The rest of the group is slowly starting to wake from our late night. The door opened and out Gavin walks with two fresh cups of hot coffee and some Motrin for Brooklyn and me. After he looks us both over, checking to see how our heads are feeling he hands us the coffee and pain medicine. We all drank a little more than usual and our heads are definitely feeling it today. He kissed me on the forehead and headed back inside.
It’s time to get to the good details of last night.“So you and Caleb looked pretty comfortable on the dance floor. Anything you care to share?”Smiling at Brooklyn eager for the details.
Brooklyn starts to laugh and shakes her head.“No I’m not interested in Caleb. Don’t get me wrong or anything he’s cute but nope.”
Rolling my eyes at her I shoot her with a scolding look.“Cute?”I say as if it’s a dirty word.“Give me a freaking break.”
“Ok, he’s a freaking God. Tall, built, badass sexy, but I’m not interested in him. He seems really nice, though. I could see being friends.”
“He is. I have to say they all grew up to be hotties. So why aren’t you interested?”
She sighs,“I don’t know. That‘it’factor just isn’t there. I can tell it isn’t there for him, either. He could be a great friend but that’s about it. Total friends-zone.”
Nodding I completely understand where she’s coming from. Over the years, Brooklyn has drug me on dates with her, the guy she was seeing at the time and one of his friends. I went but never was much into them. You know pretty quickly if there is potential for anything or not and there never was. The guys were nice but as she said the‘it’factor wasn’t there.
“I think you have your sights set on another tall dark hottie.”
Brooklyn rolls her eyes at me before taking a drink of her coffee. Wow we really have a bad habit of doing that to one another.
“So if he has a little girl and the mom isn’t around, where is she staying, since he stayed on the couch last night?”Brooklyn continued talking about Caleb trying to deflect the question.
“He said she was with his parents out of town for some family thing. I guess they were supposed to head out this morning. He was going to go but heard we were here so he decided to come see us instead.”Taking a drink of my coffee and turning to face her I pinned her with a stern look.“Oh and nice try but you aren’t getting off that easily. Have you heard from him?”
“Heard from whom?”She feigned cluelessness.
Huffing,“Right, who? You know who. Carver. Have you heard from him?”
“Yes, ok? He calls me or comes by my office just to bug me. I have no idea why.”
“Umm, hello, he likes you.”
“Well, I don’t like him. He’s too controlled for my taste. He doesn’t give anything away.”
I look at her for a moment before busting into full belly laughing.“Seriously, Brooklyn? You are complaining someone is too controlled and doesn’t give anything away? Pot, meet kettle. I have to pester you to get information out of you and I’m your best friend. There isn’t anyone who knows you better.”Just as she’s about to respond Amy peaks out the door letting us know lunch is ready. Brooklyn and I get up collecting our mugs and blankets before heading inside I hadn’t realized how long B and I sat outside chatting. I adore my time spent with my best friend. It’s easy to lose track of time hanging out with B. However, this conversation isn’t over. Just put on hold.
“Saved by the bell. This isn’t over.”I warn her as we walk into the great room.
“Who’s saved by the bell?”Gavin asks as he walks over to me.
“Your girlfriend is harassing me, as usual.”Brooklyn pouts as she passes us causing me to roll my eyes and stick my tongue out at her.
“Hey now girls, play nice.”Gavin laughs.
“No don’t…it’s been a while since I saw a good chick fight. Although,”Caleb stops and acts like he’s thinking deeply,“maybe you two should go put on bikinis first.”He taunts as Toad seconds the idea.
“You’re such a perv, Caleb.”I scold Caleb as Jill elbows Toad in the gut.
“Yes, ma’am.”Caleb grins broadly and waggles his eyebrows.
Shoving him in the arm I walk past him to fix my plate. Jill has an incredible lunch spread across the kitchen island. She owns the most successful catering company in Ambersville and the surrounding areas. She had a few of her employees bring over and set up lunch for us today. There's anything you would want to make sandwiches or salads with, several kinds of chips, fruit, veggies and the most delicious looking cheesecake and chocolate cake I’ve ever seen. I settle on a Turkey Club and salad piled with veggies, a coke and of course I can’t resist a piece of the cheesecake. How the heck does Toad stay so fit if he has a woman cooking like this for him? Tonight the guys are in charge of dinner upon our request. Which leaves us ladies responsible for breakfast tomorrow and with the way these four guys eat we will probably have to make half the damn grocery store for them.
We sit down for lunch around the large table big enough to seat at least 10 people. Everyone is throwing out ideas on what we should do today. The agreement seems to be we should hang out and do what we used to when we were in school. I really don’t like this idea. It’s the end of October and Halloween is this week. When we were teenagers Gavin and Jeff used to drag me to haunt-everything. Toad and Caleb usually went too, but it was Gavin and Jeff that ganged up on me to get me to go. I can’t stand haunt-anything. They scare me; which I know is the purpose but I am not someone who likes to be scared. I end up with nightmares for days. Gavin always promised to stay with me and protect me but it doesn’t matter. It’s just not my thing. I wish I was strong enough then and now to resist that damn look he gives me. The look that turns me into putty and makes me go along with whatever he wants. I know he’ll break it out sooner or later and I’ll give in and go…I always do.
“Let’s go to Leaf’s Grove. It just reopened this year.”Caleb suggests.
“Oh yeah, we haven’t been there in years.”Jill starts bouncing and Amy claps her hands in excitement agreeing with Jill.
“What’s Leaf’s Grove?”Brooklyn looks intrigued by everyone’s excitement.
“It’s a local nursery. Every fall you can pick your own pumpkin and they have different fall type activities. A couple corn mazes and at night one side is haunted and the other is a regular maze. There is a haunted hayride and bon fire. It’s pretty awesome. We used to go there all the time when we were kids.”Jill explained.
My stomach drops. I know what’s coming when I see Jeff and Gavin exchange a look.
“Nah, I don’t think Deni can handle it.”Jeff looks at Gavin as he starts to razz me. Shit, here it starts.
Everyone smirks at me knowing exactly how I’m going to respond. Endeavoring not to let them down, I speak slowly so they can all understand me clearly.“NO. WAY. IN. HELL!”They all bust up laughing at me. What great friends I have, huh? I’m terrified and they laugh at me. So as any mature adult would handle it I told them to go screw themselves and got up from the table to clear my plate. Apparently, this was the go ahead for them to laugh and taunt me harder.“I fucking hate you guys, you know that?”I throw over my shoulder as I move around the island that separates the kitchen and dining area.
Gavin gets up, walking over to me before wrapping his arms around me. Pulling me closer as I tried to shrug him off he whispered in my ear,“C’mon Deni, you know I’ll protect you.”I said nothing and refuse to look at him hoping he will take the hint. If they want to go they are more than welcome to go but I’m staying here. I can curl up on the couch with a glass of wine, a steamy romance novel and warm fire in the fire place but I am not going to a haunted-anything. I told him exactly that but I know I’m losing the battle. I always do.
Gavin drops his hands to his sides, straightens to his full height and looks down at me. He’s standing so close I can feel his breath on me but he’s no longer touching me. Shit! I’d like to say I hate it when he does this but truth be known I don’t. It’
s actually really hot. He’s looking down at me with that look. That look always gets him his way. Slowly he leans down like he’s going to kiss me but turns and places his lips next to my ear.“You’ll give in and I’ll be with you the whole time just like always.”He kissed the skin just below my ear lightly. So lightly I can barely feel it but yet it sends sparks through my body causing me to shiver. Damn! Why can’t I control my shivers? He knows he got to me. Giving in I drop my head to his chest. When I peek up I see it. Gavin and Jeff exchanged a shit-eating grin before Jeff announced,“She’ll go. It’s on!”causing everyone to cheer.
I put up a good fight but in the end I lost out. I’m going to have to go and be tortured and all because they know how to get me to agree. I’m so going to get Jeff and Gavin back one day. I will make them pay, assholes! Nonetheless, tonight we are going to Leaf’s Grove and doing the haunted trail. They did agree to do the corn maze that is not haunted. Small victories, right? They were talking about making it a race to see who can make it through first. If nothing else tonight will be fun…well minus the haunted hayride.
While we cleaned up the lunch mess the guys said they had an errand they need to run and would be back in an hour. They wouldn’t say what they were doing just said when they returned we would have fun. This scares me a little bit coming from these guys. Their idea of fun and ours isn’t always the same.
As promised almost an hour later they return pumpkins in hand. Jill and Brooklyn look confused but Amy and I know exactly what’s happening in their minds.
“Pumpkin carving time.”Jeff announces as they set the pumpkins on the table. There are four pumpkins and four carving kits. Caleb brings a round of beers to the table as we listen to Jeff explain the rules.
“Ok, the rules are simple: there is one pumpkin per team. You have two hours to clean and carve your pumpkin. You may NOT, Gavin, damage anyone else’s pumpkin.”
“What the hell, man? It was an accident. My knife slipped. We were like 15. Quit your bitchin.”
“Accident my ass. It’s not my fault you suck at carving.”
“Watch it or your pumpkin might end up with an extra hole in it again.”Gavin points his carving knife at him.
“Damn, you two still fuss like an old married couple.”Toad laughs at them along with the rest of us.
“Back to the rules: You may not damage another team’s pumpkin but sabotage is all fair in love and war. The team with the best pumpkin by group vote wins. The winner gets this.” Jeff is holding up the ridiculous plastic metal on a rainbow color ribbon we found and glued a paper to the front declaring“Jack-O-Lantern Champ”.Each year we crossed off the previous year and wrote the correct one on. The ribbon is tattered and the paper glued on the front so worn it’s hardly readable but it was a prized possession from our childhood.“What the fuck? You still have that?”I’m shocked. I’m laughing so hard at this point there are tears filling my eyes.
“Hell yeah! I’m the freaking champ!”Jeff declares proudly.
“You’re a dork is what you are.”Amy rebuffs.
“Yes, but you love this dork.”He winks at his wife as she blows him a kiss. We start making gagging sounds at them. And they complain about Gavin and me. I shake my head and chuckle at the thought. It’s sweet, really, how in love they are with each other.
“Split up into teams and make your way to the island.”Jeff instructs.
“Why the island if the pumpkins are on the table?”Brooklyn questions.
“We all start at the same point. No unfair early starts.”Jeff tells her.
“You people really need help.”Brooklyn jokes but lines up at the island with the rest of us.
We break into teams: Jeff and Gavin, Toad and Caleb, Amy and Jill, Brooklyn and me. We all crouch down like we are getting ready for a race. Who says grown adults can’t act like children once in a while, keeps life interesting. Times like this is what life is all about.
“Ready, Set, GO!”Jeff shouts and we take off and sprint the short distance to the table. Elbows are thrown, there is shoving and grabbing for each other’s tools. It is seriously the most childish thing we’ve all done in a long time.
“Don’t rush cleaning out the pumpkin. Act like we are having trouble getting the top off and the inside cleaned out.”I whisper to Brooklyn while gesturing at our pumpkin. Trying to make it look like we are discussing a plan of action, when in reality we are, just not the plan everyone would think. Brooklyn looks at me questioningly.“We’ll fuss about each other not doing it right and the tools not working properly. Trust me they can clean one out quickly. We did this for years. Once Gav’s and Jeff’s pumpkin is cleaned out, take our pumpkin to them and ask them if they will cut the top off. Tell them you’re sick of fighting with me. When they aren’t looking I’ll grab theirs and we’ll carve it.”She gives me a slight smile and barely nods her head and its game on.
The moment I stab the carving knife into the pumpkin Brooklyn asks me what I’m doing. We make a spectacle out of ourselves fussing about the proper way to cut the top off. We each pretend to try to cut it open but don’t make much progress because there is something‘clearly wrong with our carving knife.’This goes on until I give Brooklyn the signal. Each team took a side or end of the table so we had plenty of space.
Brooklyn reached over and flung my hand off the handle of the knife.“Forget this,”she announces as she picks up our pumpkin. Brooklyn heads over to the guys.“Thanks for sticking me with H. She’s awful at this. Will you please cut the top off so we can at least start cleaning the damn thing?”There is so much annoyance in her voice and just enough fluttering of her eyelashes I want to clap at her brilliant performance. If I’d walked over they would have known it was a set up but I don’t think they realize B is just as devious as I am…well until now. Agreeing they turn and take our pumpkin to help her out. When they aren’t paying attention I reach over and snag their pumpkin. Brooklyn starts laughing and strolls back to our side. High-fiving me when she’s back at my side.
“Awe, that’s bullshit!”Gavin yells at us. Knowing they’ve been duped. There is a glint in his eyes…it almost looks like a little pride.
“Motherfucker!”Jeff spits out.
“What were the rules?”Brooklyn tabs her chin thoughtfully.“Oh yeah, sabotage is all fair in love and war.”
As we laugh a slimy piece of pumpkin guts lands in my hair. Oh, gross. I freeze and look around to see Toad laughing so hard he’s almost doubled over. Smiling sweetly I reach over and pick up some pumpkin guts from Amy and Jill’s pile next to us and fling it at Caleb. The guts hit him in the chin. A devilish grin expands across his face and a pumpkin guts fight starts. Amy finally calls an end when a chuck slides down her shirt and into her bra. When we survey our area we are missing our tools which Amy and Jill now have, Amy and Jill are missing the top of their pumpkin, Toad and Caleb have more pumpkin guts in their pumpkin than they started with and Gavin and Jeff have to start over by cleaning a new pumpkin. The only tool we have remaining looks like an ice pick.
Brooklyn and I set to work trying to carve a face into our pumpkin with the ice pick looking thingy. When we are done our jack-o-lantern is cross eyed. His nose is off center and I'm not sure what shape it is supposed to be and the mouth, well let’s just say the left side of the mouth starts under the nose. Hands down we have the dumbest looking pumpkin ever! Jeff and Gavin’s is not a jack-o-lantern but more of a jack-o-finger. They carved a hand in their pumpkin flipping the bird. I’m guessing that’s directed towards B and me. It’s actually pretty good. Amy and Jill have a more stereotypical jack-o-lantern with triangle eyes and nose and half-moon shaped mouth with teeth. Caleb and Toad won the contest with a drunken pumpkin. The eyes are three diagonal slits each, an upside down half-moon for a nose and a circle for the mouth. They even used all the extra pumpkin guts they ended up with as material for the pumpkin to throw up. It was awesome and disgusting at the same time.
After cleaning up the pumpkin carving disaster we all headed
to clean up. I slipped into the shower with Gavin in hopes of making up for stealing their pumpkin from them. He acted like he was going to fight me on it, even though I could see him fighting a smirk. In the end my feminine charm won. That or the fact I was naked and wet and he really wasn’t mad, but who really knows.
Dinner was amazing. The guys can grill a mean steak. They even had cookies for dessert. Dang, the way we’ve eaten this weekend I’m going to have to run extra time each day just to work it off. Now we are here at Leaf’s Grove standing in line for the haunted hayride. The next tractor and trailer around will be our turn. Fuck, I really don’t want to do this. I’ve not really spoke to anyone the whole time we’ve stood in line. I’m not mad or pouting. Actually, I’m so freaking scared I can’t focus on anything but trying to calm my heartbeat. I know I sound like a wimp but that’s what I’ve tried to tell everyone all along. I am a wimp and damn proud of it. Gavin has been standing behind me the whole time. His arms wrapped around my shoulders keeping my back firmly pressed to him. He’s been trying to keep me calm but as soon as I see the lights of the tractor I begin to shake even harder.
“Baby, you’ve got to calm down.”Gavin said quietly so only I can hear. I can’t do anything but nod. I’m trying. I really am but I just can’t. I feel so stupid for being this scared. When the shakes get worse he finally turns me around to look me in the eye.“Seriously, Deni, if this is too much for you we’ll wait. I didn’t mean to push you into something that scares you this badly.”The tone of his voice and look in his eyes is pure concern.
I shake my head no and turn back around.“I’ll do it. I’ll be fine.”I brush the tear that slips down my cheek away.
Gavin tapped Jeff on the arm and signaled we needed a minute. Taking me by the hand, Gavin pulled me off to the side and shields me from everyone’s view with his body.“Baby, you look terrified.”
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