Flirting With Magick (11 page)

“Uh, truth I guess.”

I waited eagerly for Nathan’s question.

“Ever had a threesome? With two chicks, I mean.”

“Er,” Scott shifted uncomfortably. “Yes.”

I wanted more information. When? Who with? Was Tanya one of
the girls? I reminded myself that, at least for the moment, he was wit
h me and whatever he had done in the past was none of my business— then I cursed that the rules of the game dictated only answering the
question and not being able to give details unless another ‘truth’ questi
on requested it.

“Kate.” I wondered why Scott’s Truth or Dare was directed at Kat
e and not at me. Oh, no. That meant Kate would be asking me. I knew
that, as she has had a few drinks behind her, if I were to choose ‘truth’
she would most likely ask something about Scott, or worse still Josh,
and put me on the spot. I decided in advance to answer ‘dare.’ Surely
the worst would be that she would ask me to kiss Nathan or down a glass of wine in one go. This game was so predictable.

“Dare.” Kate lifted her chin in a ‘take your best shot’ pose.

“Get out of the bath and dance like they do in Riverdance here in your undies for one minute.”

Kate, ever the show-off, jumped out of the bath, foamy white bubbles
sticking to her porcelain skin, and began an amateur jig on the bathmat
, giggling uncontrollably as she unsuccessfully tried to keep her arms stuck to her side.

“That was the worst, yet most entertaining Irish dancing I have
ever seen.” Scott chuckled as the minute of dancing ended. I nodded in
agreement, unable to talk as my stomach hurt from laughing so hard.

I received a rude shock when “Dare” was my answer after she had
settled into the spa again.

“Off with the bra.” Kate demanded.

“Oh, why can’t I do a dance too?” I protested, realising I would have
actually preferred to answer a curly love question.

“You can cover yourself with the bubbles if you like,” Scott whispered
to me as he reached his hand down my back to undo the clasp.

“You’re not helping my cause here,” I scolded him, scooping up the lather in my hands, as he had suggested, to cover myself.

“Well, I know Nathan isn’t really a breast man, so I think I’m really
the only one benefiting from this—and I’ve already seen them.”

“Oh, what the hell.” My modesty vanished, and I stopped gathering
bubbles as Scott pulled the garment off, flinging it onto the bathroom
floor. “I’m going to get you back for this, Manning,” I warned Kate
playfully. “Truth or dare.”

“Dare.” She giggled, pulling off her bra before I even asked. Getting
naked was not an issue
for Kate, who was confident
with her slim, athletic
figure. I, on the other hand, needed the Dutch courage and soft lighti
ng
in order to show my curves off to anyone other than my current lov
er,
and even now, it was difficult not to ask Scott to pick my bra up off the
floor so I could put it back on.

Scott and Nathan both grinned widely.

“This is great.” Scott enthused. “Thanks for inviting me.”

“Now all we need is for you girls to kiss…” Nathan joked. I splashed
him with my foot. “Or is that pushing it?”

“That’s such a cliché.” Kate shook her head at him then winked at
me, “But tomorrow’s another day. Whose turn is it? Oh, mine. Hmmm….”
She looked from Scott to Nathan and back again. “Scott... Truth or…”

“Truth.” Scott interrupted her. “I’ve only got my undies on, and I’m
not taking them off.”

“Okay, Mister Smarty Pants. Here’s a curly one. Have you ever
been in love?”

“Where’s that?”

“Ha Ha. Answer the question.”

Scott looked thoughtful, gazing down at the bubbles in front of him.
“You know what? I thought so once, maybe twice, but looking back I don’t really think I have.”

“How come?” Kate pressed further.

“I think... hey, only one question, missy.” He nodded to Nathan and
spoke before Kate could question any more. “Truth or Dare, buddy?”

“Er, Truth I guess.”

"Hmm." Scott rubbed his chin in thought. “Have you ever shoplifted?”

“Oh, Scott..." Kate groaned. “Ask something interesting
—
about girls...
or sex.”

Scott exhaled. “Okay.” He paused for a moment “What’s the most
romantic thing you’ve ever done?”

"You're not very good at this, are you?" I nudged him with my elbow.

“Jesus, what a soppy question,” Nathan confirmed. “That’s for th
e girls’ benefit, isn’t it?”

“Of course.”

“Okay. I spent the evening in a spa bath in a cabin in the snow with
a girl I’m seeing… and our friends… and answering stupid questions
while playing Truth or Dare.”

“You guys are both so sad,” I told them. “Am I the only one here who’s had a mature relationship?”

“That’s because you’re the only mature one here.” Kate piped up. “
Or the only boring one.”

“Cute, though,” Scott consoled me, ruffling my hair.

“
Thanks.” I shook my head
at them all. “Who’s got the wine, anyway
?”
I picked up my now empty glass from the edge of the bath, and Nathan
filled it from the cask he had placed on the floor within easy reach of the spa.

“Truth or Dare, Abby,” he said.

“Truth.” Surely Nathan couldn’t come up with anything I would
rather not admit, he didn’t know me that well. He looked stumped for
something to ask.

Kate whispered something in his ear. Oh, no. So this was going to
be rather torturous.

“Who’s that?” he asked her.

“Just ask her?” Kate demanded.
God, she's bossy.

“Okay. Abby... would you get back with Josh if he wanted to get back together?”

I gave Kate the filthiest look I could muster and cleared my throat
, trying to ignore Scott’s non-reaction beside me.

“Who’s Josh?” Nathan enquired. “Is that your ex?”

“Yeah. He’s my ex, I mean, and I don’t know if I would get back with him. Probably not, so make that a ‘no’.”

“Yay!” Kate lifted up her arms in a cheer, splashing the rest of us in
the process. She lowered them and examined the wrinkles on her fingers.
“God, I’m a prune - I’m getting out. Are you coming, Nathan?"

They both got out of the spa, leaving Scott and I alone in the candlelight
and rapidly cooling water.

“Are you ready to get out yet? Or shall I put more hot water in?” He reached towards the tap, indicating what he would rather do.

“Stay.”

There was a knock on the door, and then Nathan barged in. “Do you two want to keep playing the game out here?”

“No.” Scott answered. “I’d rather stay in here and snog.”

“Let me see,” Kate yelled out and soon appeared behind Nathan, hoping to catch us kissing.

“We haven’t started yet,” I informed her.

“Aww.” She pouted. Why was this such a big deal to her?

“Oh, for God’s SAKE.” I grabbed both sides of Scott’s face and
planted a lingering kiss on his mouth. “Are you happy now?” I looked
at Kate.

Her grin was ear to ear. “Yes, thank you. We’ll be upstairs. Don’t come a knockin’.”

“What was that all about?” Scott asked when we heard their footsteps
traipse up the stairs towards the bedrooms and disappear.

“
Kate was complaining the other day about how we never kiss or
anything when everyone else is around, that’s all.”

“Like they do, you mean? I think there’s a hell of a lot more goin
g on with those two than they’re admitting.”

“I think you’re right. This is the first time I’ve seen Kate stay with
someone for longer than a couple of weeks."

“I think Nathan’s pretty smitten. We hardly ever see him nowadays
.”
He pursed his lips. “Anyway, as far as you and I are concerned, I didn’t
think you’d find it appropriate for me to kiss you in public, given the
nature of our relationship. I don’t have a problem with it, though, if
that’s what you think.” He pulled me closer to him and placed his sof
t lips on mine, our faces both damp from the steam and our lips salty
from the resultant sweat. I closed my eyes as his mouth explored mine
and imagined what it would be like if we were here in this romantically
candlelit bathroom, in the warm, scented bubbles, as a real couple. Kat
e
and Nathan wouldn’t be upstairs doing... well, it was easy to guess wha
t they were doing. Scott and I would be dying to have sex—which was
pretty much the case right now
—
but we wouldn’t be ‘having sex’; we’d
be ‘making love’. He would whisper sweet words to me; perhaps even
have brought me here to ask me to... STOP! Geez! What the hell was I
doing? I pulled away from the kiss as gently as I could, despite the shock
of letting my imagination go way, way too far. I guess I did like him more than I was willing to admit. At least I hadn't picked out names for our kids.

“Are you okay?” He looked concerned. I guess I didn’t break away
gently enough.

“Yeah, just a little dizzy,” I lied. I didn’t look him in the eye as I reached
for my glass of wine and took a sip as a means of both distracting myself
from and covering up my embarrassment.

“Wow, I didn’t realise my kisses could do that,” Scott quipped.
“Maybe we should get out. It is a bit hot in here. Can I get you some water? It would be better than alcohol.”

I nodded to keep up my pretense and told myself that a harmless
little bit of fantasy never hurt anyone. It was his fault anyway for being
so nice and sexy, and he wasn’t doing himself any favours now by
being so sweet and caring. I blew out the candles as he went to fetch a
glass of water. Wrapping a towel around myself, I wandered into the living room, which was softly lit by a single lamp and still warm due to the smouldering fireplace.

“Stay here, in front of the fire,” Scott instructed, handing me the
glass of icy cold water. He then headed up the stairs. “I’ll be right back.”

When he returned, he carried two pillows, a blanket, and a doona
from the spare bedroom. He laid them all down as a makeshift bed in front of the fire. “I thought it might be nice to stay down here tonight.”
He lifted up a corner of the doona. I pulled off the remainder of my wet
clothing and quickly wiped myself dry before diving in next to him.

“I brought something else with me.” He rummaged through his overnight bag and took out a couple of joints. “I'm not sure if you're interested, I'll only do it if you want to.”

I snuggled down next to him and took one out of his hand. “Let's share this,” I said as he presented a lighter. “You can go first.”

He brought the joint to his lips and then hesitated before carefully
laying it beside him. He leaned over me and planted a kiss on my neck.
“
There's something I want to do first,” he murmured, running his hand
along my bare stomach, "and we're already naked." I turned towards hi
m,
rolling onto my side, and he met my lips, his fingers trailing farther
down. I held my breath, knowing what was about to come.

“I won't be any good to you if we smoke fir
—
, oh hello.” He
exhaled sharply as he discovered the smooth skinned result of my
recent brazilian wax.

***

“I can't believe it's been a week and a half since we were together
last,” he muttered when we had broken apart and were lying back on our elbows, out of breath. “Let's not go that long again.” He lit up the joint
, took a long drag, and handed it to me.

“Haven't you got a little black book you can consult in times of
need, when you're Abby-less?” I heard Tanya in my head. ‘He’s got
a smorgasbord!’

“At the moment, the only other person I'm with is my hand.” He traced little circles around my navel with his index finger.

“I’m sure.” I snorted, taking a drag and trying not to cough.

“
I did I guess, especially after I broke up with Bianca.” He opened
up a bit more when he was inebriated; I had to remember that.

“So you slept around a bit?”

“Not as much as your cousin, but yeah, a bit... but now, as I said,
it’s you or my hand at the moment.” He stopped my further quest
ioning
with one of his own, “So, do you touch yourself when I'm not around?”

I giggled, partly from the dope, which was affecting me fairly quickly,
and partly at my timidness to answer the question. ”I haven't needed
to since I started sleeping with you.” That should have been a nice
boost to his ego.

“But have you done it?”

“Why do you want to know?”

“Girls don't normally admit it.” He took another long drag and
handed it back to me. Back and forth we went.

“Probably goes back to the idea that girls aren’t supposed to enjoy sex
, so shouldn’t admit to things like that.”

“Who said that girls shouldn’t like sex?”

“I don’t know. Some stupid, patriarchal, controlling society.
Religion maybe.” I wasn’t really sure, but it sounded like a reasonably
intelligent answer
.