Page 13 of The C*ck Down the Block

I doubted there was one magic silver bullet here. “Just one thing?”

“Yup. Quit pretending all you want is friendship from her. Let her see you as more than a friend. You act like she’s made of glass and if you touch her, she’ll break. You’ve been friends since you were ten. She still sees you as a kid. Show her you’re a man and you want her as a woman.”

I didn’t do that, did I? I was maintaining a respectful distance from her. Except I hadn’t last night when we were on the red carpet. I’d had to touch her to guide her through that minefield. It was necessary to press my lips to her ear so she could hear me over the crowd. She definitely hadn’t broken. She felt perfect in my arms then.

Okay, so maybe my little brother had a point. Not that I’d let him know that. “How do you expect me to behave around her? I can’t just walk up to her and strip her clothes off, throw her over my shoulder, and carry up to my bed.”

“Christ, Chris. First of all, that was a little too specific to not be something you’ve literally fantasized about doing. I’ll bet you a fucking house that Trixie would love for you to throw her over your shoulder and carry her off to bed.”

Seeing as I owned the house he was living in, this wasn’t just a friendly bet.

“If you can actually help me win Trixie’s heart and not just give me some amorphous advice, I will give you this entire house, free and clear.” It wasn’t like he couldn’t afford to buy the house, but I wasn’t willing to sell my properties to just anyone.

He stuck his hand out to shake on it. “You got yourself a deal.”

I shook his hand, squeezed a little too hard just because I could, and asked, “Where do I start? Roses, jewelry, a puppy? No, wait, a new chicken?”

“Don’t be cliche, dude. Invite her to family game night. Hard to act fake in front of the whole family without getting called out on it.”

Shit, was it really the first Sunday of the month already? First Sunday of any month during the off season was Kingman family game night. Mom started the tradition when Everett, Declan, and I were kids, and we upheld it to this day. It always got loud and obnoxious because we were the most competitive family on the face of the Earth, even with each other.

Trix had come to game night with us before, but only a few times. Probably because more than one Kingman boy walked out of the house after them with a black eye. All in good fun, mind you.

“No. Absolutely not. You said I had to show her I wasn’t a little kid anymore, and game night is not the way to do that.” It’s not like I would ever lose a game on purpose. Not even checkers with my little sister.

“Nothing sexier to a woman than a winner, brother.”

Did he…? Did my little brother just compliment me by telling me I was a winner? Sus. “What, like, you’re going to let me win?”

“Not a fucking chance.” He laughed and pointed that game day challenge finger at me. “In fact, I’m going to try even harder to beat your ass than normal.”

This was the worst dating advice I’d ever gotten in my life. He’d better be fucking right. But I’d never known Everett to be wrong. Not when it came to women.

If I lost even a single round of a game tonight, I was going to flush him down the toilet with the lions.

Like a rookie with shaking hands, I sent Trixie a text.

Hey, Trix. Kingman family game night tonight. Wanna join in?

I added a smiling emoji and then deleted it, because I wasn’t a kid. Kiss emoji? No. Too much. I hit send before I could talk myself out of it. I waited, staring at the phone as if willing it to buzz with her reply.

And then my phone lit up with a notification. Trixie.

Game night? Sounds fun. What should I bring?

I blew out a long breath and gave Everett a nod to confirm she was coming. Step one, done. Now on to step two, making her see me as more than just a friend. Which I had no idea how to accomplish.

Nothing. Just bring yourself. See you at 7.

I pointed my phone at Everett. “We’ve got about ten hours for you to teach me the moves that are going to make me look good to Trixie, so you’d better put some clothes on, dickhead.”

KINGMAN FAMILY GAME NIGHT

TRIXIE

Kingman family game night was legendary in our neighborhood. I pulled out two extra ice packs from the first aid kit in the kitchen and put them in the freezer for later. From past experience, we’d probably need them.

The Kingman residence was already raucous when I arrived, sounding more like a touchdown celebration at an away game than board game antics. Chris’s family had always been loud, an enthusiastic entourage of football fanatics who loved to make everything from grades to playing in the mud competitive. But this was game night, so everything was amplified.

---