I Left My Heart in San Diego

There was a loud knock on the door, waking me. I stared at the door with contempt, wondering who the fuck wanted to disturb my beauty sleep after my night with Billie last night. "Billie? Arizona?" Mike said, cracking open the door and poking his head in.

His eyes met mine and saw I wasn't wearing anything on top. He hastily turned around and closed the door behind him. "Um...would you...," he started, the awkwardness thick between us.

"My clothes are on the floor, so that would require effort, first of all. And I would put something on, but, as you may have glimpsed when you first walked in the door, Billie has his arms snaked around me, and I don't want to risk waking him, so I'm stuck topless and exposed," I explained to him. "If you want to find a towel or something from the floor, you can throw that over me if it makes you more comfortable, although I'm not sure it would stay."

The door opened again. It was Tre. "Mike? Why are you standing like that? Oh, shit!" He noticed me laying behind Mike. "That's why." He poked his head around Mike's figure to look at me. "Hi, Arizona, you and Billie have fun last night?"

"We kept our pants on, Tre, chill. But yes, nevertheless," I answered, smiling.

"Nice rack, by the way."

I rolled my eyes. "If Billie's arms weren't pinning me to him, I would throw something at you right now."

Tre laughed. "Of course you would. If Billie wakes up before noon, tell him to get dressed and come downstairs. We're playing a loose game of truth-or-dare, and Billie always adds something extra."

"I'll pass on the message," I said. It was at that point that Billie stirred, just as Tre was closing the door behind a very embarrassed Mike.

"Good morning, sweetheart," he murmured, squeezing me then releasing me, stretching his arms over his head. I did the same, cracking my elbows. "That sounded nice."

"It was. Did you just sleep through what just happened?" I asked, the corners of my mouth curling up into a smile.

"Yes. What did just happen?"

I rolled over, smiling. "Well, Mike, knocked on the door, wanting to ask us a question. He opened the door without waiting for an answer, so he got a eyeful of me," I said, gesturing.

Billie laughed. "Lemme guess what happens next: He's extremely embarrassed so he turns around and quickly closes the door behind him, stuttering and stammering awkwardly."

"That's about right. Then I proceeded to explain to him how I would cover up, but your arms were holding me pinned to you, so it was impossible without waking you up."

Billie kissed my nose. "You're so considerate." I giggled and kissed him on the lips, a smile never leaving mine. "So what was the message that Mike wanted to relay?"

"He never got over the awkwardness. Tre poked his head in, wondering what was taking so long, he made some lewd comments, and then told me to tell you that everyone's playing a loose game of truth-or-dare downstairs, and that you always add something extra," I explained.

Billie laughed again, probably remembering other times when he and the guys played truth-or-dare in his kitchen "the morning after". "I assume there was a 'get dressed' comment involved."

"You would be correct."

"Fuck it. If I were you, though, I would heed his advice."

I rolled my eyes. "Of course, Billie, I'm not a nudist. Or a whore."

"I'll have to see to the latter part of that," Billie teased.

I sat up in bed. "You ass."

Billie started laughing again. "Come on, put some clothes on and we'll go downstairs."

I swung my legs over the bed, leaning down to pull up my bra and tank top. I ran my brush through my messy hair briefly before deciding just to sweep it up into a ponytail. I stood up, turning to face Billie. "Okay, get your lazy ass out of bed and we'll go see just what Tre was talking about."

Billie smiled in remembrance again as he swung his legs over the bed, threw a button-down over his chest, and took my hand, leading me down the stairs.

~***~

There was raucous laughter reverberating off the kitchen walls. "Okay, okay," I said, trying to calm everyone down. "I think it's Billie's turn."

"I just went!" he protested.

"Then whose turn is it?!" I yelled.

"Tre's," Billie answered, landing accusing yellow-green eyes on Tre.

He sighed and rolled his eyes, an arm around Zie's waist. "Oh fine. Um...," he started, drawing out the syllable, making everyone start laughing again. He held in his laughter, only a few giggles escaping his wide smile. "Billie."

"Didn't you just do me?" Billie asked.

"No. That would have been Ari's job last night, but apparently you went soft and stopped at the waist," Tre said. There was a chorus of 'oh!'s and 'ouch...'s before Billie found a witty comeback.

"At least I would have used a condom. I don't want my girlfriend getting pregnant." Silence.

"Not cool, Billie, you know how scary that was for us," Zie said, shooting Billie a disappointed look.

I looked from Tre, to Zie, to Billie, and back to Zie. Glancing at Tre's furious face, I said, "Billie, just take your turn and stop complaining." Tre and Zie both took big breaths to calm themselves. I looked over at them and saw Zie mouthing "Thank you." I smiled and mouthed "You're welcome" back.

"Okay, um...," Billie started, looking around at the couples stationed around his kitchen island counter. "Izzie," he said, looking over at me.

"What?"

"I'm picking you."

"Is that allowed?"

"What? Picking your girlfriend? Sure. Now choose."

"Fine. Truth."

"You have to recount, in specific detail, what happened last night after we got back from the club," Billie said.

I stared at him. "I hope you're not being serious." His facial expression didn't change. "What would happen if I were to refuse?" I asked.

"We would have to think of a punishment for you," Billie answered.

I thought for a moment. "I refuse."

"Alright, then, we'll return in a moment with your punishment," Billie said, releasing my hand and walking with everyone else into the other room. I smiled after them and decided to explore around the kitchen while they were gone. I started poking my head into random cabinets and drawers, learning where Billie's mom kept what and where it was. About ten minutes later, everyone returned, expressionless faces determined not to betray their agreement upon my "punishment". "We have all reached an agreement upon your punishment. Sorry it took so long, we couldn't find something to agree on," Tre said, his voice imitating a football referee.

"So what is it? It better be good if it took you all ten fucking minutes," I said.

Mike smiled, and I caught a glimpse, but I turned my head back to Tre, seeing as he was the one to announce my "punishment".

"Your punishment for not wanting to accept Billie's truth question, agreed upon by the five persons standing in this kitchen, is..." Tre gestured to Billie, who smiled evilly.

"Your punishment is to spend an hour with Tre," Billie said.

"That's your punishment for me? You spent ten minutes agreeing upon that?" I asked incredulously. Knowing smiles spread across everyone's faces.

"And no one can control what he does," Billie added. I looked over at Tre, who smiled innocently at me.

"Can I refuse this?" I asked.

"But you said it didn't sound so bad," Tre replied. "And if you didn't, it would hurt my feelings."

Everyone chuckled. "Fuck your feelings, what about my personal safety? Or my virginity, for that matter. That's the thing I'm most worried about!" I protested.

"Oh, don't worry, Tre knows not to cross any lines like that. He's not that evil," Mike remarked.

"Thank you, Michael," Tre said, looking over at him and putting his clasped hands over the top of his chest in a heartfelt gesture.

"So what are you waiting for?" Billie asked.

"Tre's waiting for you," Zie said, releasing his hand and showing me into the room they were all just in.

I gulped as I followed Zie's arm around the corner. The door closing behind me wasn't a help to already racing heart.