Out of Grasp

“He should take the fucking deal!” John yelled, throwing his hands up in frustration.

“No way! He’s being offered $30,000 when he could win up to $100,000! He still has cases to open!”

“Almost all the numbers on the right side are gone! He still hasn’t even opened the case with the penny yet!” He was looking at me like I was crazy, his eyes wide and his cheeks flushed, but he had a smile playing at his lips showing off his amusement.

“He still has the $100,000 on the board and that is all that matters.”

“He could get one penny or $100,000, or just take the 30 grand. He’s better off taking his winnings and walking away.”

“Live a little! Risk it all, dude!” I yelled.

“Did you really just say dude? You need to stop hanging out with Garrett.”

“Hey, screw you man!”

I jumped at the voice behind me. John and I turned around seeing Tori, Melanie, and the rest of the boys of The Maine standing in my doorway, amused looks on their faces, minus Garrett who was grimacing.

“Your door was unlocked,” Kennedy said, pointing his thumb in the direction of my front door.

“Damn, I need to stop forgetting to do that,” I muttered.

"One of these days someone is going to just walk in here and steal all your stuff," Tori said, plopping down next to me on the couch, everyone else following suit, taking seats on either floor or few chairs in my little living room.

"What exactly are they going to take? My baking book and some CD's? I don't exactly have much to offer."

"I beg to differ."

I looked over at John with a smile, crinkling my nose and shaking my head. "That was cheesy."

He poked my nose with his finger, mimicking my expression. "And that nose scrunch was adorable. Do it again." I repeated the familiar action, causing John to let out something close to a giggle. I chuckled, nudging his shoulder with mine.

"You two are gross. Not only do I have to deal with Pat and Mel, but now the two of you," Kennedy murmured, almost everyone in the room agreeing.

I laughed and turned to John. "We're at the gross lovey-dovey stage. How cute are we?"

"The cutest. No one can beat us."

"We should enter a contest or something!" I said, clapping my hands together and speaking in the most obnoxious voice possible.

"What would the prize be?"

"A future honey moon trip to Hawaii?"

"We're already getting married?" He asked, his eyebrows shooting up.

"No, but the contest judges won't know that."

"Sneaky. I like it."

"God, someone shoot me," Garrett muttered.

"Someone's bitter," Tori sang.

"I am not bitter. I just prefer to not be surrounded by couples who do nothing but gush about how cute they are."

"Excuse me, but we aren't a couple," I piped up.

"Yet," Melanie chirped, smirking as my cheeks flushed.

"Wait! No one speak!" I demanded, turning up the volume of the TV, as the guy on Deal or No Deal was offered $76,000.

"He's going to take it," John muttered from next to me.

"Ssshh!" I placed my hand over his mouth.

"Joesph, think about this, this is your final offer,"Howey said, the entire room turning red as he hung up the phone with the dealer. "So Joe, what's it going to be? Deal....or no deal?"

"Well, uh, that's a lot of money and I'd rather leave with $76,00 than nothing so Howie, I'm going to have to take the deal." He slammed down on the glowing read button.

"No! No, you idiot!" I yelled. Suddenly, my hand felt wet and I yanked it off of John's mouth, looking at him incredulously. His eyes held a devilish gleam and he licked his lips with a smirk. "Did you really just like me?" I asked.

"Oh, yeah. And you tasted good," John said, lowering his voice to sound seductive.

"Ah, I don't want to hear that!" Kennedy yelled, shoving his hands over his ears.

"Oh, grow up!" Melanie laughed, hitting him with a pillow.

"I told you he'd take the deal," John laughed.

"Men, you are all idiots."

"Hey!" Pat shouted, pouting at me.

"Oh, except you Pat! You're amazing."

He smiled and sent me an air kiss which I caught with a ridiculous wink, causing everyone to laugh.

"Now that we can stop watching this stupid show, let's play some video games!" Garrett demanded.



Agreeing to play video games with Garrett was the worst idea ever. Not only was he really good at every game we played, but he liked to yell at you every time you made a mistake or pressed the wrong button. It took a good ten minutes for Kennedy to pry the white video game controller out of Garrett's grasp so he could play. Garrett sat pouting on the couch, next to me, his arms crossed and the black glasses on his face slightly crooked.

Everyone sat watching Kennedy and Jared battle, sitting on the floor as close to the TV as they could be without actually touching the screen.

“Dude, your cheating! Fuck you!”

“I’m not cheating; you just fucking suck.”

“No Kennedy, you’re pressing the wrong button! You have to press A to blow people up!” I laughed, watching as he began pounding on the small colorful circles on the video game controller in his hand aggressively, his tongue peeking out from the corner of his mouth in concentration..

“I am pressing A though!” He snapped, a hint of amusement in his voice.

“No you’re not! You’re pressing D!”

Kenny growled, his eye brows furrowing, “I don’t understand!”

Melanie rolled her eyes. “You don’t understand how to play Crash Bandicoot but you can play guitar like a pro. How does that make any sense?” She mused, earning a dark glare from Kennedy.

"Shut your girlfriend up Pat before I pick her up and lock her out of this house."

"Are you kidding? Last time I even hinted at her to stop talking so much she punched me and walked away!" He said, wrapping his arms around Mel's waist tightly. "She can do whatever she pleases."

John made the sound of a whip and everyone in the room started giggling as both Pat and Mel glared at him.

"Don't make me come over there, John Ohh," Melanie threatened.

"If you do, I'll send my wife on you."

Melanie looked over at me, her eyes narrowing and her lips pursing. She had a mock glare on her face as she looked me up and down, sizing me up.

"I could take her."

The room erupted in 'oh's and I smirked at Melanie, cocking my head to the side in amusement.

"I'd like to see you try, chicken legs."

More 'oh's. She gasped and began looking around for something to throw at me, but came up short, causing me to let out a "Ha!" Her glare only darkened and she did the double fingers to the eyes and back to me, as if saying 'I'm watching you'.

"You can watch me all day, baby," I smiled, moving my hips in a circular motion. Mel winked at me, mimicking my hip actions. We both began to giggle before turning our attention back to our friends.

"Would you two like me to set up a mud pit in the backyard?" John asked. "Because that can definitely be arranged."

"Oh, keep it in your pants, John," I laughed, smacking his chest.

"I like it rough," He said huskily.

"Ah, shit! I died again!" Kennedy whined as Jared grinned triumphantly.

“Give me the controller,” I laughed holding out my hand and beckoning for the white device.

“I’ll show you where you can put it,” Kenny mumbled under his breath, passing me the controller with a pout.

Tori laughed, “You suck at video games.”

"I have better things to do in my spare time than sit around and play video games all day."

"Like what?" Mel countered.

"Oh, I don't know, perform on a stage in front of thousands of fans?"

"You have travel time on the tour bus! Use that to practice! God, knows you need it," I said, mumbling the last part.

"Screw you," Kennedy said, a smile growing on his face.

"That's my job thank you."

I bursted out laughing at John's statement and proud smile, the rest of the room following.

"The last place you will be getting is in my pants."

'Oh's erupted throughout the room again causing John to stick up his middle finger at everyone.

"We'll see, Emily, we'll see."

"In your dreams."