My Hometown Love

Chapter 48 – The After-Party

Lexie’s P.O.V

I watch Kevin look fondly at everyone around him with a glimmer in his eye as they sing Happy Birthday to him.

As soon as we finished singing, he took a deep breath before closing his eyes, mumbling something under his breath. Then, he opened them and blew out all the fiery candles with one breath.

He cut the cake delicately, careful not to ruin the decoration on the cake. He picked up a piece and held it up for me to take a bite.

“For the person who made this all possible and makes me feel lucky every day.”, he says in front of everyone before feeding me a piece.

I felt my cheeks reddened with shyness, realizing that he just confessed that in front of everyone at this party. I quickly broke away a piece and fed it back to him before kissing his cheek, hard, leaving a very obvious lipstick mark on his right cheek.

“I’m sorry. Do I have to do that too? Cause’ if I have to, I’m out of here.”, Jake said as he pointed at Kevin’s cheek.

The crowd erupted with laughter at Jake’s joke, while I wiped off my lipstick remnants with my palm. Jake enveloped Kevin with a big hug as he lifted him off his feet. Like that, Kevin fed a piece to him, Maria, my parents, and even my friends.

Soon, everyone had a plate of cake with them as we savored every bite of yet another heavenly cake made by my parents.

“Mr. & Mrs. Cooper, can I kidnap you back to New York?”, Jimmy asks innocently before stuffing a big piece of cake into his mouth.

“I agree. This cake is amazing. Lexie! How could you not tell us your parents make cakes that taste like heaven?!”, Amy says.

“So, I can keep them all to myself. Duh!”, I say sarcastically as I squeeze myself between my parents and throw an arm around them.

With our bellies full of cake, the Fantastic Four sneak off to our dance-floor. Amy hooks up her phone to the Bluetooth speaker and we groove to the beat.

*************

Kevin’s P.O.V.

As the older adults started to leave, I peeped out the kitchen window to see my girlfriend and her friends dancing away under the yellow twinkly lights.

“Are you partying without the birthday boy?!”, I say as I walked out of the deck and onto the backyard.

I join them as we dance our worries away. Occasionally, I would pair up with Lexie, while Amy will pair up with Lydia. It was sad to see Jimmy awkwardly trying to dance alone without a partner.

Soon enough, more and more people joined us on the dance floor, including Lexie’s parents. They have some serious moves. We immediately create a circle around them as they dance in the middle.

“Remind me never to challenge your parents to a dance-off.”, I whisper in Lexie’s ear, sending her into a fit of giggles.

“Who are they, and what have they done with our parents?”, Jake says to Lexie as he and Maria slide up next to us.

We stopped to recharge after about an hour of dancing. Everyone vacated the dance floor to grab a snack or a drink.

“You know, I haven’t felt this relaxed and free in a long time.”, I said to Lexie, who was leaning against me.

“Really? What about Jake’s wedding?”, she asks me.

“Well, I had something troubling me the whole time.”, I replied casually.

“Troubling you? What was it?”, she asked as she stood up straight and faced me seriously.

I dramatically pointed at her and then, pointed at my heart before over-exaggerating the action of my heart beating wildly like they do in the old cartoons.

She responded by playfully whacking my chest as her face flushed a bright red. I pulled her close to me and threw my arm around her shoulder, just as her friends walked in.

“Hey lovebirds, what’s next on the agenda?”, Jimmy asked.

“Let’s refuel before we hit the dancefloor again. What do you say?”, Lexie suggests.

“Ohh. Let’s play truth and dare after that.”, Lydia blurts out.

“Oh no no. I don’t think that’s a good idea.”, Lexie replies as I feel her shoulders tense up.

“Why not? It’s an official party game!”, Jimmy protests.

“You know what? Let the birthday boy decide. Kevin, it’s your call.”, Amy says directly, making all of them stare at me with hope.

“I think it might be fun.”, I answer, much to their excitement.

“Sorry, babe. Don’t worry, I’ll protect you.”, I say to the glaring Lexie as I kiss the top of her head.

**************

Lexie’s P.O.V.

We were all seated at our porch table, snacking on the remaining Hors d’oeuvres. Jimmy had just filled his mouth with little hot dogs when his eyes went big and he started chewing his food as fast as he could, eager to swallow it.

“Jimmy?! What’s wrong? Are you okay?”, I ask him in panic, fearing if he was choking.

He quickly shook his head and swallowed his food.

“An angel just walked in.”, he said pointing behind me after taking a long deep breath.

We all briskly turn around to see someone walk down from the deck and towards us.

“Priya! You made it!”, I say as I run up to her and hug her.

“Sorry, I’m late. I had to wait for the night nurse.”, she replied as we walked back to the table.

“Ladies and gentlemen, meet the one and only Priya Kumar. My BFF and ride or die since 2005.”, I said proudly as I introduced Priya.

“Hi everyone!”, Priya says before turning her attention to Kevin.

“Happy Birthday Walker! Here’s a little something for you. Also, if you hurt Lexie, I will hunt you down and kill you.”, she says coolly without a hitch.

“Thank you and noted.”, Kevin said as he gave Priya a side hug.

“Hi! We have heard so much about you!”, Lydia says as she gets up to greet Priya.

“I’m Amy, this is Lydia and that is Jimmy, who is suddenly awfully quiet.”, Amy says as she introduces the rest.

Jimmy stays motionless and speechless as Priya takes a seat next to him. She gives a small smile and I swear I saw Jimmy almost faint.

“So, you’re Jimmy. I’ve heard a lot about you. I hear you are quite the life of the party.”, Priya says as she turns herself towards Jimmy.

I excuse myself from them as I pull Kevin along with me to get Priya some food.

“Is it just me, or is Jimmy acting very weird all of a sudden?”, Kevin asks as he grabs a cup.

“Oh great. You noticed it too. I have no idea what’s up with him.”, I reply as I scoop a spoonful of mashed potatoes on the plate.

“He said that an angel walked in before pointing at Priya. It is possible that he is smitten by her?”, Kevin asks as he leans back and stares at them from afar.

“Oh my gosh. Yes. Wow, Jimmy and Priya. I wouldn’t have ever guessed that.”, I say as I join him in staring at them.

“Yeah. Do you think Jimmy can take more of the small-town life?”, Kevin blurts out.

“What do you mean?”, I ask, intrigued with Kevin’s point.

“I mean, if they were to get together, he would have to either travel up and down often or settle down here, right? Since her life is here and her sick mom too.”, he explains.

“There’s no rule that states that. She could always relocate to New York and take her mom with her.”, I reply, a little too angrily.

*************

Kevin’s P.O.V.

I watch as Lexie suddenly tense up at my statement. She seems very sensitive to the issue of moving back to New York. I didn’t want to rile her up for no reason, especially on my birthday.

“Hey, relax babe. Why are we talking about hypotheticals when Jimmy can’t even get the courage to talk to her yet? Let’s focus on us, okay?”, I say as I move closer to her and run my hand up and down the back, comfortingly.

Thankfully, she shrugs it off, smiles at me, and walks back to the table. As I watch her walk towards the table as she balances 2 full paper plates in her hands, I can’t help but thinking where the conversation would have gone if I didn’t stop right away.

I’d be lying if I were to say that I am not sensitive to the moving subject as well. Until today, I fear the day when Lexie realizes this is all a big mistake, packs her bag, and moves to New York for good. But I guess, we’ll cross that bridge when and if we get there. For now, I’m going to enjoy my 27th birthday.

“Kevin, come on. We’re going to play truth or dare.”, Lexie calls out as she waves me over.

“Coming!”, I yell before jogging back to them.

**************

Lexie’s P.O.V.

We all sat on the deck in a circle with our legs folded as Amy spun an empty Beer bottle. The spinning bottle landed on me, unfortunately.

“Truth or dare, Lex?”, Amy asks, excitingly.

“Truth.”, I answer, knowing very well the hell my friends would put me through if I picked dare.

Amy, Lydia, Jimmy, and Priya huddle with themselves as they exchange whispers and giggles.

“Okay, when did you first realize that you were falling in love with Kevin?”, Amy asked bluntly, catching me off guard.

I felt my cheeks redden as I look over to Kevin, who is intrigued to know my answer.  I carefully thought back to the time when I felt that Kevin meant more to me than just a friend or even a crush.

“The Motorcycle Ride.”, I answered sheepishly as I look at Kevin who is beaming.

The rest looked at us confusingly, unsure what I meant but remained silent as they watched us reminisce about the memories in our heads.

“Okay, lovebirds. Lexie, spin it.”, Amy said snapping her fingers at us to get our attention.

I stretched myself forwards and spun the bottle with all my might. We watched intently as the green bottle slowly chose its next victim.

“Okay, Priya. Truth or dare?”, I ask her.

“Dare, obviously.”, she replied, eager to make the game fun.

I looked at Kevin, and I felt the same thought run into our heads at the same time. I nodded my head, signaling that I agree before focusing my attention back on Priya.

“I dare you to peck Jimmy on the cheek.”, I say as I cross my fingers, hoping that this will work.

Priya is taken aback by my request but shrugs it off nonchalantly before turning to Jimmy, who is breathing heavily.

Just like that, Priya gives a quick light peck towards his upper jaw. We turn our attention to her, as she started giggling uncontrollably.

PLOP!

We hear a loud sound as we feel the ground vibrate slightly. We look over to see Jimmy lying on the ground, on his back, unconscious.

“Jimmy? Are you okay?”