“I have to admit,” Riccardo grinned as he emerged from the bathroom and his eyes landed on me. “I was secretly hoping that you’d be waiting out here for me, but I didn’t count on it.”
“I honestly don’t know why I’m still here,” I murmured with a shrug. “Do you want to head down together for a drink or something?”
“Yes, I’d love to,” Riccardo grinned, and we began walking down the hallway. “Tell me more about yourself, Yasemin.”
“How much do you want to know?” I asked, not quite sure where to start from.
“Let’s start with what you’re studying.”
“Media and Journalism,” I answered with a small smile, finding this more awkward than it needed to be. Why couldn’t it just flow without feeling so awkward? Why did it feel kind of like a job interview?
“So, am I speaking to a future journalist?” he grinned, but I couldn’t quite return it.
“Hopefully,” I grinned. “Now, tell me, who am I speaking to?”
“Math.”
“So, who am I speaking to? A future mathematician?” I countered with a chuckle, but was finding myself very quickly zoning out of the conversation.
“Hopefully an accountant,” Riccardo chuckled. “I know. Exciting, right?”
“It’s probably just as exciting as being a journalist is,” I murmured even though I didn’t mean it.
Pursuing journalism for a career excited me immensely. If I played my cards correctly, I could be working on all sorts of things, ranging from newspaper articles, journals and even covering cases like that reporter had done on the news. I would be given the opportunity to find the cold hard truth that many others ignored or glossed over, simply because they believed the headline wouldn’t sell.
But I knew that absolutely anything would sell, as long as the right spin was put on it.
“Possibly,” he shrugged and when we passed the long line for the first bathroom that we had both avoided, we laughed but continued walking. Apparently, no one was supposed to know about that second bathroom toward the back, easily passed off as a cupboard of some sort, and we weren’t going to tell them. I doubt Seamus would be too happy about it. “Who are you here with?” he asked as we begun down the stairs.
“Some of my friends,” I told him. “In fact, I see them now,” I grinned and pointed out Tia and Ethan who were stood somewhere in the centre, moving their bodies to the sound of the music as their drink sloshed a little over the rim of their cups. When I got closer, I realised that Nala and Toby were the copy dancing next to them.
Tia’s eyes were set on us, or more specifically, Riccardo who was closely following me behind.
“I wonder what was taking you so long, and now I know,” Tia grinned as we joined them. She wriggled her eyebrows suggestively at me, making no effort to hide the gesture from Riccardo who laughed from behind me, clearly finding the situation humorous. I couldn’t blame him. I was on the uncomfortable receiving end of it, and I still found it funny.
“Hi, I’m Riccardo,” Riccardo stepped around me, a bright smile on his face as he held out a friendly hand out in front of all my friends.
My eyebrows shot out up the surprise, and so did Nala and Tia’s who were clearly impressed.
“Where did you find him?” Nala leaned over to whisper when the boys weren’t looking.
“We were both waiting in line for the bathroom,” I whispered back, my eyes trained on Riccardo who seemed to have been pulled into a conversation about the latest football game with Toby and Ethan.
“And what? You pulled while busting for a wee?” Tia asked, a bright grin on her face.
“I didn’t pull,” I chuckled. “We got to talking and well, now we’re here.”
“Well, you’ve picked well,” Tia chuckled, glancing over at Riccardo once again. “He’s very handsome.”
“I suppose so,” I shrugged, feigning nonchalance. It was evident to me that Riccardo was a very good-looking man. He was easy on the eyes, and pretty charming, too. The idea of sleeping with him tonight didn’t repulse me as it did with some of the others I had briefly considered before him, but he wasn’t exactly my type.
It was very typical of me to say that I preferred that I liked my men a little bad. And…well…Riccardo wanted to be an accountant once he graduated from college. That didn’t exactly scream bad to me.
A mafia boss, on the other hand, was very bad. Perhaps too bad for me, and that’s why it didn’t work out. Not that we had really begun in the first place for it to have supposedly worked out.
“Can I get you something to drink?” Riccardo asked as he turned to me, setting his expectant gaze on me with a bright grin on his face.
“That’d be great,” I smiled politely.
“Any requests?” he asked.
“Surprise me. As long as it’s got vodka in it, you won’t be able to go wrong.”
“I won’t be long,” Riccardo grinned and turned to get some drinks for us. He had also offered the others, but they all politely declined, still have yet to finish the contents of the cups they were currently holding.
“Riccardo seems nice…” Nala’s voice purposely trailed off, sending me a suggestive look.
“He looks like he has a kinky side to him,” Tia announced with a large grin on her face, and I couldn’t help but laugh.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked.
“How do you know that he’s kinky?” Ethan asked in a low grumble.
“I don’t know that he’s kinky,” Tia emphasised with a sigh as she turned to look at her boyfriend, sending him a pointed look. “I just said that he looks like he’s kinky. I’m guessing.”
“The only kinks you should be concerning yourself with are yours and mine,” Ethan continued to grumble as he reached for her, pulling her into his arms.
“Don’t worry, babe,” she chuckled and turned her head to press a reassuring kiss to his lips. “I’m just trying to get Yas laid tonight.”
“I don’t need anyone’s help to get laid,” I snorted.
“Seems to me like you do,’ Toby chuckled as he moved into pulling me in for a quick, friendly hug. “Sorry, Yas. Nala told me about the guy you fucked at work.” I knew what he was thinking. That the reason he felt sorry for me was because the guy that I had slept with at work – Massimo – hadn’t called me back.
“Don’t worry about me. I’m over it now,” I lied smoothly, waving a dismissive hand in the air. “Besides, I’ve moved onto Riccardo now.”
“He’s handsome, yes. But he’s also a little too boring for you,” Tia said.
“Can you stop saying other guys are handsome?” Ethan groaned, dropping his head to rest it on her shoulder.
“Don’t worry, babe. None of them are nearly as handsome as you,” Tia grinned at him before turning her attention back to me. “I hate to say it, Yas, but I can’t see you and Riccardo lasting.”
“Yeah, I know,” I sighed and pursed my lips. “Maybe it was silly of me to expect to meet someone new today. Anyways, Riccardo is alright. Perhaps he’s not as boring as he seems at first glance.”
“Perhaps,” Nala sounded aloud, but just like everyone else, he didn’t look nearly as convinced.
Riccardo was handsome, yes. He was charming, yes. He was able to banter with me, yes. But was he also a little boring? Yes. Was I being too harsh on him? Possibly.
I mean, this was only my first impression of him but the fact that all of my friends could see it as well only confirmed that I probably wouldn’t be seeing much of him in either the near or distant future.
Riccardo also had impeccable timing as he chose then to return with two cups. One for me, and one for himself.
When I reached for the one on his left, he was quick to move it out of the way.
“What?” I asked, my eyebrows raising in surprise.
“This one is for you,” he told, pushing the other cup into my hand.
“What’s wrong with the other one?” I asked curiously, glancing down at the tinge of yellow and green of the liquid in my cup.
“Nothing,” Riccardo chuckled as he took a sip from his drink. “But I made that one specially for you.”
“Tell me what’s special about it.”
“Have a taste first,” he prompted me, looking rather excited about it.
Feeling obliged, I forced a polite smile and raised the cup to my lips, taking a small, cautious sip from it. I could feel everyone’s eyes on me. Riccardo, Ethan, Tia, Toby, and Nala. They were all watching me for my reaction and even though this drink was far too sweet for my liking, possibly even the worst drink that I had ever tasted, I forced myself to smile.
Riccardo looked like the kind of man to sulk for the rest of the night if I told him that I didn’t like his special drink from me.
“Do you like it?” he asked eagerly, watching my reaction.
“It’s…good,” I forced a smile, lying through my teeth. “What’s in this?” I asked, trying not to pull a face.
“It’s an Appletini,” Riccardo told me with a grin. “I know it doesn’t look like it because of the cup, but it still tastes the same, right?”
I smiled and nodded, having to force it. The truth was, this had to be the worst drink that I ever had, and it certainly couldn’t be passed off as an Appletini. The Appletini’s that I had drank in the past were always strong and a little on the sour side, but there was something sickly sweet about this drink, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. Perhaps it was sugar, but I wasn’t about to ask about it. Not when Riccardo didn’t look completely convinced and watched me with a doubtful look on his face.
If he wasn’t a complete stranger at the moment, I probably would have told him how shit the drink was before proceeding to go and get myself another. However, he looked rather invested so I merely smiled and continued taking small sips.
Thankfully, he became distracted from watching me when we somehow got roped into playing yet another game. It was truth or dare this time, and the group was far larger than before. Again, it was a game that I had played a countless number of times when I was still in high school, but it wasn’t nearly as childish as spin the bottle had been.
At least I wouldn’t be expected to kiss so many people this time.
The game of truth or dare started, and very soon into it, I couldn’t decide which was worse. The truths, or the dares.
Those that chickened out and chose the truths were forced to spill some of their deepest, darkest secrets.
One guy admitted to eating his twin in the womb. Another said that he had fucked his step-mum behind his dad’s back this past summer, and now she was pregnant with his child. Two best friends even discovered that they were both sleeping with the same girl! Unfortunately, Seamus and some of his friends were quick to drop by and separate them before a fight could start off. They were both told to take it outside so if they did end up throwing hands for getting their drink wet in the same place, none of us were there to witness it.
The dares were bad, but I wasn’t entirely convinced that they were worse than the truths. They were more humorous than anything else.
One guy was dared by his ex-girlfriend to strip and run naked up and down the street. I didn’t think that he would actually do it as she claimed that he had a micro penis, but he stood up and pulled down his trousers on the spot. We all rushed outside after him and laughed as he ran up and down the street, completely naked. Many took video footage of it, and his ex chose that moment to mysteriously disappear, no doubt believing that he would choose her next for truth or dare.
One girl tried weed for the first time, and her pupils dilated nearly straight away. Another girl was dared to show her snapchat which she did, revealing that she was snapping three guys simultaneously…and all of them just happened to be at the party at the same time.
When the commotion from the last dare had started to fizzle down – a guy that had been forced to deep throat a banana but failed miserably after about three or so inches – he made a show of
I took advantage of the lack of chaos to take another sip of my drink. It was still pretty terrible but thankfully, seemed to taste better the more I drank from it. Or perhaps I was just getting used to the taste. Either way, there wasn’t much left in my cup, so I just finished it off.
“I’m relieved that you liked the drink,” Riccardo leaned over to whisper to me. “For a moment back there, I thought you didn’t like it.”
“It was great,” I smiled brightly as I lied through my teeth. For the extra mile, I shook the cup to show him that it was empty.
He opened his mouth to say something to me, but someone else beat him to it.
“Truth or dare?”
-
Please remember to like, comment, REVIEW and follow me if you haven’t already! Check out my PATREON if you would like the read this ENTIRE book, and get EARLY ACCESS to the rest of this series - up to CHAPTER 37 of BOOK 3! :)
PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/LaylaKnight
Layla Knight
28.01.2022
