Thank you ThatRandomKlutz13 for the cover attached! You did a fantastic job :)
Chapters 7-8 were posted! This is my early Christmas gift to y'all ;)
His Game: Chapter Seven
I pull into Dino's vast driveway and make my way to the basement where he and Roger already are waiting for me to provide them with an update of the game. They came over straight after school, but I had to drop my sister off at home and trade the van for my motorcycle.
Like I said, I like the van, but not as a full time ride. If it weren't for my sister and the potential fun I could have in it with Joey, I'd never drive that thing.
"Aye Calvetti, took you long enough," Dino says as I descend the steps into the basement.
I roll my eyes, "Had to trade in the van for my Cruiser, and you live out in the middle of nowhere. Now pass me a beer," I mutter, sitting down on my bar stool.
Through the years, we've sat in these same exact seats at this bar. When we were little, we'd pretend to make ourselves drinks but really only mix different sodas together. Now, we actually do (illegally) make ourselves drinks in the same spots we did as kids. Roger and I next to one another with Dino on the other side serving it all up.
If he doesn't make it to college, he'll be a great bartender.
At the same time I ask for the beer, Dino's dad comes walking down the steps, but I don't freak out. His dad condones the drinking as long as we stay safe. He walks towards the bar as he adjusts the gold chain around his neck, landing comfortably on the open part of his chest since he never buttoned his shirt up all the way, and then runs a hand delicately over his slicked back hair.
He's the classic Italian Father if there ever was one.
Roger glances at me while taking a sip of his own drink.
"Don't you have a date tonight?"
I glance at him and hold my hand out to Dino for the beer with a shrug, "Yeah, so what?"
Dino's dad, Stefano, speaks up as he walks around the bar to make himself a drink.
"Rhett," he starts, pulling out a glass for himself. If you think Dino has a thick accent, just wait until you hear his dad. "You know my rule. I don't care if you drink, but don't be stupid and do it if you have to drive later in the night," he scolds as he nearly fills his glass with bourbon, putting a dollop of soda in with it.
Then he pulls out a second cup and fills it with only soda, sliding it across the bar to me. "There, so you at least have something."
I let out a small huff but take the soda with no questions asked, "Yes sir."
He lifts his cup to me and smiles, throwing in some ice before going back upstairs.
"What is it your parents do again, Dino?" I ask after watching Stefano leave.
He shrugs, "Something that makes us rich."
"Vague."
"Eh," he says, finishing the last of his beer before grabbing another from the fridge.
Roger spins his bar stool to face me and smirks, "So, am I crazy or did I hear Joey-"
"Josephine," Dino corrects him and we both turn our heads to face him. He throws his hands up, "I told you's I refuse to picture that fine piece of ass as Joey Tribbiani."
"Dude," Roger says, giving him an incredulous look. "Just stop watching Friends."
He sighs, "The damage has been done, dude."
I chuckle at him, "Well, trust me, if you spent time with her you'd quickly change your tainted image to a perfectly sexy one of her."
Roger quirks a brow at me, "Is that love I hear in your voice?"
I let out possibly the largest snort I have ever had, "Not even close."
He takes another sip of his beer, "Well, didn't I hear her call you 'Punk', like, three times today?"
Instantly I scowl and drink some of my soda, "Don't talk about it."
Dino glances at me, "She granted you a nickname and you're still dating her?"
I swirl the ice around in my glass and smirk at him, "Well, some stupid nickname isn't going to get in the way of me taking her to the bedroom."
"So what you're saying is you're agreeing to the nickname?" Roger persists.
"If it means getting to sleep with her, yes."
Dino cringes, "I'm a horny teenage guy and that still sounded sleazy."
I finish the last of my soda and shrug, "I don't mean it that blatantly. She's a cool girl so far, fun to talk to and has her own bike, but stubborn as hell. So...if the nickname gives me a one-up, then I'd let her call me BooBear."
They both choke on their beer and start laughing.
"'BooBear'?"
I roll my eyes, "It was just an example jackasses. Point is, I'll let her call me whatever she wants if it helps me out."
"What about Stud Muffin?" Dino questions.
I look at him, "Haley already tried that one, remember? I shut it down before she could even finish her sentence."
Roger chokes on his beer from his snort, "I forgot about her, man."
"I try to."
Dino tilts his head and squints his eyes as he stares at me. "How about Sweetie Pie?"
I don't answer.
"DoodleBug?"
No response.
"What about Honey Bu-"
"Okay I'm leaving," I burst out.
Dino pouts, "I was just seeing how far you'd be willing to go."
Roger smirks at me, "Yeah man, he was asking vital questions."
I scowl at them as I start to walk towards the stairs. "I will see you two assholes later, but for now I have a date to prepare for."
As I start on my way out, I hear them both calling behind me.
"Bye Snoogie Woogums!"
"Yeah, bye-bye Love Muffin!"
He's lucky he has such a nice basement filled with alcohol.
---
I pull into Joey's driveway right at seven, dressed casually nice since she never specified where we're eating. There are plenty of nice Chinese Restaurants in the area, but there are also plenty of casual joints so I tried to dress somewhere in the middle.
Dinner dates have become the norm for my game for the first week or so. I have to establish comfort with the girl by taking them on enough dates to get the small talk out of the way.
Dinner dates and the ride to the view are really the only types of date-like things I do in these relationships. I don't attempt much variety; most girls like the same stuff.
I walk up the short sidewalk to her house and knock on the door to take her out for our dinner date. Hopefully she's not wearing a dress so that she can get on the back of my bike, because I didn't think to bring the van.
Joey in a tight cocktail dress...that would be a sight I don't think I could take my eyes or hands off of. She's got beautiful curves, a generous chest, and a defined ass that would have literally any guy crawling on his knees. Imagine that body in a tight dress...I'd have to force myself to think of my grandpa in a thong in order to contain any excitement.
However, when Joey opens the door my expectations of her wearing a dress are shot down. Instead of the bright red cocktail dress I concocted in my head, she's wearing a faded Marine hoodie with spandex and her hair pulled up into a messy bun.
Cute, but not at all what I was expecting...
I furrow my brow, glancing down at my khakis and pale blue Columbia shirt. "Uh, where exactly are we going for dinner that has you looking so...comfortable?" I ask.
She chuckles and glances down at herself, "You don't like my outfit?"
I glance at her and eye her bare legs. "I never said that, you look delicious in anything."
She tilts her head almost as though contemplating something and then shakes it, "Yeah, I thought about it, but I don't like you calling me delicious. I thought it could work, but no."
I scowl at her, and she continues.
"But, I figure there's no point in always getting dressed up, ya know? So I wanted to be comfortable," she says, moving to the side so that I can come inside.
The last two times I've been here she wouldn't even let me reach the sidewalk and now she's letting me all the way inside her house.
"Wow," I muse in a teasing tone, "You're actually letting me inside, I must be growing on you."
"Like a tumor, yes," she teases back, sending me a small wink.
I scrunch up my face at her. I don't know how I feel about the quick comebacks. "So, dinner location?"
"You just said dinner, not that we had to go out, and I've been craving Chinese. Now," she says, leading me into the kitchen, "I've done a little research and have narrowed it down to three Chinese restaurants." She shows me the desktop in their home office, clicking between the three tabs.
I watch in complete silence as she pulls up their menus.
I can definitely say I have never gotten take-out with any of the girls to play this game, especially not as a third date. Hell, I don't even think many of the girls have answered the door in a sweatshirt and spandex and with their hair not styled to perfection.
"Each of them has a great menu, mostly the same foods, but this one is kind of expensive. However, delivery is cheaper as opposed to the other two that have cheaper menu items. So, I guess it will all come down to how much we order..." she hums partly to herself as she sits cross-legged on the office chair and clicks through the menus.
I just stare at her as she chooses, wondering to myself what the hell is happening. I thought we were going out to dinner where I could flirt a little harder and potentially make it to the bedroom, but instead I'm standing in her home office watching as she clicks through digital Chinese menus in a hoodie.
"Let's see...if we order two things of dumplings from this place then it will cost about the same as it would in delivery fees for the other one. But then we couldn't get as much fried rice," she muses, narrowing her eyes at the monitor as she deciphers what to do.
"So..." I say, clearing my throat, "We're eating...here?"
She doesn't even glance back at me as she nods, "Yeah, Jeopardy will be on in thirty minutes so hopefully it will be here by then."
I think my jaw drops a little. Chinese take out and Jeopardy?
Joey suddenly glances back at me and grins, "Stop staring Punk and help me choose."
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