Puppy Love

by Hayden Hunt

  “Hey everyone, this is Liam!” I said, addressing the room.

  This began a chorus of hellos and waves from the rest of the group. And, of course, a lot of googly-eyes from all the women and gay men in the room. Even Sarah’s eyes widened for just a second.

  Ha, at least now she’ll understand why I can’t help my attraction to him.

  There was a moment of awkward silence after everyone said their greetings, so I decided to just jump right into something so we didn’t have to spend any time trying to make conversation.

  “Do you play beer pong?” I asked.

  “Duh.” He answered.

  “Be my partner?”

  “Sure.” He said.

  Good. Now we won’t have to make small talk and I have an excuse to start drinking immediately. I thought a little alcohol might calm my nerves.

  And they did. Although the cups were only filled a quarter of the way with alcohol, it wasn’t beer in them. Sarah had filled them with a shot of jack and a little bit of coke. It was how we always played in the beginning of the night, though we later switched to beer.

  But, naturally, this meant I got drunk a lot quicker. But at least I was no longer nervous to interact with Liam. He seemed to relax too, casually joking with my friends as we dominated the game.

  He was very skilled in the hand-eye coordination department. I could see that immediately. He sank literally every shot he made, he hadn’t missed one.

  “Wow.” I nodded to him. “I bet you’re good at sports.”

  For some reason (maybe the alcohol) this made him laugh pretty hard. “Yeah, you could say that.”

  One negative to relaxing with alcohol was that I got a lot more flirty and forward. I was really trying to hold back, but it’s hard when you’re drunk. It’s like I see what I want and I want to chase it.

  I found myself playfully touching his arm and shoulder a lot, something he didn’t actually seem to mind. I didn’t for a second let myself think that this was because he actually liked me, though. No, he probably just enjoyed the ego boost my attention gave him.

  But it was nice he didn't stop me. Flirting made everything a lot more interesting.

  We kept winning every game of beer pong so we stayed stuck at the table. But I didn’t mind, for some reason I didn’t really want him pulled away from the table, though I wasn’t sure of why.

  Maybe I was just still a little worried that we’d have nothing to talk about if the action of the game stopped. But… no, that wasn’t it. If I’m honest with myself, I liked the attention I got from him as we played.

  I was scared that if we weren’t playing, that attention was going to be stolen from me. One of the few single girls at the party would get a chance to talk to him and, naturally, he’d take the opportunity to flirt. What drunk straight man wouldn’t go talking to girls while he’s wasted rather than me?

  But I hated the thought. I was grossed out at the idea of him hooking up with any of my friends. So I just crossed my fingers that nobody would beat us.

  And nobody did. We ended up playing for hours. Pretty quickly after the first game we switched to beer, but we were both incredibly wasted. Eventually, even Liam’s impeccable aim started to be affected by his level of drunkenness.

  It was only midnight when he made the announcement that he had to go home, he had an early morning tomorrow. Disappointment flooded me, this party would be a lot less interesting without him here.

  “You’re not driving right?” I asked.

  “No, I’ll call a cab.” He said.

  “Well, I’ll walk you out.” I answered.

  The words popped out of my mouth before I could stop them.

  I hope he took this as a friendly invitation from a host, but really I think it conveyed romantic interest when you walk someone out of your apartment to their car.

  He didn’t deny me though. “Sure. You can keep me entertained while I wait for my cab.”

  “Awesome.” I said. “I’ll be right back.” I said to everyone else at the party.

  I tried to ignore Sarah’s disapproving gaze, though she was making her dissatisfaction very obvious to me.

  We walked out to the sidewalk.

  “Thanks for inviting me.” He said. “Your friends were fun, I needed a night like this.”

  “Thanks for coming.” I said. “We needed a new face. And I needed someone good for a partner.”

  “Yeah, cuz you're lousy.” He ribbed me.

  “Oh, shut up.” I pushed his shoulder, but he only laughed harder.

  I looked at him for a second and I couldn’t help the warmth that began spreading out from inside me. I literally had butterflies in my stomach. He was absolutely gorgeous. In the moonlight, his blue eyes glistened and I really couldn’t contain my feelings for him.

  I couldn’t make myself break away my gaze, though I imagined I was making him uncomfortable. But if I was, he made no sign of it. He just stared at me back… Just as intensely as I was looking at him.

  “What is it?” I asked.

  “Oh, nothing…” He said quietly, an eyebrow raised. “I think you’ve got something in your hair…”

  He reached to the top of my head, pulling off a single white lint from my head. But his hand lingered there as his face got closer to mine.

  Without warning, without expectation, he kissed me.

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