Chani and I had spent most of our time together shopping around, finding some Halloween decorations for our dorms. We had a nice time, getting some coffee beforehand and driving from store to store. I liked just hanging out with her. We always had something to talk about and our music tastes overlapped, so we always had good music playing in the car. Eventually, it was time for her to drop me off at Arthur's party.
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“Have fun, Mali.” She smiled over at me as we pulled up in front of Arthur's apartment.
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“Thank you. I’m spending the night, so you don’t have to worry about picking me up.” I reached into the backseat to grab my duffle bag of things.
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“This is a nice ass place.” She commented, leaning down to look up at the building.
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“His place is really nice.” I nodded.
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“You’ll have to introduce me to him at some point, Mali. So I can get to know the guy you’re fucking with, I mean.”
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“Sure. I’ll bring it up with him and see what he says.”
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“Be safe.” She flashed me one last smile before I climbed out of the car, my things in hand.
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I greeted the doorman, who opened the door for me and let me in. I hated the elevator ride up to Arthur’s penthouse, but the apartment itself was worth it. He apparently had a nice house somewhere in Cherry Creek before the divorce, but his ex-wife kept the house as one of the collaterals. I typed in the code and rode the elevator up to his apartment, where I was greeted at the door by Arthur. He was wearing more casual clothing than I had seen him in before, this time wearing a Broncos jersey and blue jeans.
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“Hey, Malia.” He huddled me into a hug, before moving back slightly and looking down at me. Assuming he was expecting a kiss, I got up on my toes and kissed him on the lips. He parted with a smile. “You look great as always.”
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“You do too.” I smiled up at him. “I dig the casual look.”
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“Only on football days.” He shrugged. “Come on. Most of everyone is already here.” He motioned for me to come inside past the threshold. Right as we did, the whole environment changed. I could now smell food and could hear cheering from the other room.
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“Seems busy.”
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“I only invited a handful of friends, but they get rowdy.” He chuckled. “I’m sure you’ll like them, but they can be a bit…crass.”
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“Don’t worry about me.” I shook my head.
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We walked into the living room to find his friends sitting on the couches, spread about. One guy looked over to see us and tapped the guy next to him, causing him to look over as well. Eventually, they were all looking over at me. I waved slightly, putting on my best smile, trying not to seem nervous.
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“Seth, Peyton, Mike, and Al, this is Malia.”
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“The girl we’ve heard so much about.” One of them spoke up.
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“Damn, she’s hot.” Another one added on. I locked eyes with him. He was really attractive. He looked like an older biker, covered in tattoos and a tight black shirt. He was the only one not wearing a jersey. Besides me, of course.
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“Peyton.” Arthur laughed.
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‘Peyton’ winked at me, before looking back over at Arthur.
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“Nice to meet you all.” I dipped my head in respect slightly.
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“And polite.” One of the other men said.
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“She’s a good girl.” Arthur laughed, wrapping his arm around my shoulder, before looking down at me to talk. “There’s food in the kitchen; I don’t know what you’ll be able to eat, though.”
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“She on some sort of diet?” The blonde one asked.
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“She’s a vegetarian.” Arthur clarified.
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“I’ll be back in a second.” I walked away towards the kitchen. He wasn’t wrong, most of the food was meat. Chicken wings, cold cuts, and even nachos with bacon. I took a plate of veggies and headed back out into the living room. I walked over to sit next to Arthur in the spot he saved me.
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We settled down and watched the game. The guys were a hell of a lot more into it than me, obviously, but it was fun to be around people so excited by something like that. I hadn’t told Arthur yet, but after he told me about liking football, specifically the Broncos, I started saving some of the money he gave me to buy tickets for us. The only real struggle was getting the tickets themselves, but Chani said she knew a guy.
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“How’re you liking the game so far?” Arthur squeezed my shoulder gently.
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“I…have no clue what’s going on.” I admitted with a smile.
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“That’s alright. I can explain it to you.” He spent the next thirty or so minutes explaining what was happening on the TV, sans the commercials. Occasionally the other guys would add to what he said or would mention a short story about something they had done related to the play. Apparently, all of them were on the same football team in high school and had remained friends since then.
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Even after explaining what was going on, most of it went over my head, but at least I got a vague idea of what was happening.
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“So, Malia, right?” The blonde guy looked over at me.
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“Yeah.” I nodded.
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“Seth.” Arthur explained.
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“Sorry, ‘bout that. I’m Seth.” He held his hand out to me. “That’s Mike,” he motioned towards the darker-skinned man, “Peyton,” tattooed guy, “and Al.” Big beard guy. “Arthur told us you’re a college student. What year are you?”
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“Freshman.” I smiled slightly.
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“Biggest year.” He smiled back at you. “How’re you liking it so far?”
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“It's fine. I’ve made a really great friend. That’s been my favorite part of it, outside of moving and meeting Arthur.”
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“Cute.” Peyton chuckled.
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“What major are you?” Mike asked, taking a bite of the pizza.
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“Psychology.”
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“Interesting field. You can make some good money with it.” Al added on.
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“Hopefully enough to support myself, at least.” I smiled.
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“Well, if you two end up getting married, you won’t have to work anymore.” Seth looked over at Arthur, who held his hand up.
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“Now, we’re rather far from that. I’m not about to rush the girl.”
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Eventually, the conversation died out as they turned their attention back to the game.
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“What’d you do today?” Arthur spoke quietly so as not to disturb the others.
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“Halloween shopping with my friend. She’s the one who dropped me off. We mostly just looked at the stuff, since neither of us have the room for anything big yet, since we’re both in dorm rooms.”
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“I would love to see how you’d style your own space.” He smiled.
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“I would love to decorate my own place.”
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“Maybe one of these days, I’ll make that dream come true.” He chuckled quietly.
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Before I knew it, the game was over, and everyone was in the kitchen taking the leftover food to go. I was helping clean up the living room when Peyton came in, grabbing some of the trash to help me out.
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“Thanks.” I flashed him a smile.
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“No thanks required.” He smiled back at me, looking me up and down. I wasn’t fully sure but felt like he was checking me out. He grabbed the trash from my hand and pushed it down into the bag. “I heard how you two met.”
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“Oh…yeah.”
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“I’m happy for him. He seemed a lot happier with you than he has with his ex for years. And you’re hot, so that’s an upside.”
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I looked away, trying to hide my blush. I wasn’t used to being complimented so outwardly. “Thank--thank you.”
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“I’ve known Arthur since highschool, we’ve done so much together.” He said, looking past me.
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“Ooh.” I rubbed my arm. “Cool?”
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He chuckled, looking back over at me. “We’ve done pretty much everything together… including Miranda.” He winked at me.
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“Arthur’s ex?” I looked over at him with wide eyes.
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He nodded. “You should see your face. Such an innocent girl.”
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I looked back toward the kitchen, unable to see anyone, including Arthur. “You probably shouldn’t be telling me this.” I looked back over at Peyton. “I feel like it’s Arthur’s business to tell.”
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“Just letting you know, Arthur’s a good guy, but he’s not some sorta saint.”
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“I…don't think having sex makes you a bad person if that’s what you’re getting at.” I shook my head. “I just don’t think it’s your business.”
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He put his hands up. “Woah, I meant nothing like that. Just sayin’.” He turned around and walked the trash over to the kitchen.
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After everyone had finally left, Arthur showed me the PS5 he had gotten. I crushed him in Mortal Kombat for a while, mostly because he hadn’t played since the originals before I was ready to wind down. I asked him if I could take a bath. I hadn’t taken one since when I was back at home and have always cherished a steaming hot bath. He showed me to the bathroom, showing off his jacuzzi tub, which I immediately fell in love with.
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He asked for permission to sit next to me in the bathroom while I took the bath, so we could chat. I settled into the slightly too-hot water while Arthur sat down next to me, his arm on the edge of the tub.
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“What time do you need to be back?” He asked, groaning as he shifted in the spot.
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“Whatever time’s fine. I just have a paper and some homework to do that I need to finish before the week starts.”
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“I bet you’re tired of doing that.”
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“For sure.” I laughed. “I’m glad I didn’t take a year off, though, because I feel like if I got out of the habit, I wouldn’t be able to go back into it.”
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“So, what’d you think about my friends? They were nice to you, right?”
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“Mostly, yeah.”
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“Peyton?” He cracked a smile. “I’m sorry about him.”
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“He just, uh…told me about you and him and your wife, you know…”
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“Peyton.” Arthur ran his fingers through his hair. “I apologize for him, Malia.”
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“It’s alright. I just didn’t know you swung that way.” I smiled slightly.
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Arthur cracked a smile. “There’s a lot to learn about me, I suppose.”
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After finishing my bath, Arthur lovingly helped me dry off, telling me I could come over and use his bath anytime that I wanted. I told him I appreciated it and would definitely take him up on that offer. After we changed into pj's, we crawled into the king-sized bed and cuddled as we fell asleep.
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