Chapter 38: Game Night
Zane arrived early the next night, carrying his set of Star Portal movies under his arm and a jug of soda in the other hand. "Let's get the game set up. We are using your Risk'd set this time."
Evan set a bowl of chips on the counter, waving a hand toward the box on the table. "Dean and Emma are on the way. I wish you let me get something other than pizza. Rylee's going to think that's the only food you eat."
Zane rolled his eyes and put the soda beside the food. "Don't hate Pizza. It's easy, it feeds lots of people. And unless you buy a house with a yard it'll hard to grill for this many people indoors."
"Fair enough," Evan took the DVDs and popped one into the DVD player. Then they started sorting game pieces into piles and shuffled the cards. Just as they were done, the doorbell rang. Evan went to open it but was disappointed it wasn't Rylee yet.
"Why the long face?" Dean gave his shoulder a shove and Evan rolled his eyes.
"Nothing, glad you can come," he politely smiled to Emma and led them to the living room.
Dean was a friend from college, a year older than Evan and a graduate from the art department. They became friends during their coursework together and would often consult each other on projects. Dean was the lead artist now at a large company, which was where he met Emma. She was younger, but nerdy like them which made it easy to do group activities.
"Looks like Zane has shared his talented cooking skills with us," Emma remarked, glancing at the pizza.
Zane responded by shoving an entire piece into his mouth. Evan wasn't sure whether to smack him or laugh. Zane was the youngest and often played the role of little brother to them. He was always the one who arranged their outings and kept them from being antisocial. In some ways, it felt like this contributed to Zane's immaturity, but it was also in that kid's nature to be childlike. Evan knew it was because of the pressure growing up that Zane acted the way he did. College had given his best friend the escape he needed to be himself again.
"When is your girlfriend showing up?" Emma asked.
Evan felt a little proud hearing someone else use the term. "Should be any minute. Tara is giving her a ride."
"Tara isn't staying?"
Zane winked at Emma, "She can't handle too much of my charm. Has to take it in small doses."
Dean snorted, "Do the rest of us get to say the same?"
A knock interrupted their banter. Evan quickly moved to answer it, smiling when he saw Rylee. Tara's truck was already pulling away, music echoing to his door.
Rylee looked cute with her hair down and a FanQuest T-shirt from a previous year. She had on a loose fitting pair of jeans, which made sense with her fresh stitches. Evan let her maneuver inside with her crutches before leaning over to capture her lips with his. When he pulled away he was amused by the pink color on her freckles cheeks. He thought she was quite pretty when she blushed.
"Rylee, this is Dean and Emma," he introduced as they reached the living room. Emma politely shook Rylee's hand and Dean did the same.
"Nice to finally meet you! How are you feeling?" Emma asked.
Rylee lowered herself into the couch and Evan automatically took the crutches from her to set aside. "I'll be better when I don't have to use those silly things," she admitted.
Zane grunted from the kitchen. "Maybe this time you'll take it easy like the doctor said!" He criticized.
Rylee turned and stuck her tongue out at Zane. Laughing, Evan sat and put an arm behind her on the couch. Rylee seemed to magnetically sink against his side. His heart thrummed happily with the response. "The last incident wasn't entirely her fault, but she does need to keep the movement to a minimum."
"Aww don't team up on the poor girl," Emma crooned. She winked at Rylee. "If these boys gang up on you, let me know. We will keep them in line!"
Rylee laughed but Evan could still sense a little anxiety from her body language. With each day he was becoming more in tune with her habits. Unlike him, Rylee was more reserved and made friends slowly. She politely continued conversation, but he knew it would take time for her to genuinely feel connected with this group. It was lucky her and Zane had the history they did. Although Evan was Rylee's boyfriend, he had to admit his best friend was more natural at making others feel comfortable in strange situations. The occasional teasing seemed to help her relax and feel safe. Evan was grateful for the assistance.
After settling in with food and drinks they finally began the game. The first step was dividing the game tokens, one color per person. Rylee took blue, Evan picked green, Dean chose black and that left Emma with Red and Zane with yellow. After a few rolls they were already filling in spaces with their game pieces, which was a complicated portion of the game. Evan was strategic in placing his characters, while Zane recklessly dropped his army wherever he wanted. Rylee was somewhere between the two, thoughtfully planting some groups and hastily distributing the rest. When she was done she looked over to see what Evan thought. He nodded his approval.
As the game commenced, the television played in the background. Evan always enjoyed this game because it was never clear who would ultimately win. There was some luck on dice rolls, but also strategy choosing the best land to defend, and how to build your army the fastest. Evan was intellectual and loved calculating through the challenges. Rylee seemed to be more of a risk taker, gathering forced on one piece of land and living others lightly controlled. (He was also fairly certain she claimed Australia and Japan just because she liked them, rather than having any military value based on the rest of her collection. This made Evan feel warm affection at her behavior.)
In between turns, Evan settled back, enjoying having Rylee against his side. There was quite a bit of friendly banter as the night wore on, including an intense round of attacks where Zane held a territory using one lone soldier against Evan's army for 5 turns. (Sadly, the soldier was defeated, but it was an impressive resistance!)
By early morning, they finally finished; Emma stunned them all with a victory, closely followed by Rylee, leaving the boys vying for last place. One by one, good nights were said, leaving Rylee and Evan alone at last.
"Did you need a ride home?" Evan asked, returning to the couch where Rylee was waiting.
"Tara said to text but she may be asleep. Zane's counterattack really stalled our progress earlier!" She chuckled. Evan sat beside her and leaned back, gently pulling to his side. She curled against him, injured side away, and her head found the spot near his neck where it could rest. It wasn't long before he found her mouth, gently claiming a kiss.
"I can take you home when you're ready," he offered. He didn't want to make her nervous, but he also hated to see her leave. She didn't work in the morning, so there wasn't a rush, but he also wouldn't dream of pushing her to stay here. Just these small kisses were tempting every desire in his body.
Her hands trailed along his face, brushing stubble on his chin that was growing out, trailing on the lines of his neck. He shivered slightly, heat filling him as he let his mouth wander, claiming the area along her neck, moving to her collarbone. She moaned, body reacting to his affection. In was stirring a fire he was losing hold to.
'Be careful,' the thought flashed in his mind when he wanted to move and pull her against him. If only the stitches weren't in such a inconvenient location! He hand to be careful where he touched. He could feel her breasts pushing against him, his hand teasing along the back of her bra, so tempted to undo the strap.
His body was in turmoil with desire fighting control. He was becoming increasingly aroused. Did she feel the same things? Would they scare or delight her?
"I don't have to leave...just yet," her voice had an alluring sound to it this time. His heart raced. Maybe she was feeling things too.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone