The Bird and the Worm

When I pulled back from whispering in Brian’s ear, I saw that his eyes had widened a little, and there was a faint tinge of red on his face. I knew it wasn’t good enough, but Vengeance was laughing softly to himself behind me, and Gina was failing miserably at suppressing her giggles.

“You just had to say something about the wedding night, didn’t you.”

I cracked a playful smile, running my thumb along his cheekbone. “Yeah, well, I could make that look like child’s play if you want me to.” He quirked an eyebrow, and the small tinge of red became a little bit more prominent. “All in that little outfit I bought today.”

“You should give him a kiss to make up for it,” Vengeance suggested, laughing.

“Oh, I’ll do more than that.” I watched Brian’s eyes all the while, and they seemed to become more and more surprised as the conversation continued on. Leaning forward, I caught his bottom lip between my teeth, and from behind, I’m sure it looked like I was kissing him. From here, he gently pushed his lips against mine, and his fingers curled against the material of my shirt. I tried not to think about the fact that I was half tugging at and half kissing the lip that Vengeance had just caressed with his pink tongue.

Vengeance playfully cleared his throat behind us, and I pulled back slowly.

“After all, he hasn’t seen the toys I hid in my purse.”

Brian blushed. I removed myself from his lap, and I ran my thumb along my lip before sucking on it a little. Satisfied with my work, I touched his face, and then I settled next to him, crossing my legs and trying to pretend I didn’t have an erratic heartbeat.

“My turn to spin, right?” Wide-eyed, Vengeance nodded, and I smirked, licking my lips, reaching forward and spinning the bottle, waiting until it had slowed to a stop.”Alright, Brian.” I glanced over at him, and he bit his lip. I let him take my hand and give it a brief squeeze. “Truth or dare, love?” I tried not to laugh at him. He looked a little worried about what I might come up with.

“I dunno. Which one is safer?”

“You’re supposed to choose, genius,” I teased, and he rolled his eyes, touching his thumb to my rings, stroking my knuckles.

He seemed to consider it for another moment. “Truth, I guess.”

I smiled. “Did you like it when you made out with Jimmy at that gas station in Vegas?” He quirked an eyebrow. “I mean it. Do you think he’s a good kisser?”Gina and Vengeance laughed a little, since they both had been there for the subject of the conversation. “Shush, you two.” They stopped pretty much right away, and I turned my attention back to Brian. “Well?”

He cracked a sheepish smile. “Yeah. Jimmy ‘s a pretty alright kisser. I guess you could say I enjoyed it.” He winked at me. “If I were a chick, I’d date him.” I lifted his hand to my lips and kissed his knuckles. “Taught me a few new tricks, too.” He glanced at Vengeance. “Heather can tell you all about it.” I blushed a little. “Gimme my hand back, love, it’s my turn to spin.”

I obliged with a sly grin. “Of course, babe.” He grunted at the pet name, obviously not fond of it, and then he spun.

“Baker.” Vengeance cocked an eyebrow in response, and even though I was married to Brian, I still thought that it was kind of attractive. But then again, that could have been because of the fact that I’d deprived Brian of nightly intimacy for at least a week, in turn depriving myself. “Truth or dare?”

“What do you think, Haner?”

“Alright then. Have it your way. I dare you to give your girlfriend a nice little lap dance.” Vengeance’s eyebrow was lifted a little more. “Either that or you can tell a dirty little secret.”

I gave his shoulder a soft kiss. “Be kind, love,” I told him, and he slid an arm around me. “He hasn’t had anything to drink yet.” I was still trying to get the secondhand aftertaste of the wine he’d had to down out of my mouth.

“It’s alright, Byrdie. It’s only a game.” Brian rubbed my side, and I saw Vengeance wink at me when I looked up. “And since my legs are a little tired,” I wasn’t going to ask, “I think I’ll tell a dirty little secret.” The three of us watched him curiously, and he shifted next to Gina, her hand finding its way into his. “Until Gina, I was kind of jealous of Gates because he was dating a fan.”

I lifted an eyebrow. “Really?”

He shrugged. “Yeah. But then Gina happened, and I’m alright for now.”

“For now, he says,” Gina snorted, and he kissed her temple. They actually kind of reminded me of the way Brian and I had started out on the tour bus (and still were, to be perfectly honest), holding on to each other and always kissing each other somewhere. “We’ll see what he says in a few more months.” He squeezed her hand, and I could just see the way they glanced at each other.

“Fuck. It’s my turn, isn’t it?”

Gina rolled her eyes and leaned against him.

“You know what. This game was a stupid fuckin’ idea. We should do something else.”

“Like what, Vengeance?”

“Like…..strip poker!!” A wicked grin spread across his face. “First one in their undies,” he glanced over at Gina, “No…first one naked loses.”

Brian laughed, tugging me closer. “Good thing I married somebody that’s actually worth a damn at cards.” His lips pecked the side of my head. “Course it doesn’t hurt that she’s got a beautiful body.”

“I’ll bet you twenty bucks Gina looks better with no clothes on.”

“Guys? Necessary?” I asked, but Brian laughed. “This is my best friend you’re pitting me against, after all.”

“Aw it’s only in good fun. Unless Mr. Family Man’s up for a nice little bet.”

Brian extended the hand that wasn’t holding on to my waist. “I’m up for it, but I wanna see your twenty.” Vengeance pulled out his wallet and pulled out a twenty, holding it up, before returning it to his wallet and stashing the wallet back into his pocket. “Alright, dude. We have a bet.” I shook my head, glancing over at Gina. She sighed exasperatedly, holding her hands up, and I laughed at the two of them. “Heather, love, if you’ll get the cards, the three of us can set up the game.”

When he turned his head to smile at me, I pressed my lips to his, ignoring the horrible taste of wine on his breath, and he nipped playfully at my bottom lip before I pulled back and got up from our fun little circle, heading towards the bedroom to fetch the deck of cards.

Of course, I had to navigate Brian’s clothing that was scattered on the floor, but I managed my way through, trotting down the stairs, cards in hand, Brian and Vengeance offered a short round of applause, and then when I settled onto Brian’s lap, he kissed my cheek.

“Here are the cards you asked for, handsome,” I told him. “You wanna deal?”

He shook his head, setting his hands on my hips and shifting me from his lap to the seat right next to him. “You should deal, love. You know what you’re doing more than the rest of us.” He chuckled, and I raised an eyebrow at him, dealing out nonetheless, giving each of the four of us the right amount of cards, and then setting the rest of them accordingly on the table that the two guys had cleared off.

“We all remember the stakes, yeah?” He glanced over at Brian.

“Twenty bucks saying Gina looks better naked than my wife. Yep. Got it. Let’s just fucking play, you pansy.” He picked his cards up, and he looked over at me. “And you know I love you and everything, but no looking at my cards.” I nodded, and Vengeance told Gina the same thing, except he whispered it in her ear and nipped at her neck in the process. I had a feeling that they had a very intimate sort of relationship.

“Alright you deuces. Play fair. Cheating loses you clothing.” They nodded once to show that they understood. “Alright. Let’s do this.”