Times Like These

When we got to Matt’s house, I whistled. “No wonder why you hardly ever stay home anymore.” I joked to Dani. “Whatever. You act like Brian’s house isn’t huge or something.” She said with an eye roll. I laughed and got out of her car, making sure to grab the desserts while she grabbed our bags with extra clothes and followed her into the house. As I was walking, I tried to look around. Matt’s house was a lot like Brian’s, you can definitely tell it was decorated by a man. As we walked into the kitchen we found Lacey. “Hey, I was hoping you two would make it!” She said, grabbing the dessert pizza out of my hand. “This looks delicious. Johnny hasn’t shut up about dessert since he got home.” I chuckled and followed her outside, where Matt had a huge outdoor kitchen and was preparing the meat to grill. “Hey guys. I hope you’re good with chicken.” He said, showing his dimples. I walked over to stand beside him and put the brownies on the counter. “Chicken is good. Need any help?” “No baby. Out of the kitchen.” Brian said from a chair beside the pool. “We’ve got this.” “Yeah Bri, you really look like you’re doing a lot.” Dani said with a laugh. Brian smirked and shrugged his shoulders, “I’m the supervisor.” Matt laughed loudly and looked down at me, “Once I get these on the grill you can make the salad. How’s that?” I nodded and patted his back, then headed for the fridge. “Jack’s in the freezer!” Johnny shouted from the enormous swan float he was laying on. I looked around the door of the refrigerator to see him laying there, unbothered with a beer in his hand and sunglasses on his face. I looked Danielle and grinned brightly, and she smiled and nodded. Walking over beside Brian, I stripped out of my shorts and tank before giving him a kiss, then ran full force and jumped onto the swan float, knocking Johnny off and snatching the beer out of his hand before it went into the water. The entire patio was laughing hysterically, including Zack and Erin, who had just arrived. Johnny resurfaced coughing and sputtering, “Damn you. I was relaxing.” I shrugged my shoulders and took a swig of his beer, cringing when I realized what I had done. “That shit is so gross.” I gave the bottle back to Johnny, who chugged the beer and looked at me with a smirk. “You know payback’s a bitch, right?” “Please. I can take you, Christ.” I joked, splashing him with water. The next thing I knew, the float was upside down and I was underwater. I resurfaced and opened my eyes to see Johnny and Brian both in the pool, laughing. “Hey what the hell!” I laughed, taking my hair out of its bun and squeezing the water out. “You started it, I just finished it.” The bassist said with a shrug. “We’ll see about that.” I replied, going to get out of the pool. “Wait where are you going?” Brian asked. “To get a drink. Duh.” I said, walking away toward the bar in the kitchen, making sure I put a little extra swing in my hips.

A few hours later, we had all eaten and were pretty drunk. Brian, Zack, Erin, Matt, and I were all in the pool. Lacey, Dani, and Kim sat on the edge with their feet in while Johnny and Arin were talking on some of the lounge chairs. I was currently on Brian’s shoulders, taunting Erin with a game of chicken. “Come on Erin! Don’t be scared. I’ll let you win.” I said with a grin. Erin shook her head with a laugh, “No you won’t, liar. I know you better than that.” “You guys are bitches.” I pouted. “Speaking of bitches, come here Johnny!” Brian shouted, catching his attention. Johnny walked over to the edge of the pool and before anyone could say anything else, I jerked his arm and he fell into the pool. “Damnit!” He said with a laugh after he resurfaced. “You got me.” “Payback’s a bitch.” I said with a smirk. “If I didn’t know any better I’d think you two had known each other all your lives.” Matt chuckled, “Yeah. You two act like siblings.” Zack added. “What can I say, there’s something about Johnny that makes me want to fuck with him.” I said with a shrug. “I love her.” Lacey laughed, leaning down to wrap her arms around Johnny’s neck. We swam for a little while longer before everyone decided they had enough, and we all changed into dry clothes, which is when Johnny remembered we had dessert waiting. “Oh shit, brownies!” He shouted, grabbing three out of the tray. “Is there pot in these brownies?” “Um, no.” I replied, taking a bite of dessert pizza, “Those are my ‘better than sex’ brownies.” “Better than sex? I’m gonna have to try one of those.” Arin said, grabbing one off the tray. “Oh my god.” Lacey said with a mouth full of brownie, “They really are better than sex.” “Easy for you to say, look who you have sex with.” Matt joked. “No, she’s definitely right.” Danielle said, holding a brownie in front of Matt’s face. “You’ll never know until you take a bite.” Matt shrugged and took a huge bite. “Hey! I said a bite, not the whole thing!” My sister said with a laugh. “Holy fuck that’s good.” Matt said. “You might be right.” “I’m always right.” I said with a smile.

I had stopped drinking a while ago, so I could sober up and drive Brian home. We said our goodbyes to our friends, and when I pulled into his driveway the clock on the dash read 3am. “Holy shit I’m exhausted.” I sighed, taking the keys out of the ignition and getting out of the car. “Me too.” Brian said, wrapping an arm around my shoulders and leading us into the house. “Did you have fun tonight?” “I did. I haven’t had that much fun in a while. I like your friends.” I told him, looking into those brown eyes that I have grown to love so much. “I’m pretty sure they love you.” He chuckled. “Which is a good thing, because I plan on keeping you around for a long long time.” “Is that so?” I asked, leaning into him. “Yep. You’re stuck with me, Nikki.” He replied with a smirk. “I’m definitely not going to complain about that.” I said, standing on my tiptoes to kiss him. “Come on, lets go to bed before I fall asleep standing up.”

Once I had brushed my teeth and washed my face, I threw one of Brian’s old tshirts over my head and slipped my shorts off before climbing into bed. Brian had just walked into the bathroom so I turned the tv on, some random movie was playing when I felt him slide in behind me and kiss my shoulder blade. The last thing I heard before I fell asleep was Brian’s whisper “I love you, Nichole.”

Notes