As A Friend

20: Accidentally

"Yeah, I'd have told you to get out of the car had it not been for the fact that I know you would've." He slows to a stop at a light and I shake my head.

"I already feel skeptical about this whole thing. They teased me in high school. Now they're cordially inviting me to hang out with them? It's a little suspicious."

"It wasn't mean teasing, though. It was loving, endearing teasing." Yeah, that's a lie.

"Are you sure they specifically asked for me to be there?" He nods to his phone, which is in his lap.

"Look at the group-chat." I hesitantly reach and grab his phone, trying my best not to touch his pants. I unlock it and search through his messages. I click the group chat and scroll up, recognizing each name in the conversation.

Adrian: Dominic, don't forget to bring your girlfriend.

Eric: Yeah I haven't seen her in forever.

Jack: I see her every day. She's always in our room.

Eric: Have they slept together yet? Or is she still making him wait?

West: She literally has no interest in Dominic. Besides, I'm pretty sure she has a boyfriend.

Dominic: I'll tell her you guys want to see her.

Dominic: And actually, West, she doesn't have a boyfriend.

"That's supposed to make me feel better? They don't even know my name." I toss his phone back onto his lap. He cringes when it lands and I don't bother apologizing. "They just want to hound me about sleeping with you."

"They do want to see you. That's their way of being friendly, Nova, I swear. And they do know your name, I promise," he assures me.

"I'm not a good liar, Dominic. I get all red and nervous." How am I supposed to deny sleeping with him now?

"That's fine. You're always red and nervous." I lightly nudge him and he grins in response. "Trust me, it's going to be fun."

I narrow my eyes at him but leave it at that. To avoid any further conversation, I turn the music up and lock my eyes on the houses we pass. Eventually, we reach Eric's home and I recognize a few of the cars outside. "Ready?" He pulls behind Adrian's car and turns to me.

"Yeah." I unbuckle my seatbelt and follow his lead. When he opens the front door, I hesitantly enter.

"Who's that?" a deep voice asks and a grin breaks out on Dominic's face. I trail behind my best friend nervously with my sweaty hands pressed against my jeans. He lightly touches my lower back and leads the way into the living room.

The guys practically bum rush him with hugs and handshakes and I stand off to the side, smiling awkwardly. Adrian is the first to break away from Dominic and he turns his attention to me. "Nova," he greets and I'm a little surprised that he actually went out of his way to acknowledge me.

"Hi." I rock back and forth in my sneakers like an awkward idiot.

"Nova!" West greets me with a large grin as if we don't see each other every other day.

"Hey..." I offer him a nod. Jack joins the small semi-circle facing me, as do Eric and Rodrigo. They all greet me and I offer nods and smiles and short glances. Dominic eventually joins, as do the last, more distant team members. Instead of standing across from me, Dominic joins me and meets everyone's entertained glances. Dominic makes a shooing motion with his hand and most of the guys disperse, save for Eric and Adrian.

"So how have you been?" one of them asks and I assume the question is directed towards Dominic so I simply look around the house. "Nova?"

I turn my attention back to the boys surrounding me. My eyes settle on Adrian, who is staring at me curiously. "Huh?" I say, a little lost. Dominic chuckles at my reaction.