The guys cleared the table and helped get dessert.
"We decided to do a simple brownies with ice cream for dessert because who doesn't love that?" Elijah asked.
They all chose their ice cream flavors to go with the warm brownies and started eating. There were a few moans of delicious pleasure as the first bites were eaten.
"How do guys eat like this and not gain any weight?" Lauren complained.
"Can I tell you a secret?" Elijah asked, leaning toward her, then continued after she nodded, "we don't always eat like this, and The Ark has a gym in the basement."
"The Ark?" Gina asked.
"It our nickname for our house." John answered.
"Can I ask how it got its name?" Aubrey asked.
"When we moved in it was raining so hard we joked that we should have moved into a houseboat, someone joked that it should have been an Ark and it stuck." Graham answered going with their usual explanation. They laughed at the story.
The group continued to eat their dessert and engaged in conversation. Graham found himself drawn to Aubrey. She was beautiful, smart, funny and seemed to bring him out of his shell. He also noticed that Noah and Emma were hitting it off.
After dessert was finished and everyone complimented and thanked Lucas and Elijah for dinner, and the dishes were cleaned off, John asked if anyone wanted to play a board game. "We don't have one that works for quite this many people, but most of us could play."
Graham, Audrey, Gina, Oliver all expressed interest. Lauren said she just wanted to watch.
"You can count me out, I'm just going to chill in the other room." Noah said, standing up.
"I think I'll do the same." Emma agreed, she followed Noah into the front room.
Lucas and Elijah said they were going to put food away. Graham called after them, "No doing dishes, John and I'll take care of them tonight!" They nodded in response.
They pulled out the games that worked for five players and decided on Ticket To Ride. As they played the game, Graham couldn't stop watching Aubrey. Her smile drew him in and he loved seeing it. There was good natured banter going and she wasn't hesitant to join in. Oliver won by a few points.
"Thanks for dinner and game." Gina said, "I know it sounds lame, but I'm exhausted after this crazy week for me at school, so I'm going to head home." Lauren and Aubrey said they'd go with her. Gina turned to Graham, "I'll let you know for sure when on Saturday." Graham nodded.
As they were saying bye to each other and walking out of the room, Graham maneuvered so he and Aubrey were the last to leave and asked Aubrey for her number. She wrote it on a paper that was close by. Graham took it and put it in his pocket. "Thanks" he said smiling at her. She smiled, and then turned to follow everyone. Noah and Emma were sitting on the couch facing each other. They weren't talking, it looked like they'd stopped when the group came in. Lauren, Aubrey and Gina bundled up, said final byes, gave a knowing smile to Emma and headed out into the cold weather.
Graham, Oliver and John headed to the kitchen to clean it up.
"What is this thing with Gina?" John asked Graham coldly.
"First, chill dude, it's not a date. We may have left out the fact she thinks I could be a cousin because I look like her grandfather when we talked about the lunch." Graham paused as they laughed "She has this extra credit thing for her bio class to do a DNA test and she suggested we both do it to see if we're actually related. Noah encouraged me to do it as well. So she ordered the kits and Saturday I get to go spit in a tube so we can see if that's the reason she looks familiar." Graham explained.
"So if I ask you for her number, you're not going to want to punch me?" John asked.
"Nope, but I can't give you her number yet, I only gave her mine. I'll have to wait until she tries to set up a time for Saturday." Graham said.
John laughed, "The fact you don't have her digits gave me more hope than her thinking you were cousins."
Graham agreed, "Yeah, if I were into her I definitely would have asked her instead of just waiting for her to contact me." Graham couldn't help but think of Audrey's number in his pocket as he said this.
At this point they turned their attention to the kitchen and saw just how much work they had ahead of themselves. Lucas and Elijah had listened to them and not cleaned, just put the food that would spoil in the fridge. Graham was glad they'd listened even though it meant they had quite a bit of work cut out for them.
"This has to be why people go out to eat fancier meals." Oliver sighed. "Then you don't have to be the ones to clean up afterward."
"At least we didn't have to cook too." Graham said.
"Graham, nobody would have eaten it if you cooked." John laughed.
"Maybe I should take lessons from Lucas and Elijah before I graduate. I'm going to have to feed myself somehow." Graham moaned. "Mac and Cheese or ramen aren't good staples for life."
"Make enough money and you can hire someone to do the cooking and cleaning." Oliver suggested.
"That idea does have merit. Eating better food and not having to clean up the mess." Graham smiled, "Just have to find a job that will make it so I can afford it."
"Like you won't be able to do that." Oliver said "You are almost at the top of your classes. There will be lots of opportunities available to you. Don't you start with that soon?"
"Yeah, it's crazy, you know. Thought school would last longer, but I'm almost done."
"Could still be here if you weren't so driven. You finished in just 6 years with your MBA. Now I on the other hand am just getting my 4-year degree in 6." John remarked.
"You'd have been driven too, knowing that if you failed you'd have to go back to a farm in the middle of nowhere, with an Aunt who doesn't get you. My scholarship was only for four years, so that kept me on track. And a lot of students take more than 4 years for a 4-year degree." Graham said, inwardly shuddering at the thought of returning to live with his Aunt. Going to visit for spring break was bad enough and he was only going for a few days, not the whole week. He was going to invite her to his graduation, and after that he didn't know how often they'd see each other. Probably at Christmas, but maybe not every year.
An hour later they finished cleaning the kitchen and peaked into the front room to see Noah and Emma cuddling on the couch with the throw blanket staring at the fire. Graham had to hand it to Elijah and Lucas, they knew just what was needed for a cosy romantic setting. They then headed upstairs to give them some privacy.