of Pinot Grigio in the centre of the table as I slid into one of the empty seats either side of Poppy.
“Who cares where it came from, its dinner, and it smells amazing. Let’s eat,” Poppy responded, shovelling a forkful of pasta into her mouth.
“So girls, are we all set for Saturday night?” Dominique queried, through a mouthful of salad. “I’m so excited; mum throws the best parties. The food, the people, the booze, and let’s not forget the hot guys in fabulous tuxes’!”
Scarlett picked up a serviette and playfully wiped down Dominique’s chin. “For the drool,” she uttered dryly. “You’ll ruin your dinner with it.”
Dominique giggled, swatting Scarlett’s hand away. “You’re an idiot.”
“Have you got your dresses organised?” Poppy enquired tearing at the garlicky baguette. The girls nodded in unison.
“I have too,” I added, clutching the wine bottle, and filling everyone’s glasses. “What time are we expected at your mother’s soiree, Dom?”
“Seven, or eight, I can’t remember exactly.” Her nose scrunched. “It doesn’t matter if we’re a little late, mother would faint on the spot if we ever arrived on time anyway.”
I giggled. Audrina Jaeger represented everything a mother was supposed to be; kind, loving, and most of all, fun. Unlike mine, they were opposites in every way. “Your mother knows us well.”
“And you know… Ari shall be there,” Dominique told me ever so casually, lifting the wine glass to her lips as she tried to hide her not so innocent smile.
“So?” I sighed, pushing to my feet. “What does Ari being there have to do with me?” I challenged, gathering dishes, and carting them to the sink. Inside I was delighted, but it was a sentiment I refused to share with my persistently intrusive roommates. As always though, their sixth sense to my take flight response whenever Ari’s name came up was on overdrive.
“So?” Scarlett intoned, rolling her eyes and bouncing around me as I rinsed the plates under the hot water. “Is that all you’ve got to say about the man you’ve unequivocally lusted after your entire life? You two have it bad for one another,” she uttered. “The moment you two are in the same room, the sexual tension blows the roof from its rafters.”
I spun on my heel and shot her a deathly glare. “We do not!” The high octave in my voice was a sure sign she was right on the mark. Her smirking expression told me so. She was such a bitch. “We’re just friends. We grew up together, so naturally, we’re bound to have some feelings, you know, like a brother and sister,” I argued nonchalantly, and again, not one of them bought it.
“That’s crap, and you know it. What you and Ari share, Teddy is most definitely not like a brother and a sister. A brother-sister relationship is what we have – the whole love-hate thing. And I agree with Scarlett; Ari acts like a lost puppy whenever he sees you,” Dominique interjected, sticking a finger in her mouth. “…It’s sickening.”
Snap. There it was, and it had nothing to do with the crude gesture causing one of my brows to rise sharply. In my attempt to ignore the continually churning digs about Ari, I turned back to the sink and started stacking the dishwasher.
I loved Ari and had for years. But the problem was my past, it always stood smack bang in the middle of the road like a large crevice, preventing any chance of us ever coming together.
Scarlett bounded around the bench like that jacked-up rabbit I’d always thought her to be and grabbed me by the waist. “Come on, sissy; you know ya wanna!” Her eyebrows jiggled scaring me or scarring me. Whichever way I was concerned. Moreover, she had me cornered. A shitty predicament to be in if you asked me.
“Yes, all right! You’re a bunch of nags. I do like him! A lot!” Finally and much to their impish delight, I caved. I was sure my cheeks burned the same colour as my hair; so much so, astronauts could detect me glowing from outer space. Mars to be precise. I’d just died of embarrassment twice in one day. I had set a new record. “There, I said it. Are you happy now?”
“Of course we are. Why wouldn’t we be?” Dominique giggled, sidling up beside me. “Why don’t you try on the weekend at mum’s party? You may find my brother will be more than happy to reciprocate,” she stated matter-of-factly. Cheeky bugger.
“Okay, okay,” I conceded blushing. “This weekend I’ll tell Ari – but only after a few glasses of champagne and all this nagging!”
Loud satisfied screams deafened me.
I threw the dishcloth into the sink. “Right, who’s finishing the cleaning up, because I most certainly am not?” Pointedly I stared at my sister and Dominique. Surprisingly they took the hint.
Simpering, I clutched the wine bottle along with my glass and moseyed over to the family room, setting them both down on the coffee table before switching on my iPhone, the room automatically filling with the earthy voice of Etta James. I went and sat beside a slightly tipsy Poppy on the modular sofa to relax, if only Scarlett would quit complaining then I could.
A protesting whimper swiftly followed as Dominique flicked her on the thigh with the tea towel.
I smiled privately behind my glass at the familiar and arousing sound. In my dazed state, I began stroking the long stem of my drink, my thoughts tuning in elsewhere, somewhere more erotic.
Poppy bumped our shoulders together, knocking me out of my reverie. “You’re blushing. I imagine it has something to do with a particularly hot, handsome young man. And don’t try to lie, I know that look!”
I sipped on my wine under the ruse of not hearing what she’d said.
“You were, weren’t you?” Poppy pressed, grinning at me.
“You’re as bad as the other two. Is this gang up on Teddy night?” I whined, my head falling back against the sofa.
Bobbing her head gleefully, she drunkenly giggled. “Yep…”
“You’re all unreal.” I laughed along with her; my thoughts were quickly sobering. “I just hope I don’t lose my nerve and run away from him as I have in the past…”
“One should hope not!” Poppy determined in her soft English accent. “Perhaps, and this is merely a suggestion, take him somewhere quiet, away from prying eyes and ears?” As she not so covertly pointed in the direction of the kitchen, hiding my laughter became a tad challenging.
“Good thinking, ninety-nine, I may just do that.” I polished off the glass and set it down in my lap. “I’ll grab him by the belt and drag him upstairs to his old bedroom so that I can ravage him with all this ‘sexual tension’ we’ve allegedly harboured.”
“No alleging anything,” she scoffed, earning a dramatic eye-roll from me. “If I were you, I would even go butt naked underneath just to save time,” Poppy dryly endorsed.
“Poppy Fleming, I’m shocked!” I slapped a hand over my mouth as another bout of laughter bubbled to the surface. “And here I thought you were little Miss Prude.”
“I’m a closet kink,” she whispered, holding a finger up to her lips. “But shh, don’t tell anyone.”
“Your secret is safe with me. Anyway, I’m off to bed.” My legs wobbled beneath me as I pushed off the sofa to stand. “Whoops.”
“See, you’re already weak at the knees just thinking about him.”
“No, it was the extreme exercise at the gym that’s done it.”
“You keep telling yourself that, but we all know the truth.”
Growling, I waved a dismissive hand. “Goodnight lovely.”
“Goodnight Teddy Bear. Don’t dream too much of him, though. You’ll only frustrate yourself more, and then you’ll be pulling out one of those many friends you own in the drawer….”