Expensive pints and dumb conversation

Over the next few days, I kind of found myself missing the evening we’d all spent at Charley’s – and not even just the sex stuff. I’d actually had a really good time hanging out with her, Mum and Dad. I was even starting to regret all the time I’d spent rotting in my room this Summer. I think I’d caught the socializing bug off of Charley.

Unfortunately, they were all pretty busy so there wasn’t really an opportunity to hang out as a family. And so, I messaged a couple of uni friends, asking if anyone wanted to meet up – and lo and behold, a few people who were still in town said they’d all be down to go.

Crazy how easy things are when you make the first move.

On Wednesday, I’d pretty much been home alone for the past few days because Mum and Dad had taken time off work to go on some romantic getaway together, so I was eager to head out for a few pints. Funnily enough, I hadn’t had even a drop of **** since Abigail’s party all the way back in early July.

As I sat on the chair in the entryway, lacing up my shoes, I was almost salivating at the idea of a crisp, cold pint of Madri. I almost didn’t react when the front door suddenly opened, and my stepsister walked in.

She was dressed as casually as you’d ever see her, just baggy tracksuits, a jacket and white t-shirt, her blonde hair let down and a little unruly. Clearly, she hadn’t spent hours on her appearance as she was known to do on occasion, and yet she was pulling off the ‘I don’t care about my appearance, I’m just naturally hot’ look to perfection.

“Charley?” I stood up. “What are you doing here?”

“Good afternoon to you too,” she replied. “I can’t come over and visit my dear family every once in a while?”

I snorted. “I distinctly remember a certain someone saying she was never stepping foot in this tasteless house again.”

“Fine,” she huffed. “You got me. The Wi-Fi is out in my building, and I was super bored.”

“You don’t have some friends on retainer to go hang out with?”

She shot me a look. “They’re not dogs, Luke. And yeah, I probably could. But I was out really late last night and I’m tired. I just want to relax and watch TV all day. Although …” She smirked as she began to sashay up to me slowly, hands clasped behind her back. “If we have the house all to ourselves, maybe I could be persuaded to do something else for a little bit …”

I swallowed. “I, uh … as much as I like what I think you’re suggesting, I was actually just on my way out. Meeting a couple people from uni.”

“You’re meeting people?” Charley stopped in her tracks in disbelief, eyeing me suspiciously.

“Jesus, do you guys genuinely think I don’t have a single friend?” I sighed. “I’m not some incel!”

She shrugged. “You don’t do much to prove otherwise.”

“It’s real nice to know my family thinks so little of me.”

“Whatever. Have fun, I guess,” she muttered as I threw my jacket on and opened the front door. “I’ll just stay here … all by myself.”

I smirked. “You’ll be okay. I do it every day, no problem.”

Finally out of the house, I got the tube into central London and walked over to the Wetherspoons I was meeting the guys at. It was mid-afternoon on a Wednesday, so it was fairly empty by central London pub standards, and as I walked in it was easy to spot Max, Chris and Jayden already at a table with a pint each.

I strolled over and sat down, looking pointedly at the drinks in front of them. “Hey. Thanks for waiting till I got here, guys.”

Chris checked his watch. “You’re ten minutes late, Luke. You forfeited any right to courtesy.”

“Anyway, I always need a drink before attempting to have a conversation with your anti-social ass,” Jayden added.

“Right. I’m out of here,” I joked, pretending to get up to leave before Max grabbed my arm and pulled me back down.

“Relax, relax,” Max said. “It’s good to see you, dude.”

“Yeah, you too.”

Next to us, Chris rolled his eyes. “You two done sucking each other off?”

“Jesus Christ, can’t even greet a friend anymore,” I laughed. “You need to learn some decorum, man. I’m gonna get a drink.”

After I got my pint and sat back down, we all got caught up with what we’d done so far over Summer. Chris and Max had both gone on family holidays, to Spain and Switzerland respectively, while Jayden had just been working, trying to support his addiction to going out on dates.

It was nice getting a chance to hang out with them now uni was done for the year – most of the time we’d hang out, it was with some assignment or exam hanging over our heads, whatever fun we were having spoiled a bit by some undercurrent of guilt from the fact we probably should be studying.

Before long, we were four or five pints deep and the conversation kind of devolved into a mess of football talk combined with tales of all three of their love lives, talk which I thought it would be smart to abstain from. And finally, well beyond the threshold of wasted, Jayden announced he had to wake up at 5am the next morning for work so he had to go, and Chris decided to go with.

I didn’t really mind that much. I liked them both, but Max was the first friend I’d made at university, and now two years later, I’d probably consider him my best friend. Other than Charley, he was probably the easiest person for me to talk to out of everyone I knew.

As soon as Chris and Jayden were out the door, Max turned to me and smiled. “So,” he began. “Who’s the girl?”

My heart skipped a beat. “Uh … girl?”

He rolled his eyes. “Come on, Luke. We’ve been here for over three hours, and you’ve had a stupid grin plastered on your face since the moment you walked through the door.”

“Maybe I just enjoy your company?”

“I appreciate that,” he chuckled. “But this isn’t a ‘hanging out with my friend’ type of grin. This is an ‘I’m seeing a girl, it’s going great, and I’m head over heels’ type of grin. And believe me, I can tell the difference on you because you don’t get any action.”

“Har har.” I supposed Max was right – ever since Charley and I had started our thing, I’d been in a pretty great mood. It was hard not to be – when you start a sexual relationship with a girl you’ve had a crush on for over a decade, it makes sense you’d be feeling good about it.

I briefly considered telling him about her – not the specifics of course, not that it was my stepsister. But just that there was actually a girl. It was strange – I’d never thought about telling anyone before, but there in that moment I desperately wanted to. I mean, Charley was the kind of girl you’d want people to know you’re in a relationship with, even if it wasn’t romantic.

But I **** down the feeling. Charley and I had made a deal to not tell anyone, and I wanted to honor it. Stick to the plan. Damn, she’s rubbing off on me in more ways than one.

“I hate to disillusion you of your detective skills, but you’re way off. There’s no girl. You think I wouldn’t be bragging about it if there was?”

He held up his hands, clearly not convinced. “Fine, don’t tell me. Just make sure I get an invite to the wedding, okay?” He finished off his pint. “But I’m genuinely happy for you either way, man. You’re a good guy and you deserve it.”

I grinned. “Shit, carry on like that and you’re gonna make me tear up.”

“Oh, shut up,” he laughed. “Next round’s on you.”