Page 14 of Catching Sparkles

I ordered another pitcher of beer and we all talked a bit more, reminiscing about high school and people we knew, and how a bunch of those people still lived here and what they were up to. Mostly quiet lives, married with kids. I couldn’t decide if I was envious or not. I think I’d wanted kids, at one point in my life. But within the first year of being married to Hailey, all my wants had faded away, shifting into settling for whatever would keep the peace. We’d fought all the time, and could never agree on anything. I didn’t know why she’d married me when she wanted a guy she could parade around to her fancy, high-end friends. She didn’t know why I’d married her when I wanted a woman who I could have chill nights at home with, just talking and watching TV and enjoying each other’s presence. Why had we done that? We’d only succeeded in wasting each other’s time and making each other feel like shit.

I’d actually forgotten how it felt to hang out and talk to someone who wasn’t making me feel like shit, where I didn’t feel like I needed to act a certain way or watch what I say to avoid sparking up an argument, until I’d sat down with Kendall the night of my dumb little welcome home dinner.

I was pretty sure I’d been chasing that feeling ever since. I’d gone out of my way to talk to him so many times. Even the surprise meeting at the store, a complete coincidence, had been totally welcome. I usually hated seeing anyone I knew when I went out, because I hated small talk and chatting when I wasn’t mentally prepared for it. But he was so easy to talk to, it didn’t feel like a chore or like I needed to put on a performance.

“Hey.” Brie’s voice cut through my thoughts, snapping me back to the present. “Wake up, Rhys. Are you even paying attention?”

“Huh? Yeah,” I answered. I hadn’t been. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay,” she said, sliding her hand under the table and giving my upper thigh a quick squeeze.

I glanced down to where she was touching me. Her nails were long and professionally manicured, pale pink with white tips. They looked nice, but it just made me think about what Kendall’s nails had looked like at the cabin. His were pink too, but clipped short and with silver glitter that sparkled in the light when he’d moved his hands. How was he, a 24-year-old guy so cute? And it seemed to come so naturally to him. Like he didn’t have to try.

“As long as you aren’t thinking about another girl,” she finished teasingly.

“Nope,” I answered honestly, tipping back my frosty mug to drain the rest of my beer before filling it again.

If I’d been thinking about another girl, I wouldn’t have felt so fucking weird about it. Why was I thinking about him? I had a beautiful woman right next to me, who was clearly interested in having sex, which I desperately needed.

It was weird. Even though Hailey and I hadn’t done anything in forever, my libido had basically deteriorated down to nothing. I’d rarely even bothered to jerk off in the last couple of years. But I’d been popping random boners nonstop like I was going through puberty again, ever since I’d come back home.

The conversation moved on again. I was having an okay time, and tried not to worry about the fact that basically all my enjoyment was being derived from the social aspect, conversing with everyone, and nothing to do with Brie constantly stroking her fingers over the back of my hand or my thigh.

Eventually, there was another lull, and Brie spoke up again.

“These glasses are so different for you,” she observed. When she reached up to pull them off my face, I had to stop myself from snatching them back. My eyesight had gotten really bad in the last few years, what with being on a computer most of the day at the marketing job I’d gotten fired from. Without them, everything around me was basically a blur. “They don’t really seem like your style.”

“I need them to see,” I responded flatly.

“Well, maybe you should think about contacts or something,” she suggested, before slipping them on her own face. “Oh my gosh, you’re totally blind.”

“Why would I get contacts?” I asked, irritation crackling along my skin. To counteract it, I threw back another mug of beer, hoping it would dull whatever part of my brain sent out signals of being annoyed.

“Well, I don’t know. These just don’t seem like something you’d wear. Like, I can’t imagine the Rhys I know wearing these.”

“You mean when I was a teenager?” I deadpanned. “In high school?”

“Yeah!” She answered, definitely not understanding the irony in what I’d asked or what she’d answered. Repressing the urge to grimace, and taking in a deep, slow breath I reminded myself to be nice. I needed this. I needed companionship and intimacy and sex. Mostly sex. What would a normal guy who wasn’t a complete asshole say in this situation? What would Kendall say in this situation? He was way better at this kind of thing than I was.

“You know, maybe I will think about getting contacts,” I lied, forcing a grin onto my face. “Not too keen on sticking myself in the eye every day, though.”

“Oh, it’s easy,” she assured me. “You’ll totally get used to it.”

To my relief, she handed my glasses back, which I stuck back onto my face so I could fucking see.

It wasn’t too much longer before David and Michelle said they needed to get home and relieve their babysitter. I got the impression Brie had only asked them along as a buffer so it wouldn’t be awkward between us, which was fine. Once they were gone, I endured more mind-numbing small talk and anecdotes about people we’d grown up with. It wasn’t that she was bad at carrying on a conversation. She was fine. I just couldn’t force myself to focus on her, for whatever reason.

I could have cried tears of joy when she finally asked me if I wanted to get out of there. I paid both our tabs, and followed her out the door. Her little sedan was parked right over by my dad’s car. As we walked over, she gave me a sidelong glance, her eyes dancing with obvious intent.

“So… Were you thinking of inviting me back to your place?” She asked, steering me toward the door of the car until my back was pressed against it.

“I’m staying with my parents right now,” I reminded her. How the hell had she forgotten that? I’d mentioned it so many times.

“Oh, right,” she said. “Well… My place is free.”

When I realized I didn’t feel any actual enthusiasm for her offer, I quickly plastered a look onto my face to make her think I was. Why was I not excited? This was the entire reason I’d come out tonight. Maybe I was just sabotaging myself because I was freaked out about hooking up with someone for the first time in so long.

When she closed the gap between us, raising up onto her toes to kiss me, I turned my head at the last second. She didn’t seem to realize I’d deliberately dodged, and instead latched her mouth onto my throat.