light coming off my sails.

Noticing the way that he spluttered momentarily on his drink, Gigi smirked. She liked Jim; he was sweet, good fun, crazy smart – enough so that the two could tussle and tease one another, easily able to keep up with the other when firing off facts and figures – and easy on the eyes, too. Fun as their flirtation was, the gentle blush that graced his cheeks every so often didn’t go amiss to her, and it only further fuelled the teasing that she fired his way. It wasn’t often that people could keep up with Gigi, and Jim had long since shown himself capable.

“Yup. Make out. You, me, a little swapping spits as the old folks like to say,” she retorted, nuzzling against his cheek.

Despite the blush on his cheek, she knew he was easily well matched for her, and was more than capable of responding in kind to her flirting. She eyed him curiously, noticing the way his little redhead had decked him out in the finest tux she’d ever clapped eyes on. If Gigi were the time to feel insecure, she might have been questioning her own choice of outfit. While Holly was clad in a gorgeous dress, and Barry was looking particularly dapper beside her, Gigi hadn’t shied very far away from her usual get up. Still donning her usual, token leather jacket, Holly had helped her pick out a pair of black, thigh-high boots, and a sexy little purple dress that matched nicely with the streak in her hair (which, in all honesty, had grown on her since the meltdown she’d burdened her friend with). She knew she looked sexy. It didn’t matter if she didn’t fit in with the general crowd littered around the party – it was open invite, the Kingsley kid had made it so, and she was going to wear whatever she liked. She wasn’t here to impress anyone.

“I mean, I could buy you dinner first…” she mused, deciding to entertain him for the time being. Feeling him curve his arm around her shoulders, Gigi decided to make herself comfortable, stretching her legs out and laying them across his lap. “Or, Jimbo, I could start your 2018 off with a bang, and then maybe, if you’re lucky, I’ll treat you to a Big Mac to treat your hangover tomorrow.”

Playfully, she wrapped her arms around his neck, making herself comfortable with her legs sprawled across his leg, and let her hands stray to his hair, combing her fingers through the strands carefully. Flirting and midnight kisses aside, Jim was still her friend, and she felt comfortable enough to give the boy beside her a cuddle when she was bored. Besides, she’d had a little much to drink tonight and was feeling particularly affectionate.

“We’re easily the hottest two here, babe. Why not give everyone something to be jealous about?” 

Widening his eyes a little as she said ‘bang’, Jim found himself needing to place the drink in his hand on the small table beside them, before he fully started choking and made a bigger fool of himself than he already was. Staring out in front of him at the crowd dancing away, he allowed himself to gather his thoughts a little as he tried not to focus on her words too much, nor the way that Gigi was sprawling her legs across his and making herself comfortable.

Feeling the temperature going up a little, Jim quickly unbuttoned the top button of his shirt, the motion only accentuating the undone tie around his neck, as he tried his best to not pay too much attention to her fingers in his hair.

Moving his arm a little to make sure that Gigi was fully comfortable and wasn’t about to fall over anytime soon, even if she had a few more drinks, Jim pulled himself together and looked at her, throwing a grin her way. “Well, with the way that you’re looking tonight, I’m pretty sure that everyone here already is jealous.”

“You look beautiful.” Jim spoke, his voice just loud enough for her to hear him over the music, but for no one else to catch it. It hadn’t go unnoticed to him how good that Gigi looked, she had somehow managed to still be completely herself and still look all pretty and fancy. The little purple dress she was wearing looked incredible on her, and managed to accentuate the purple streak in her hair even more. She looked hot as heck, but even more than that, she just looked… beautiful.

He knew he liked Gigi more than just a friend, but he wasn’t certain of anything beyond that, and while he was more than comfortable to flirt and banter with her the way that they always did, it was in moments like these that he couldn’t help but struggle to work out how far he was willing to take things. The last time he felt similar feelings, things didn’t particularly work out well, and he wasn’t about to throw himself to relive that all again any time soon.

Pushing a stray strand of hair out of her face, Jim just looked at her for a moment before smiling and grabbing his own drink again. “How about we just sit here and talk like this for a while, I’m feeling rather comfortable in this position.”

Kit Kingsley, Katherine Plumber, John Smith,  Wendy Darwin, Isabella Tingley – the list could go on and on. Those were the names of people that Gigi tended to never associate with; the kind of people who had trust funds the size of a tiny Island, and who could afford to throw glamorous parties and invite everyone and noone without even the vaguest regard to cost. Not that it necessarily meant they were bad people – with the exception of that Smith dude, Gigi thought he was an asshat, misogynist and he and Frenchy needed to focus less on sucking each other off, and more on becoming decent human beings – but they just weren’t the type of people Gigi got mixed up with. And that’s exactly why it came as a surprise even to herself when she allowed herself to be dragged along to Kit’s New Years Eve bash.

She knew Jim would also be in attendance – his little redhead friend had talked him into it – and, with Holly on her arm, the Nerd Squad soon followed. All in all, she figured there was safety in numbers. That was, of course, until Holly and Barry abandoned her for the dancefloor, and Fred just sort of… dispersed. She’d gotten used to him zoning in and out and disappearing over the years, and she figured he was no doubt off flirting up a storm with some cute girl that he had his eye on. She couldn’t justifiably begrudge her friends for having a good time, but she scowled all the same. After all, they’d dragged her along to this stupid party, and now Holly – who, by the way, had promised to be her New Year’s Kiss – was off having the time of her life with Bar while Gigi was stuck knocking back glasses of champagne that cost more than a whole month’s wages ever earned her.

Letting out a groan, she cast a glance at Jim, who was perched on the sofa beside her, eyeing his glass curiously. She figured he probably wasn’t a big fan of the vintage Krug they were knocking back either, and so she leaned in and tucked her chin against the boy’s shoulder, knocking her nose against his cheek to catch his attention.

“Jiiiiiiiiiimmmm,” she whined petulantly, her breath hot against his skin. Frowning, she tilted her head to the side and let her cheek rest against his shoulder, before leaning across to wrap her arms around his middle and pull him closer.

Gigi wasn’t the clingy type, but affection was nice every so often, and the two of them had worked up a nice little flirtation over the past few months she’d gotten to know him. He was hot, smart, and he knew how to keep her on her toes. It was the perfect friendship, and it was some kind of wonder he’d not managed to talk her into bed yet. She wasn’t sure what his game was, but she was sure they’d end up there some time soon.

Not missing a beat, she playfully blew cold air against his cheek. “Wanna make out with me?”

He knew why he was there. Anna had dragged him along. She had pulled out those puppy dog eyes, and of course he couldn’t say no, and so he had allowed her to drag him along to a party that wasn’t really his thing. Despite the fact that he had come here as Anna’s guest, the redhead had ditched him somewhere along the way to sneak off to the chocolate fountain with her sister. That was nearly an hour ago though, and so by now she had found her way on the dancefloor with that Hans dude she liked so much yet he wasn’t sure of.

Looking around, his eyes falling on all the people who surrounded him, Jim almost couldn’t feel more like the odd man out. As if the way everyone was dressed didn’t already remind him he was from a different class than they were, the names of some certainly enforced it. Despite the tuxedo that Anna had put him in, Jim still felt so out of place, but thankfully the party was open to everyone, meaning that there were more regular people around. People he liked and was comfortable around.

Somewhere along the way, Jim had undone the bowtie that felt as if it was suffocating him, and now it was just hanging casually around his neck. He’d have take it of if it were not for the fact that he’d rather not lose it since he knew how much these things actually costs, and he’d wouldn’t want to be in that kind of dept with Anna, even though he knew that girl wouldn’t mind one bit.

Taking a sip from his drink, mentally wishing he was drinking a beer instead, Jim’s eyes fell on an annoyed looking Adam Valois, only to see the man get softly slapped in the arm by Patricia, followed by a light reprimand from the woman. Letting out a chuckle, Jim found himself freezing in his place all of a sudden as a certain someone suddenly moved a lot closer than they were a moment ago.

As her voice rang in his ear, he mentally told himself to pull himself together and just as he was about to plaster a grin on his face and reply to her, Jim heard her final words and couldn’t help but choke back on his drink a little.

“Make out?” He coughed awkwardly. It wasn’t as if the thought hadn’t crossed his mind before. Gigi was hot. She was ridiculously smart, really cool, and he’d come to really appreciate the friendship that had grown between the two of them over the months, their flirtations and all. Yeah - he wanted to make out with her, but wanting to and being able to were to entirely different things.

“I uh...” He started of before pulling himself together. “Shouldn’t you buy me dinner first?” He spoke casually, as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder, a smile growing on his face.

I didn’t know anyone was waiting for me to, jeez well then, the more you know.

No one that comes to mind right now. Why? Should I?

No offense, but it doesn’t seem like everyone is all that nice. Since getting here all I’ve seen is people insulting my cousins on that gossip blog thing. But you seem nice, I guess. I’m Riley.

Yeah that blog is a big exception, and almost no one likes it. That gossip blog is the bane of everyone’s existence. But I like to think I’m a nice guy. It’s to meet you, Riley from Minnesota. 

It’s really different from Minnesota so far. Everyone in Cherry Grove seems to know everyone else so I stick out like a sore thumb. I only really know my cousins so far and I’m not sure that counts.

It doesn’t sound like it’s difficult to be nicer than him.

People here are nice though, so I don’t doubt that you will get to know tons of people soon. And hey, I’m Jim. You know me now, so that’s one person down.

Yeah, he was a dick.

Not a lot of people sucked back home. I actually had a ton of friends. 

I’d hope I was nicer than that guy… 

You’re new here? Ah, I’m sure you’ll meet loads of friends here soon! Cherry Grove, and New York for that matter, is filled with great people. There’s just the few let down’s here and there.

You’re way nicer. That guy didn’t even say sorry...

I see. I can’t say I’m really warming up to the place. Sorry you got pushed off your board though, that’s really sucky.

New York’s a great place to be fair, it’s just that sometimes people suck. Pretty sure it’s everywhere, Cherry Grove included. But thanks, you’re already way nicer than the guy that pushed me...

Is being an asshole exclusively a New York thing then?

Probably not, it’s just that it’s reputation causes it to be sad much faster.