hurt anyone.
However, I'm not excited about the prospect of Jihyo mauling Lisa all night, as she likes to do with other people's significant others. Between her and Jisoo, I've lost at least four dateable prospects.
I realize it doesn't say much about the guys I went out with, but Jihyo will fuck a long john if she's desperate enough. As for Jisoo and Matthew, they belong together. They're both vain, shallow, and entirely too wrapped up in taking staged photos with celebrities and enjoying the perks of the family wealth.
Despite all this, my family generally has good intentions. It's just their execution is quite lacking. Also, the fact that my mother and her sister swapped husbands is just plain weird.
So, yeah. Thanksgiving dinner is turning out to be a bit of a clusterfuck. Dinner should be served shortly and we can leave right after dessert. I'm still standing in the hallway outside the bathroom. I don't know that Lisa and I should return to the kitchen together, but I'm not certain she'll be able to find her way back on her own. There's also a significant chance that Jihyo will be hiding around the corner, ready to pounce on her, so I wait.
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Thankfully, dinner is ready to be served when we return and there's too much commotion and passing of dishes for anyone to comment on our brief disappearance.
Lisa stays glued to my side, palm resting against the small of my back as we make our way to the dining room. Jihyo has obviously been in here, tinkering with the seating arrangements because originally Lisa isn't even sitting next to me, but Lisa switches the name cards around and pulls my chair out.
Jisoo makes a joke about being careful, since we like to play musical chairs in this family. I want to sink into the floor and disappear. And they wonder why I never bring dates over to meet the family. Dinner is a decadent affair, as usual. It's family style instead of plated, but every dish looks like a work of art. The turkey is a deep-fried masterpiece.
My mother, aunt, cousin, and sister are all on some keto bullshit or other so they refuse all carbs or anything that might contain sugar but load up on fried brussels sprouts and whatever other keto-friendly stuff they've prepared. There are even cauliflower "mashed potatoes" loaded with cream and butter and lord knows what else. Jihyo goes on about how all she had today was her detox tea so she could enjoy her dinner.
My dad, however, samples everything, dissecting the delicacy of the flavors. And beside me, Lisa quietly groans her food lust. "This is unbelievable," she mumbles through a mouthful of turkey.
"Don't forget to save room for dessert." It's sort of tongue in cheek since half the people at the table balk at dessert. Or there will be some kind of carb- and flavor-free option that tastes like sadness and cardboard.
Every single member of my family has their phone beside their plate and keeps checking messages between bites. "The manager at the LA location of Decadence wants to meet about the New Year menu. Jisoo and I are flying out in the morning to hit up the one in San Diego. Do you want me to stop there, too?" Matthew asks my dad.
"That would be great. If you have time, you might want to make the trip to Vegas while you're out that way. Nora and I are heading to New York, and Glinda and Lawrence, you're taking the Midwest locations, is that correct?"
"What about me?" Jihyo asks.
"We need you here to keep an eye on things."
"Or I could go to Vegas with Matthew and Jisoo. Why do they get to go to all the fun places and I have to hang out here?"
"We can discuss it after dinner, sweetheart," Lawrence says with a practiced smile.
My parents shift the discussion to which big stars are hiring them for catering over the holidays—it's always a particularly busy time for them—and it's like name-dropping central.
"You've met Daxton Hughes? That teen actor who became an entertainment lawyer?" Lisa dabs at her mouth before she continues. "My ex in high school used to be in love with him."
"I have a crush on him now," my mother replies with a grin.
"He hit on me," Jihyo adds.
"No, honey, you hit on him. It was me he was hitting on." Gran-Gran Calloway winks in my direction.
The rest of dinner is spent listening to Gran-Gran tell stories about all the famous people she's met over her lifetime.
Buster brings in the cupcakes I made on a special platter, and of course my mom, aunt, cousin, and sister all have their special keto-friendly dessert brought out. It looks like some kind of chocolate thing served with three berries and a mint leaf, which are on the approved carb list, I guess.
"You're not going to have one of Jennie's cupcakes?" Lisa looks dumbfounded. I'd like to say it's an innocent question, but based on her expression and her tone, it's not.
I don't know why she's so annoyed on my behalf, but I can't say I don't appreciate it.
"Too many carbs and far too much sugar. Sugar is more addictive than cocaine, you know," Jihyo says haughtily.
"You would know," I mutter.
"Well, at least I can't end up with a deviated septum or psychosis on account of my sugar consumption," Lisa replies and then asks Buster for one of each cupcake flavor.
Lisa proceeds to inhale all of them while making noises that sound a lot like the ones I'd hear were she naked and I was riding her. And now that image is in my head.
I start to wonder if maybe the ink on her arms spans her back, and possibly her chest as well. In my mind, I decorate the rest of her right arm in more, pretty flowers and the left side in an expansive landscape.
Her exuberance seems to compel my mother to fold. She peels the wrapper off, wipes her hands on her napkin and daintily uses her fork to take the tiniest bite. Her eyes go wide, and she blinks several times. "Oh, this is heavenly. Lawrence, did you try this one? You really must."
My aunt also folds and offers to share a cupcake with my dad, who has polished off three already, based on the stack of discarded wrappers.
Jihyo is watching Lisa devour cupcakes like it's porn. And honestly, so am I.
When she's finished the last cupcake, she sucks the icing off her fingers—loudly—and turns her gaze on me. Her eyes are half-mast, making it look like she's recently had an orgasm. The effects of a sugar rush, the crash soon to follow.
Her brows rise. "Everything okay?"
I can't even imagine what my expression must be. "Did you enjoy those?"
She grins. "Immensely. The only cupcake I enjoyed more was the one you made me eat in front of those women at the bachelorette party."
I can feel the heat rising in my cheeks and her grin widens. I will never forget how she looked biting into the vagina cake. Or the way the custard center dribbled down her chin. We're still staring at each other, possibly both lost in that memory.
The stare-off ends when my mother asks what kind of cupcakes they are, and of course she and my father decide to guess the ingredients, arguing about the merits of cooked versus uncooked buttercream.
While this takes place, Jihyo keeps edging closer to Lisa, which means Lisa keeps edging closer to me. At this point, her arm is draped over the back of my chair, and she's halfway into my lap. It's kind of funny and also highly distracting because every once in a while her fingers graze the back of my neck and I have to fight off a shiver.
I'm still nibbling my way through my own cupcake, savoring instead of devouring. Despite the fact that Jisoo and Jihyo refused to try one, there are none left. I'm pretty sure my dad ate half a dozen.
"If you don't hurry up and finish that, I'm stealing it," Lisa whispers, warm breath fanning across my cheek.
"Try it and I'll stab you with my fork." I slide another small bite between my lips and mmm my delight.
I can feel her eyes on me. She's so close, if I turn my head there's a good chance we'll be brushing noses again. "You've got icing on your lip."
I lick them self-consciously and lean away so I can turn my head and make eye contact—the kind that should signal her to back off. "All gone?"
"Nope. Still there."
I raise my napkin with the intent of wiping my face, because there's nothing more embarrassing than having icing on my face, but she covers my hand with hers. "I'll get it for you."
"Really, I can do it myself." Now I'm embarrassed because my entire family is watching and Lisa seems oblivious to all the attention. Or maybe this is on purpose.
"Really, I got it." She's right in my personal space, her grin full of villainous mirth. Which I finally understand when she licks the corner of my mouth.
A hot feeling shoots down my spine to settle between my legs. She freezes, her eyes wide, likely with the same shock I'm currently experiencing because Lisa just licked my face. I don't understand why she looks so horrified since she's the one who licked me and not the other way around.
"What the hell, Lisa?" I swat her chest and wipe her saliva from the corner of my mouth.
She recovers, expression returning to that same mirthful deviousness. "Hold on. I didn't get it all." She leans in again and I put my hands on her chest, trying to keep her at bay. I honestly have no idea what her plan is, or why she's being so damn flirty.
She backs off as quickly as she tried to attack me, her grin ridiculously wide as she pops what's left of my cupcake into her mouth.
"You jerk!"
"Oh my gosh, you two are so freaking cute. Aren't they the cutest?" Jisoo claps excitedly, reminding me that we are not alone. In fact, my entire family is watching this display with rapt interest.
Except Jihyo. Her arms are crossed over her chest and she's pouting. "You should probably get a room," she says.
"Maybe you two need another bathroom quickie." Jisoo's smirking. Of course she was just waiting for the opportunity to draw attention to our disappearance right before dinner.
Jihyo looks scandalized. "Ew! You did not."
Lisa wipes her mouth with her napkin and swallows the rest of my cupcake. "I prefer to take my time and savor the experience when it comes to anything that has to do with Jennie, apart from her cupcakes." She takes my hand in hers.
I try to yank mine free, but she tightens her grip and brings it to her lips, biting my knuckle with another one of her mischievous grins.
"Well, I think it's great that these two lovebirds can't keep their hands or tongue to themselves, even at the dinner table. That's the kind of passion every couple should have." Gran-Gran slaps the table. "I need a glass of brandy. Let's retire to the sitting room."
I take the out while I can. "We should probably think about heading home, actually." This time Lisa lets me yank my hand free from her grasp. I push my chair back, looking to put some space between us.
"You're not staying the night?" My father's disappointment is obvious.
"We both have to be up early for work tomorrow." It's not a lie. Also, the charade with Lisa has gone on long enough. I'm not sleeping in the same room as her to keep up false pretenses. Besides, I don't trust Jihyo not to pick the lock and try to hump Lisa in the middle of the night.
"That's too bad. Next time you'll have to plan to stay," my mom says.
I doubt I'll be able to do that anytime soon, but I don't bother to argue. We spend another ten minutes debating whether we really need to leave. Lisa yawns. I can't tell if it's real or forced, but I use it to our advantage.
"Looks like someone is crashing from all the buttercream."
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The entire family walks Lisa and me to the door. Then it's a round of awkward hugs and lots of people whispering in my ear about how they hope I bring her back at Christmas. Lisa uses me as a shield to avoid a hug from Jihyo. Quite literally. She moves to stand behind me, her forearm coming to rest against my collarbones, fingers curling around my shoulder. The entire front of her body is pressed up against the back of mine. I find myself sort of melting into her as Jihyo does some kind of weird dance move like she's trying to find a way between us.
Lisa rests her chin on my opposite shoulder and extends her hand. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Jihyawn."
"Jihyo." She gives it a dead-fish shake, pouting the entire time.
"Right, my bad." Lisa brushes the shell of my ear with the tip of her nose. "Time to go home, Care Jennie. Dessert round two is calling my name."
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