I put on the absolute ugliest sweatpants I could find.
They were red with white reindeer and tacky, colorful little ornaments spread all over them. My mother had bought them for me about four Christmases ago and I had worn them a total of four times, during Christmas. Just looking at them gave me a headache and I hoped it would have the same effect on my roommate.
My mission for the day: get game night cancelled indefinitely.
Operation start: 30 minutes from now.
I dug through the black hole that is my closet and grabbed a baggy shirt I'd inherited from my dad. Though, it would be more accurate to say that I salvaged it from my dad's closet when he wasn't looking. It was probably older than I was and barely still holding together at the seams — ugly as sin but comfortable.
I was going to make Maddox regret this stupid freaking rule by the end of the night.
Once I was sufficiently hideous, I took a deep breath and made my way outside.
Maddox was sitting on the couch, three empty bottles of beer were in front of him as he aggressively pushed buttons on his controller. I took a few tentative steps to the couch.
"Give me just a second," he spoke without even looking my way, focused completely on the game he was playing. I stood next to the couch and observed the battle unfolding on the screen — he was playing Halo.
A minute later he was killed and with a few whispered curse words, he put the controller next to him before turning his attention to me.
There was a crooked grin on his face as he ran a hand through his messy hair. "Sorry about that. I forgot I promised a few friends I'd play with them."
Yes, sweet release, he was busy with friends!
"Oh, in that case we should just cancel today, wouldn't want to disappoint your good friends!" My voice definitely sounded too happy and I swiftly spun around to make my escape.
"Not so fast." He reached out and grabbed my wrist to stop me from walking away. His hand was gentle, barely putting any pressure on mine and uncomfortable warmth spread from the place he held. "How about you join me? We can make this the first game of game night." The smile he gave me was intoxicating.
I clicked my tongue, shaking away the hand that held me and crossed my arms over my chest. "The first? How many games were you planning we'd play?" I asked carefully, having a distinct feeling that I would not like the answer.
"Hm, to be determined, I guess?" He spoke in a lighthearted tone before grabbing the second controller and holding it out for me. "Come on, I'll help you out."
I snorted at his remark and sighed in resignation. Taking the controller he held out, I took a seat cross legged on the floor.
He raised one dubious brow at me, shaking his head, "You gonna sit like that for hours? That looks uncomfortable."
I stared back at him defiantly before pointing one finger at his body, sprawled out in the middle of the couch. "No, that looks uncomfortable."
He laughed as if I'd made an excellent joke and moved himself to the edge of the couch. With a smirk on his face he pointed to the spot next to him on the couch and I looked at him in uncertainty.
"I don't bite, Aimee. Unless asked to." He wiggled his eyebrows once and I gagged at the mental image that surged into my mind.
Slowly I rose from the ground and took a seat at the far end of the couch, as far away from him as possible.
He chuckled before setting up the game and then turned to me with a self-satisfied grin. "So, this button here—"
"I know what the buttons do," I muttered, feeling increasingly frustrated by his all-knowing attitude. That's when realization hit me. He clearly thought I'd never played games before.
"Okay, okay. Just ask if you're not sure," he responded with amusement in his voice but this time it didn't bother me. I just gave him a sweet, innocent smile and watched his nose wrinkle in confusion to my reaction before he focused his attention back to the screen.
As soon as the game started I went in blazing.
Even though it had been almost three years since I'd actually played a game on the console, the feeling of the controller in my hand and the mechanics of the game felt comforting — like meeting an old friend.
Maddox on the other hand was not doing so well. He'd let out several gasps and kept taking side glances at me every few seconds. The poor dear seemed to be in shock. I grinned in satisfaction as I took down one alien after another.
"Full of surprises," He muttered under his breath and then his full focus was back on the game.
After a few minutes we were completely absorbed. Laughing, yelling, and screaming when someone in our party was shot or when we managed to kill the baddies. It was surprisingly fun, and a good distraction from the last few days.
By the time we were done, I was completely relaxed and had a genuine smile on my face.
"I didn't know you were a gamer." Maddox's voice sounded surprised but also uncomfortably close.
I looked at him and noticed that in our excitement we had both moved away from the edge of the couch - him more so than me - and were now sitting so close our shoulders were almost touching.
Swallowing hard, I moved back to the edge of the couch. Maddox just smirked not even moving an inch.
I should put down a rule about personal space.
"Yeah, I used to, but I haven't really had time for that since I started college," I responded, setting the controller down on the table. Glancing at him, I saw him staring at the screen and shaking his head, probably still in disbelief.
"Is it that shocking?" I decided to flip his earlier words back at him.
At that, he looked at me and burst out laughing, "Touché." Still keeping his eyes fixed at me, he rubbed his thumb across his lips. "Hmm..." I looked away uncomfortably and cleared my throat but before I could speak he added, "So, what are we playing next? Your choice."
Shit.
I had no idea what game to suggest. The last time I'd played something with people was truth or dare at a party and there was no way I was playing that with Maddox.
"How about the Silence game?" I asked after a few moments, smiling a bit too sweetly, "First one to speak is the loser."
Maddox snorted but I could see he wasn't exactly surprised at my suggestion. "Nope, I'm vetoing games like that."
"You can't just veto games all of a sudden!" I protested in vain.
"I think I just did?" He raised his eyebrows as if daring me to argue with him on this.
Knowing I was going to lose however it turned out, I clicked my tongue and started twirling a strand of my hair. Absolutely no games were coming to mind. None that I would want to play with Maddox at least.
Sensing I was nervous, Maddox reached out and separated my hand from the strand of hair I was aggressively wrapping around my fingers. He quickly pushed the strand of hair behind my ear before I could even react to this unexpected closeness.
My mouth gaped open and he smirked, taking advantage of the situation to offer his own suggestion. "Since you seem to be stuck, how about twenty questions?"
I mulled over his idea for a moment. For starters I was sure that I absolutely did not want to know twenty different things about Maddox. Even the stuff I already knew, I wanted to bleach from my mind. But at the same time, the game did sound pretty harmless.
How much damage could a few questions do, right?
"Fine, let's do that one." I sighed in resignation and stretched.
His grin widened and he nodded his head in approval, "Now all we need is drinks!" He proclaimed, taking the last sip from the bottle in front of him.
"We need drinks?" My tone was sceptical as I called him out.
"Yup! It's the unwritten rule of the game." He said, nodding enthusiastically and I rolled my eyes.
"Somehow, I doubt that." I muttered but stood up anyway.
The truth of the matter was that I would need alcohol if I was going to play twenty questions with Maddox Carter. There was no way I could get through that completely sober.
I started walking to the kitchen when he called out after me. "Hey, by the way,"
I turned to face him, raising a brow, "What now?"
He looked me over twice before speaking, "Sexy." And then he winked at me.
I looked down at my outfit and let out a grunt. I'd almost forgotten about my mission. And clearly, that was not the reaction I had been hoping for.
I was going to need a different approach if I wanted game night canceled by the end of the day.
Hi lovelies!
The game night is ON, and it's becoming quite the night!
Aimee is trying to have game night cancelled, but will she succeed? What do you guys think? ;)
I split the chapter into two due to the length, so I hope to have the second part up ASAP.
I hope you're having a lovely weekend and stay safe! <3