“Hi, Declan, you can call me Raven, and not sure I’m coming to the park this week.”
Abbi finally breaks in, “Can someone please tell me what’s happening here? Do you two know each other?”
“We were briefly acquainted and unfortunately, I never got her name. I accidentally ran into her playing football. ”
All of the air is sucked out of the room and Abbi, Ella, and Finn all look at me at once. “This is the guy from the park?” They ask in unison. Now everyone in the room is watching me.
“Apparently so, small world?” I hope to God no one says anything else embarrassing because I’m positive I’m about to fall over.
Of course, I’m not so lucky; Ella shouts, “Fucking shit! Raven, Holy Hotness from the park is my brother?”
“Apparently so.” I’m reduced to two word answers since I’m mortified beyond belief. I wish the floor would swallow me and my tequila now.
Gabe and Tripp start laughing. Not just snickering, but a full on assault. Gabe stops long enough to shout, “Is this the guy that knocked you on your ass after yoga? This is great! Where the hell is my beer?”
“I need another one too, Gabe. This just got interesting,” shouts Abbi.
Just like that, the tension leaves the room and everyone starts to laugh along with them. I, on the other hand, am about ten shades redder than normal.
I guess Declan isn’t worried at all because he sits down and grabs a shot of Jack. He slowly grins at me and lifts his glass, “Nice to finally meet you, Raven. I look forward to getting to know you.”
I look over to Finn and find him staring at me. He isn’t smiling; he actually looks like he feels sorry for me. Once again the doorbell rings and I decide I’m not getting up this time. Ella runs to the door and when she throws it open, she gasps.
Jimi introduces himself and Ella invites him in. She eyes me with curiosity and Abbi goes to the kitchen.
I hug Jimi in a warm welcome; he’s my only alliance at the moment since he didn’t witness the debacle just a few minutes before. I walk back to kitchen to grab him a beer. When I get there, Ella and Abbi are both looking at me confused.
“I guess the jokes on me about your brother being Holy Hotness. But I promise you, I had no idea he was related to you girls.”
“Rave, we don’t care about that at all. I think it’s actually one of the funniest things that’s ever happened. We know our brother’s hot- He’s in a band for Christ’s sake! What Ella and I want to kno
w is how many more of them are there?” Abbi points to the living room.
I finally begin to relax and I can’t help but laugh, “Are you kidding me? You guys are hiding in the kitchen because Finn and his roommates are here? You really should try living with them for awhile. The sex appeal fades quickly. Now, can we order some food and start the night over? I feel the need for another shot since I’ve been thoroughly mortified. Then maybe we can start the game and I can kick ass and win their money.”
All three of us walk back into the living room and everyone seems to be getting along great. Declan has blended into the mix and I wonder if this is because they are intently talking about the upcoming start of the NFL season and the pre-season games. Abbi gets everyone’s order for Chinese and Declan agrees to stay and hang out. He excuses himself to make a phone call as I give Abbi the credit card information and she takes over getting our food.
“You don’t have to pay for my food, Raven, but I appreciate the offer.” Declan states when he walks back into the room and reaches into his pocket for his wallet.
“No, please, I insist. It’s actually on my dad tonight. He couldn’t come by today and wanted to buy the first meal in my new place. He also contributed the twenty dollars for my buy in on the poker game because he’s convinced his money will beat Jimi and Tripp. My dad’s lost the last five games to them and he’s bitter about it.”
He sits back down and smiles at me. “Well, okay then, but I’ll buy you a round when you girls come see the band play.”
“Deal.” Did I just agree to see his band play? Am I crazy?
“So, Raven, tell me about this security system you’re putting in. My dad and I are thrilled about it.” Declan turns all his attention to me. His voice is so lush and his eyes are penetrating as he talks. I feel a flutter in my stomach and my body heats up in his presence.
“Well, actually, you should really ask Finn about the system. He ordered it and will be installing it tomorrow. He’ll have a small crew over here to help with the window detectors, but he’ll do most of the panel work.”
Finn turns around and starts to talk about the simple- yet very effective- system being installed. When our food arrives, it looks like we are feeding fifteen people. We all settle down and eat in comfortable silence. Finn and I always share our meals, so I scoot over towards him so we can dip into the cartons without reaching over everyone. Declan is watches me closely as I eat some of Finn’s Cashew Chicken. I catch his eye and smile slightly. He does the same. I feel butterflies again. I have to wait until I’m calmed down before I can swallow. What’s happening to me?
After everyone is finished, we clean up the table and take all the remaining dishes to the kitchen. Finn and Jimi get the game ready to go. I quickly realize I’m the only girl playing in the game since Ella and Abbi admit they don’t know how to play. We’re playing traditional Texas Hold ‘em with a twenty dollar buy in. I sit next to Tripp because I’m convinced he cheats. The only one of the whole group that makes me nervous is Declan. Once the game begins, it starts to get interesting. Finn swears his cards are tainted as he folds the first two rounds. Gabe is the first one to get knocked out by Tripp and after arguing about card fraud, he settles back on the sofa with a new beer and a shot glass. I notice he sits right between Abbi and Ella and they’re smiling. Tripp’s the next one out and he’s convinced the cards aren’t a full deck.
The four of us battle for two more rounds until Finn knocks Jimi out with a flush over two pair. Jimi doesn’t fight it. He sits back to watch us with a smile on his face. I immediately know something isn’t right. Jimi clears his throat, “So, Raven, Finn told me you had a bad fall last week. You okay?”
I look at Finn and curse his name, “Dammit, Finn Black, I’m going to kick your ass. Why would you tell these assholes about that? It wasn’t even funny and now I have to listen to their ass crack jokes.”
Finn is mid-swallow and starts to choke, “Ass crack jokes? Is that a new Raven James certified term? Can we now declare this a term that’ll be found in the dictionary?”