Chapter 81
Jason was apparently paying a little too much attention to the innuendo-laden game Kat was playing, because he absently accepted Scooter’s offer.
Scooter tried not to laugh as he took two of Jason’s lands in exchange for grain.
Andy raised an eyebrow at Jason, and scolded Scooter. “You’re a horrible person. Why would you do that?” He was smirking, though, so it was probably okay.
“What?” Jason stared back at the board, then…”Scooter!”
Scooter cracked up, tipping back in his chair and smirking like he’d just raked in actual money. It didn’t take Mark much longer to wander off; he wasn’t big on being ignored. He joined one of the other games, but kept stealing peeks at Andy all evening as the games went on. They switched it up; Lemarr joined Scooter and Andy while Jason went to play Uno with Kat, Junior, and Dizzy.
When Kat cleaned Jason’s clock, throwing down several skips and draw fours in a row, he muttered, “Dammit.”
“Janet,” someone piped up.
“I wanna screw,” Scooter added, singing.
“I’ve got something to say,” Jason announced. Oh, God. Scooter started laughing. It had taken him forever to talk Jason into joining the Rocky Horrorcrew down at the Naro, but once he had, Jason had made a fantastic Brad. (Scooter was pretty sure he’d only agreed, originally, because Maggie was playing Janet, and Jason really, really wanted to see her in bra and panties.)
“Say it, asshole!” Scooter yelled.
“I really loved the…”
“Starts with an S, suck suck suck—” There went Lolly, of course
“…skillful way…”
“What a fucking genius!” Scooter grinned, noticing Andy was going along with it. He’d obviously seen the movie a few times.
“…you beat the girls…”
“With whips and chains!”
“…to the bride’s bouquet.”
By the time the call-and-answer was over, most of them were laughing, singing, or otherwise quoting choice bits of Rocky Horrorto each other. Kat was glaring at Jason and insisting he explain this weird American thing to her. Good luck with that, Jase
“So, Rocky Horror, yeah?” Andy said. He was shuffling through a deck of Exploding Kittens cards and snickering.
“Indeed,” Mark announced, his hand suddenly in Scooter’s hair. Scooter swatted at him, half-exasperated, half-amused. “Scooter was the best Frank we ever had in our shadowcast. We were all sad when he had to stop.”
Andy leaned back in his chair and looked at Scooter, obviously visualizing. “Nice. Very nice.”
“It was a laugh,” Scooter admitted. “Fun. Kinda sexy. And I got to sing in public.”
From the other table, Kat said, disgust dripping from her lips, “You will show me this thing, Jason. I do not like this being outside of the joke.”
Andy stood up and stretched. “I’m going to go get a beer,” he said, bending to kiss Scooter’s cheek. “Anyone want anything?”
Scooter was digging through the card-bin, dragging out a few decks of Fluxx. “Mmm. Just a Coke for me? I gotta drive. Thanks.” One, two…three. Oh, Zombie Fluxx! That game was crazy enough that if you had several decks, pretty much everyone in the room could play. Scooter got Jason to help him move tables around and they started setting up.
“I go first!” Kat said, standing on the coffee table like a conquering hero, and no one was going to argue with her, because no one ever did if they knew what was good for them.
Scooter was just passing out cards when he noticed Andy hadn’t come back from the kitchen yet. His first impulse was to jump up and go looking; part of him was still shaken at having nearly lost Andy entirely. But Andy’s issues mostly centered around control, and Scooter’s need to keep eyes on Andy would definitely be far too easy to misread. Give it a few minutes, he bargained with himself, and then you can go
* * * *
There were at least eight different kinds of beer in Lolly and Lemarr’s fridge, and even if you discounted the nasty beer-flavored water, that still left plenty of choices. Andy snaked his arm into the back to snag Scooter’s Coke while he considered his options.
He’d been braced, sort of, for Scooter to offer to come with him. He’d spent the last half of the game working up to it and trying to remind himself that it was because they were around a lot of people Andy’d only just met and Scooter didn’t want him to feel isolated, and notbecause Scooter didn’t trust him out of sight.
But then Scooter had just put in his request and gone right back to poking through the crate of games, and Andy had been left feeling…he wasn’t sure yet, but it was good. Relieved and elated and just…good. Andy had always been a people-person. He’d forgotten just how much he loved meeting new people; for years he’d only really socialized with Nick attached to his hip. This evening had given him a surge of energy like six cups of espresso, but cleaner. He was practically vibrating with it, and the night was young yet.