Chapter 19

Chapter

Nineteen

Olivia

" B elly dancer!"

"Stripper!"

I watched in amusement as Griff, looking increasingly frustrated, tried to act out his word for dirty charades by holding his hand over his head and gyrating. The drag queens were shouting out guesses rapid-fire, each more outlandish than the last.

“Any idea?” I asked Caroline, who was leaning back and watching her fiancé.

She shrugged. “Who cares? I’m just enjoying the show.”

Ida Slapter leapt to her feet with a hand waving. “Garden hose!"

"How is a garden hose dirty?" Carl asked, one hand on his hip and one toe tapping.

Ida shot him a look. "'Hos, as in more than one ho, darling."

Rhoda nodded her head, her tower of hair bobbling. “That is dirty.”

Finally, Griff threw his hands in the air. "It's a one-eyed snake!"

There was a moment of silence, and then Ruune asked, with all sincerity, "Is this an animal commonly found on Earth?"

"Oh, honey," Rhoda cackled as she gave him an exaggerated wink with her impossibly long, purple lashes, "they're everywhere!"

The room erupted into laughter, and I found myself joining in. I considered myself a girl who had fun, but I hadn’t had this much fun in ages. It was hard to believe that I hadn’t known Carl and his friends for long. They already felt like family.

As the laughter died down, I glanced at my phone and almost fell off the tufted ottoman where I was perched. Crap.

"I should head home.” I stood and grabbed my crossbody Gucci bag. "Some of us still have to work tomorrow."

There was a chorus of boos and protests, but I held firm. “Not all of us can sleep in and perform at six p.m.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Robyn said. “I’m an accountant.”

“An accountant who’s going to be dragging tomorrow,” Rhoda said under her breath.

Caroline glanced at Griff. “We’re going to stay at my place tonight, but do you want Griff to get a car for you?”

I shook my head. “I can grab a Lyft.”

Ruune was at my side, shaking his head. “I will escort you home.”

I hesitated for a moment, then realized that a boyfriend would escort me home—and probably stay the night. Not that we would be doing that part, especially at my apartment with my roommates. "Thanks.”

Caroline grinned, even though she knew it was all fake. “Talk tomorrow?”

I gave her a quick hug. “Always.”

I hugged all the drag queens, ensuring that I would be finding glitter in my hair for days, if not false eyelashes. When Carl hugged me, he held me extra tight. “Be careful, sweetie.”

“Ruune is perfectly safe,” I told him.

He made a sound in the back of his throat that told me he didn’t agree, but I assured him I’d be fine, and I’d text him when I got home.

Carl nodded at Ruune as the alien helped me into my coat. “I enjoyed our chat, doll.”

I made a mental note to ask Ruune about his chat with Carl as we waved goodbye to everyone and walked down the stairs and outside. My ears rang as we stepped into the night, and I realized that the games had been played at full volume.

The street was quiet, the sound of distant car horns muffled by the thin layer of snow on the bare-branched trees planted in the patches of earth between the sidewalk and the street, and the occasional bush fronting the brownstones.

Ruune took my elbow as we walked down the short flight of cement steps to the sidewalk, releasing it once we were on ground level.

"I've never had an evening quite like that before," he admitted as I pointed him in the right direction.

I laughed. “I’m not going to lie. Those were the most…unique games I’ve ever played.”

“Not all Earth games are like that?”

I barked out a laugh. “Not even close.”

"The best part of the night," Ruune said softly, "was talking to you outside. I am honored you told me about your family.”

My pulse quickened but I looked straight ahead. “Right back at you.”

“It is good to know things about each other, isn’t it? It makes our ruse more convincing.”

Right. Our ruse. Our lies. That was why he’d opened up. It was all part of the game.

“Yep.” I tried to keep the hurt from my voice. “That’s why I told you. Isn’t that why you told me?”

“It was only fair to reciprocate.”

Suddenly, things between us felt formal again. I picked up my pace and rubbed my hands together, regretting not calling a Lyft.

Ruune reached for my hand, curling his fingers around mine. I startled, trying to pull away but he held tight. “Your hand is cold. And you did say you wanted to relax the rules. This is relaxing the rules.”

I remembered our conversation on the fire escape, part of me regretting it.

"If we're relaxing the rules," Ruune said, shifting his hand so it completely enveloped my smaller one, "we should practice. So, you don't jump away from me in front of your parents."

He was right. I relaxed and glanced at him. "Good thinking. But the ‘no smoldering looks’ rule still stands.”

“If you wish,” he said, as we walked hand in hand down the sidewalk. “But I think you will miss them.”

I stifled a laugh and was struck by how natural it felt to hold his hand. How right. So much more intimate than so many of my previous hookups. A part of me wished that New Year's Eve wasn't so soon. That we had more time to…to what? Pretend to be something to each other we weren’t?

I pushed the thought aside, focusing instead on the warmth of Ruune's hand in mine and the quiet beauty of the city at night. Whatever this was, I decided to just enjoy it while it lasted. After all, that's what I was best at—living in the moment, with no strings attached. Right?

But as we reached my building, and Ruune pulled me into a gentle hug goodbye, I couldn't shake the feeling that maybe a few strings wouldn’t be so bad.