She looked up and smiled. “I'm great, thank you.”
We all settled down on the couch with snacks, beer, and a boatload of pizza.
“I hope you're not a vegetarian, Natalie.”
She laughed. “Not a chance.”
> We all sat there quietly as we scarfed down the pizza. Bellies were getting full, and it wasn't until the plates were empty that we started conversing again.
“Now Natalie, I know you can kick my ass at darts and pool. But this one is a whole new level, and you are about to get you butt whipped.” I winked at her.
She laughed with both eyebrows raised. “Okay, hot shot, let's go then.”
Kyle got the game started and signed us in. We got the gear and characters needed, and began playing. I looked over at Natalie, and she was looking at the TV screen as intently as she did when she was painting, like she was on a mission. That look worried me, because she did so well with her art that I wondered if it was that focus that made her so powerful at everything she did. The girl was a mystery; there was no doubt about it. It was all part of why I liked her so much; she went after what she wanted, and dammit, she usually got it. Whether she wanted to believe it or not, she was fearless. How many times had she already gone up against me and won, no matter what? She knew she could beat me, and she went for it, regardless of how intimidating I could be in everyday life. She was relentless, and I admired that a great deal.
“Should we make a bet, Natalie, or are you too scared?”
She glanced over and me and smirked. “Sure, what do you want?”
“Massages for a week straight.” I smiled devilishly, the thing that I loved most about Natalie's massages these days was that they always ended in special treats.
“And if I win?”
“Then I massage you for a week. We both win. You get a massage and I get to touch your body.”
“Easy guys! I am still in the room,” Kyle said.
She laughed. “Sounds good to me.”
We played Call of Duty for about 45 minutes, and it wasn’t long before I realized that I was once again getting my butt whipped by Natalie. She must have had a sex change operation at one point that I wasn't aware of, because no girl should be this good at Call of Duty. She not only beat me at the game, but she annihilated me. Kyle was on the couch behind us, laughing his ass off the entire time, and that was in between calling me a pussy every chance he got. I threw down my remote when the final kill shot came my way. Kyle was still dying laughing while he downed the beer that he had in his hand.
“Awe, man, are you kidding me? Natalie, where do you come from?”
“What?”
“Where did you learn to play like that?”
She looked sheepishly at me. “My ex-boyfriend was obsessed, so we played together a lot. If it makes you feel better, I eventually whooped his butt, too.” Ahh, the ex-boyfriend. The subject we never talked about. She didn't want to talk about it, and neither did I, to be honest, but some things just needed to be talked about, whether you wanted to or not. It was just a fact of life. But that was something I was willing to deal with another night.
“Oh my God, this girl is too cool. I cannot believe you got your butt whipped by a girl.” Kyle finished off his beer and got up to get another one. He shook his head the entire time he was getting that beer.
“A girl? What's wrong with getting your butt whipped by a girl, Kyle?” She was looking at him, her eyelashes fluttering about. She was reeling him in to kill him, too. She was inhumane, but I loved it. She played off like she was innocent, but I knew better; she was a killer. And she was about to take Kyle down, too. I was pretty okay with it. After all, I had already been humiliated, so it was only fair that he gets humiliated as well. Especially since he was enjoying my failures all too much.
“Well, it shouldn't happen, Natalie, that's why. You're a girl. You're supposed to be playing with Barbie dolls or something.” He started cackling again, and I had to wonder if he was starting to get drunk. Barbie dolls? She was a grown woman, for crying out loud.
“That's a little sexist, don't you think, Kyle? I don't even like Barbie dolls. Well, let’s go then, me and you.”
Kyle laughed. “Alright, but don't go crying to your boyfriend when you get beat up. I'm relentless, and believe me, no girl is going to beat me at my own game.”
She only laughed and didn't say a thing at all to him. She made you feel safe just before she struck you down.
She brutalized Kyle in a shorter span of time than it took her to demolish me. And she laughed the whole time she did it, which actually made me really happy inside. Kyle, too, threw his remote to the ground, but he looked far less impressed than I had been. He was not happy about losing to a girl, especially after he made such a big deal about me losing to one. He had thought for sure that he was going to kick her butt. I knew how he felt, though, I was starting to wonder if I could beat her at anything. She was really good at boys’ stuff, and it was shocking, since she wasn't really that kind of girl. It might be time for me to consider never asking her to play a game, ever. What was I going to do, spend the rest of my life losing to her? That didn't sound like much fun. And I always liked to have fun.
“So do you want to discuss that whole thing about girls and the likelihood that you will get beat by them?” I laughed as I said it, enjoying every minute of it.
“That was a fluke.”
“Oh, yeah, man, I'm sure it was.” I was nodding my head as I took a slug of my beer.