More Guests have Arrived

There's a bout of laughter above all the other noises of socializing. You all snap your heads around to see Luke, laughing so hard he looses his balance. The two attractive female reporters from Jeff's station each grab one of his arms. He appears drunk, already, which isn't surprising considering the other times you've partied with him. Neither of the girls seem to mind, as their hands linger on his muscular arms after he's regained his balance.

Tyler gives you all an excited smile. “Luke looks like he's ripe for a long hug. I'll go say 'Hi'.” Trevor gives you and Leo each a playful grin, then follows Tyler over to the far corner full of newscasters.

You glance around to see what else is going on, as Leo says “Oh, I didn't think Dom was coming. I'll uh... catch you around.” Leo parts awkwardly. Lame. You follow his trajectory and see Dom, waving his limp hand pretentiously. There's some social/political drama you want to stay far away from. You actually really dislike Dom from the few times you've met him. He doesn't seem to have any use for you, either. He's a lawyer or stock broker or something pretentious where he makes enough money to feel like he's better than those he makes the money from. Chris&Jeff even said they don't like him or trust him not to just be using Jeff to elevate his social status, but they have to be nice because he's 'important' enough to not be able to ignore. You wouldn't have invited someone like that to your party, but you your life isn't yet at the level where you need to play those sorts of games.

Some motion catches your eye by the door, and there's Jeff greeting a devastatingly attractive figure. It takes you a moment to recognize the statuesque Ken doll-like man smiling a brilliant white smile and shaking Jeff's hand. Kevin is the morning newsdesk anchor at Jeff's station. On tv, he looked kind of generically handsome in his “tv look” and continual news anchor inflection as he talked. He was a much more striking figure in person while not looking like a Republican politician. When Jeff offhandedly mentioned Kevin was also gay, you had to wonder if his news company was hoping to capture a diversity demographic with 2 gay reporters.

You realize you were staring at Kevin and lift your glass for a distracting sip, but it's already empty. Chris is manning the bar, and surprisingly alone. Chris is never not talking. You slide up next to him, and notice he's watching his brother as he's cutting more lemon wedges for drinks.

“Careful,” you say, “but while you're at it...” and hand him your empty glass.

Chris cheerfully takes your glass and refills with some of his delicious sangria. Then, he adds another dash of vodka. “I know you're not into super sweet drinks, and you still look completely sober.”

You laugh, “Yeah. Just the first one. But after Tyler's new roommate...”

Chris snorts a little, but not in a hostile way. “He was all professional when he was here scouting apartments. As soon as Tyler offered to let him be roommates until he got his settled at his job, he turned into a huge whore.” Chris glances back up at his brother, who is still the center of attention with the few straight girls at the party, including the old reporter you were talking to first. “Speaking of huge whores...”

You follow his gaze. “You mean Luke's gonna get wasted and try to hook up in front of your parents?”

“Oh, god, no!” Chris chuckles briefly, then his expression sours a little. “The blond. They've already hooked up a few times. They get drunk, then they fuck, then they pretend to date, then it's a big explosion of drama, and they hate each other until the next time they're drunk and horny. Over and over, again.”

You honestly can't blame her. Luke would be worth some drama just to have a go at. But you're not a straight-chaser, and you know you'd lose to the two sexy women who already have hands on him.

You glance over at Leo who seems to be enjoying talking to Dom who seems to enjoy being surrounded by circle of which he gets to be the center of attention. “So... I thought we hated Dom.”

“WE do. But we had to invite him.” Chris slices a lemon in half with a loud chop. “But more importantly, why are you here and Leo's over there?”

“Hey, I tried!” You reply defensively. “The night you introduced us, I didn't take the number from that hot guy pretending to be the doorman so he could grope me. I didn't want to be rude on the surprise set-up for me you and Jeff planned. I texted him almost every time I've been down on a weekday, since. He's always got a class or something. I just tried to flirt, but he wasn't into it. I appreciate it. Really. Leo's a catch, but he doesn't want to be caught. At least by me. Or he's so self-conscious about turning 30, and I'm a horrible therapist.”

“Fine...” Chris relents. He knows it all, anyways. He pauses to pull out his phone and texts something quickly. “I just want to keep Dom off him. Leo is too nice for that.”

You notice Jeff checks his phone, looks over at the two of you, then calls Leo over, seemingly to introduce him to Kevin.

“Oh, my god... you two.” You have to chuckle at Chris&Jeff's teamwork. It's been a while since you had a partner you were so in sync with. “But if Leo gets Kevin as a consolation prize... I deserved that Asian fake doorman's number.” You console yourself with your extra-alcoholic sangria.

Chris sighs, “Sorry, he was hot...” but he's more focused on watching Jeff who's moved over to Dom's group of guests, suddenly becoming the center of it. “Crisis averted.” He happily toasts you with his own drink. “Go, go!” He waves you off. “We didn't invite you here to keep me company. You should get to know most of these people.”

“Oh, don't worry. I'm now on Georgia's instagram, so I'll be getting plenty of friend requests from young hot guys.” You give Chris a big plastic smile, and he snorts and pushes you back towards the party.