The Other Fish in the Sea (15 page)

Aww…that’s so sweet. Isn’t that just so sweet? He deserves some leeway for that.

“You made an error, huh?” I have no idea how Brandon followed that.

“Yeah, it was gnarly…I still have nightmares about what happened,” Tristan answered with a small shiver.

“So do I,” I said and shivered right along with him.

He tilted his head back and gave me a heart wrenching apologetic look and a tender little kiss to go with it that made me feel like crying. I just wrapped my arms around him and held him tight.

“Um, how do you make an error?” This time it was Bridget who asked and it sounds like she’s just trying to figure out if they’re still talking about sex, actual baseball, or something else entirely.
 

“No, really…I
literally
have fuckin’ nightmares about that and Camie can’t eat licorice anymore, so let’s move on.”

So we did. However, that doesn’t mean the conversation got any less personal or outrageous.
 

We played a game…

7.

A Veritable Rainbow Of Color & A Submarine

“Okay, speaking of games, I’m making an executive decision…we’re gonna play Have You Ever. The rules are thus, if you
have
ever you have to drink but if you have and don’t own up to doing the deed and get caught, you have to drink twice on top of the original drink. However, if someone calls you out incorrectly,
that
person has to drink twice. So, that makes three drinks total for not being honest and two drinks for being wrong, everyone got it?” Derek said, trying to move away from the subject of Tristan’s and my nightmares. Tristan however wasn’t so sure we wouldn’t end up having worse ones as a result of playing this particular game.
 

We stayed where we were and while everyone else was preparing many beverages in advance and getting themselves situated in a circle in the tent, Tristan looked at me and whispered, “Maybe I shouldn’t play…”

“Why not?” I asked and moved a piece of his hair out of his eyes.

His response was a lifted brow and a dubious statement. “Really? Have you ever? With a two drink penalty for not ownin’ up to something? Camie, there’s a
whole mess
of shit a game like this can dredge up and with some of the people playing in this particular group, if I can’t pull off some
really
convincing lying I’m gonna get fuckin’
tanked
and you’re gonna end up finding out about God only knows what without being forewarned…”

“Tristan, I’m not gonna let you sit out of a game with our friends just because someone
might
dig up a skeleton of yours from before you even met me for crying out loud…tell the truth or go ahead and get drunk, I’ll be fine either way. Besides, it’s just a game.”

“Yeah, you say that now but trust me, we don’t want me
that
drunk and just watch, it’ll start out being just a game but it’ll end up being like a fuckin’ war and it has the potential to get really nasty. And Camie,
you
know
what’ll happen if we really get into it…I just wanna avoid getting us caught in the crossfire at all costs, you know what I mean?”

Yeah I know what he means…if we start bickering it’ll most likely escalate into a fight and then we’ll end up demonstrating for our friends, my cousins and their friends the odd way Tristan and I vent our anger. Ugh, no thanks…
 

“Yeah okay, I see your point…well, let’s have a codeword we can use to let each other know if we’re not having fun anymore and if that happens, we’ll
both
just stop playing and then we can deal with it alone, sound good?”

“Sweet! I
knew
we’d need a safe-word eventually! Now we need a benign word we’ll be able to call the game with…ooh, what about rai—”

“Please can we use butterfly?” Jeff interrupted, sticking his head right in between Tristan’s and mine, and reminding us both that he’d been a witness to that conversation last month when Tristan had to explain to me what a safe-word even was.

Tristan shoved his head away and laughing he said, “You mind your own fuckin’ business…butterfly works for me though.”

“I’m good with butterfly too,” I told him.

“This is gonna be great!” Jeff enthused, still with his head in our personal space.

“Go away. You’re one of the reasons we need a word to play the game in the first place…goddamned gravedigger. But Baby, you do realize there’s standing room only in my cemetery, right?”

“I do now, but it doesn’t matter anyway. We’ll be fine,” I said, being proud of how confident I sounded. Truth is, after how I’ve handled hearing about bits of his past before, I’m a little nervous about how I might react. But who knows…I could be selling myself short and nothing I don’t already know about might not even come up.

Jeff gave out a little cackle of glee and rubbed his hands in expectation, making me doubt what I’d just thought. “Excellent! Alright buddy, you ready to get your drink on?”
 

“Aw Jesus…I’m gonna end up plowed…”

Kate then shoved Jeff further back and to Tristan she said, “Small sips.”

Both Tristan and Jeff looked at her and simultaneously asked, “What’s a small sip?”

The four of us started laughing and then realized the game was beginning so we quieted down enough to hear the first question. It was asked by Bridget who I think still doesn’t believe Pete is straight and is trying to use the game to confirm whether he plays for the same team or not.

“Have you ever kissed a girl?” Every guy in the tent drank.

 
Oh and by the way, from here on out I’m probably not gonna say who asked what because that’ll just be tedious. If I think the asker is relevant, I’ll let you know.

“Have you ever been arrested?” Brandon drank.

“Four years ago when I was fourteen and took the car out…my dad thought it’d been stolen and called the fuckin’ cops.” Ouch.

“Laughed until something came out of your nose?” Everyone expected Tristan to drink, but he didn’t.

“Nope, I just spit shit out all the time,” he said while Jeff nodded in the affirmative.

“Been pushed into a pool fully clothed?” Tristan, Kate, and I had to drink on that one and I was really surprised we were the only three.

“Mooned or flashed someone?” Everyone in the tent aside from Jillian and I drank.
 

And yes, surprising as this might sound, Jillian is playing. If she lies though, I doubt she’ll get caught. She’s not exactly an open book so I might not know whether she is or not.

“Shot a gun?” Jeff, Tristan, Derek, Dylan, Jillian, and I drank.
 

“Yeah, you should’ve asked if she’s ever shot a gun at a live person…” Jeff said with a little laugh, referring to Jill who winked at him with an atta boy look.

“Kissed a boy?” Julia asked, following Bridget’s train of thought. Pete didn’t, but all the girls drank, including Jillian. I was close to questioning that, but then I thought twice…actually, I’m not all that surprised. Curious, but not surprised.
 

“Done something you told yourself you wouldn’t?” Everyone aside from Jill drank. I believe that one though. Jillian is deliberate and the antithesis of impulsive.

“Ever been cheated on?” The second the question was out of Bridget’s mouth, five pairs of eyes immediately locked on me and Tristan as I froze. He and I never talked semantics about what happened with licorice girl…

“Drink up, Baby…if I count it then you sure as shit get to.”

I was the only one who drank on that one.

“Broken a bone?”

When Tristan drank, Jeff tried calling him on it. “Dude! You’ve never broken a bone in your fuckin’ life!”

“Dude! Be specific, I never said I broke one of my own!”

“Yeah okay, I’ll give you that. That’s another warning for the little shit…you really don’t wanna touch his girlfriend,” Jeff said and started laughing at the scared look on Jeremy’s face.

“I thought you said Pete didn’t have to go to the hospital,” Dylan said, being confused.

“I didn’t, it was a different guy…same night though.”

That brought an end to the tame and relatively non-invasive questions that’d lasted for about fifteen minutes where pretty much everyone had to drink because then like Tristan predicted, they started getting more personal with everyone trying to get even, or in Jeff’s case, laugh at Tristan.

 
“Had two different chicks put their hand down your pants within sixty seconds of each other?” Tristan drank while more than half the group gawked at him.

“Thanks, Baby,” he said and tilted his head up so I could lean down to kiss him.

“No problem.”
 

“Made-out with someone of the same sex?” Again, Bridget. No one drank, but there were a few people who watched to see if Pete did.

“I’m not gay!”

“Yeah, you keep tellin’ yourself that, big guy…I’ll wait,” Tristan said, giving Pete a saucy little growl that had us all busting up.

“Ever posed for non-baby naked pictures?”

I was expecting Melissa to retort with an eye-roll or some such thing however, she surprised me. It could’ve just been that her hand jerked but I swear it looked like she hesitated. Although just as she did, Tristan spoke up and my attention was diverted along with everyone else’s.

“Does video count?”

“Um…I guess it would. Should we vote?” MaryAnn asked and looked at the group for an answer.

“Never mind…I gotta drink either way.”

“Shocker,” Pete said impassively.

“See? You know I’d be more fun than her…”

“Yeah, that’s a big fuckin’ plus. Hey you should be making a pros and cons list, Pete,” Brandon said and received another fist bump from Tristan and laughter from the rest of us.

“Ever made-out with someone currently in this tent who is
not
your current significant other?” Bridget asked.
 

I’m not sure if she’s hunting for information or just trying to keep things interesting. But if she was meaning to keep it interesting, she totally accomplished her goal. I felt Tristan’s body tense and again, Melissa hesitated on drinking. Then I looked down at Tristan when he slowly raised his bottle and took a drink, eliciting a few intrigued raised eyebrows and a few seconds of silence.

“Well,
someone
in this tent has to drink thrice now…who is it?” Derek asked with bated breath and looked around the tent at all the girls.

“I’m not sayin’…if she doesn’t wanna claim me then that’s up to her,” Tristan answered, steadily keeping his eyes on me so as not to give anything away.
 

It was also his way of proving to me that he really doesn’t kiss and tell as a sign of his respect for the girls he’s messed around with, which I honestly do appreciate. I’m not terribly sure why Melissa wouldn’t admit this though.
Unless
she has no reason to. Aw crap… I mean I know they dated and he was her first kiss but I actually have no idea if they ever really “made-out.” Crap crap crap! I can’t even decide if I want to know either way now! This sucks…

I started checking the faces of my friends to see if one of them would give something away and then like it wasn’t a big deal and we weren’t all foaming at the mouth to know, Melissa said, “Oh, I guess it was me…I ah…didn’t know if we counted though.”

“Mmhm, right. I don’t know if we count either but I drank because I appreciated the specificity of the question,” Tristan replied and slowly nodded his agreement; however it sounded like he was just going along with what was said. It was a little weird, but, I really don’t wanna go there, know what I mean?
 

Most everyone was staring at me again like they were waiting for me to get all mad or something about this revelation but, I’m actually relieved. “I’m cool…I already knew about them and it was way before me so we may as well get back to the game.”

Tristan pulled me down so he could whisper, “You really okay?”

I gave him a little smile and a nod and sincerely said, “Mmhm, it’s not a big deal…I mean it’s not like you’ve made the rounds with
all
my friends, you know?”

Then he gave me a sweet little kiss on the tip of my nose and said, “Right…okay, just checking.”

Tristan took one of my hands and gave it a quick kiss and then rather than releasing it, he interlocked our fingers and holding hands, we went back to paying attention to the game.

“Had sex?” That was Jeremy and he needs to work on hiding his line of sight because just about everyone picked up that he’s seeing what Jillian might be up for, and from the looks of it, that’s not much where he’s concerned. Actually, she’s idly working a Suduko puzzle in someone’s game book, barely even paying attention to the game.

Interesting results though… Jeremy himself, Jillian, Melissa, Pete, and MaryAnn, along with me
didn’t
drink. It looks like my big cousin has found himself in the same boat of celibacy as my lion. I had to chuckle when Derek gave Tristan a commiserating look while Tristan nodded in the affirmative and then Derek gave him another one that said “you can do it, just stay strong,” but Jeff is bent on making that really tough for him...

“Stood on one leg with the other leg straight behind your head?” Tristan flipped Jeff off when he asked and then letting go of my hand so I could take a drink, he groaned in misery.

“Bullshit.” Why Brandon is calling me on that I have no idea.

“
Man
, you’re a fuckin’ dick for bringing that up…Pete wasn’t around so I had to take an icy shower after she did it to win a stupid fuckin’ cookie a week ago.”

“Gee, thanks honey,” I said sarcastically.
 

“Sorry, Baby, I’m very proud, but can we please not dwell on this?”

“No way! I wanna see that!” Brandon said enthusiastically.

“Too fuckin’ bad, the game’s not called show and tell and if it was, we’d have all gotten to see that damned picture of Melissa’s naked grandma! Now, have you ever played dress-up?” Tristan said and started laughing when Jeff and all the girls minus Jillian drank.

“He used to wear my mom’s makeup too…hey wait! Pete, maybe you’d like Jeff to bite the scruff of your neck instead…personally he doesn’t do a thing for me, but Kate doesn’t seem to mind.”