“What are you making?” he asked.
“Mind Erasers.” I smiled. “It’s first break shot time.”
“Sounds good! I’ll take two,” Ryan said, winking at me.
Ryan walked aside of me as I carried a tray of shot glasses over to the poolroom.
“Don’t you dare try and trip me!” I joked with him after he gave me a nudge. I kicked the bottom of his foot as he was taking a step. He started laughing.
“This is a beautiful pool table, Taryn,” Cal said. “Do you think we might be able to bring some people from the set here one night? I think everyone could use a relaxing, fun night like this.” His eyes flashed over to Ryan. Ryan was nodding in agreement.
“I guess so.” I looked over at Marie. “I suppose I can shut down one night for a private party.”
“We’ll cover your losses for a night if you’d be willing to do that for us,” Cal said.
“You’ll just have to let me know what night and we can arrange something,” I replied.
Cal and Gary played a game of pool and then Pete and Ryan played Cal and Gary as teams. Pete and Ryan dusted them. The guys got along great together.
“Are we going to play another round of poker or what?” Ryan asked out loud as he was putting his pool stick back on the wall rack. “I’d like an opportunity to win some of my money back,” he kidded me, giving me a finger poke in my stomach.
His eyes were absolutely mesmerizing as he looked at me.
“Good luck with that!” I teased him and tugged on the straw in his mouth. Ryan clamped his teeth down hard on his straw and playfully snarled at me.
We all gathered back at the table to play the next round of poker. Everyone was concentrating on their cards; it was eerily quiet. Ryan and I had already pushed and kicked each other under the table a few times and we were both smiling from our secret.
Pete broke the silence first. “You know what I could eat right now?” he asked out loud as he was stacking his chips.
“Pussy?” Gary answered immediately.
“Gary!” Marie yelped and smacked him in the arm.
Ryan was taking a sip from his glass; he just about spit his beer all over himself, breaking out in a laugh.
“What?” Gary flinched away from Marie. “He asked, I just answered. Sounds like a perfectly good thing to eat right now, right guys?”
“You’re driving him home!” I pointed at Marie while laughing.
“Although I have to agree with Gary, I was actually thinking about those juicy steaks Taryn grilled for us a couple of weeks ago. They were delicious!” Pete ran his tongue over his lips.
“See? Pete has juicy meat on the brain,” Gary teased.
“No, I think you have juicy meat on the brain,” Marie groaned. She shot her elbow into his ribs.
I smiled and laughed with embarrassment. My friends were nuts.
“Ryan, do you like pus…steak?” Pete asked.
“Yeah.” Ryan nodded and smiled shyly.
“You almost asked him if he…!” Gary was laughing hysterically as he pointed at Pete. He couldn’t even finish his own sentence. He turned a few shades of red while coughing and trying to catch his breath.
Ryan looked down in embarrassment, but he was still grinning when he rolled his gaze over at me.
Pete ignored Gary’s outburst. “Well this girl here grills one hell of a steak,” he stated proudly, pointing a finger at me.
“They were the best steaks I’ve ever had,” Tammy agreed.
“What can I say?” I shrugged. “It’s good that I get to use my college education.”
“Where did you go to college?” Ryan asked conversationally.
“Brown, in Providence. Economics/Business – sirloin steak major,” I declared.
“So are you going to grill me another steak soon, or what?” Pete wanted to get back to the point.
“Pete, you know I’ll grill for you any day of the week!” I love cooking for my friends.
“So where do you grill these wonderful steaks?” Ryan asked.
“On the roof.” I laughed.
“No really.” Ryan looked confused.
“On the roof!” I repeated with a giggle. “The top of my building is flat. I have a garden patio up there. We have excellent summer parties, right guys?” My friends all confirmed. “You can see the ocean from up there too,” I continued.
“A steak does sound good right now,” Cal agreed.
“Okay, let me ask this. How many people were you thinking about having here for this private party?” I asked Cal.