Worlds collide
And when you kiss me
I'm happy enough to die
-- Florence + The Machine, I'm Not Calling You a Liar
By the time the girls arrived, it was still light out, despite the sun’s gradual disappearance. With his back to the woods, Theodore couldn’t see it, but he knew it’d been setting behind the trees; the shadows proved it, stretching halfway across the yard, long and pointy. His watch read 7 p.m.
He saw the girls first, since his spot faced the crowd. They all had jackets on and solo cups in hand, eyes darting back and forth, looking for him. He promptly sprung up to his feet to greet them, which welcomed the rest of the circle to do the same. Walking ahead of the others, Daisy soon caught sight of him and led the girls over.
With butterflies in his stomach, Theodore introduced them to Emily and Justin, but failed to mention their names, so Laith ended up doing it for him. He felt silly; there was no way those two would magically know the girls’ names. It’d just slipped his mind to introduce them like that.
“So what’s this about a truth or dare game?” Jessie asked, openly excited.
Everybody sat back down as Emily explained the game again. Each of the girls ended up sitting between one of the rats, so the circle had to be expanded over the lawn.
“Who starts, then?”
Jessie’s question prompted Emily to offer her the bottle. She’d taken the spot between Emily and Laith. “Why don’t you do it?” The way she said that was suspect. It was in the tone of her voice, way too soft, way too nice, with a tilt in her words. Was she flirting?
“Okay, here we go!”
The bottle spun over the grass.
“Jessie, are you still straight?” Theodore’s question received a strange look from the circle. His addressee stared at him with furrowed eyebrows and a big smile on her face. “I’m just making sure,” he clarified.
“Uh, yeah. I am.”
A tinge of disappointment pursed Emily’s lips. So she had been flirting.
The bottle stopped on Hannah.
“I choose dare for you.” Jessie grinned. “I dare you to arm-wrestle Laith.”
The two involved shared equally surprised looks.
“Really?” Hannah asked.
“If you want to.” Jessie’s shoulders bounced. “You could always have the shot otherwise.”
“No, no. I’ll do it.” Hannah scooted closer to the center of the circle. The jacket she wore made it difficult to tell whether she even had any muscle at all, so Emily and Justin’s confusion was perfectly understood. She lay on her stomach and propped her elbow up on the ground.
“I’ll have you know,” Laith started, moving to mirror her, “I’ve never arm-wrestled anyone in my life.”
“And I’ve never lost a match.” Hannah smirked.
In response, Laith passed the circle a glance. “Remember me as I lived.”
“Tall and handsome?” Jessie tried.
He gave her a wink and a nod, tongue clicking. The only thing that was missing was a finger-gun, but that hand was currently busy locking with Hannah’s. The two stared at each other.
“Jessie, count us down.”
“Okay. Three… two… one… go!”
They struggled. Their arms trembled, elbows pushed into the grass. First, they leaned to one side, then to the other, back and forth in a show of strength. Eventually, Laith managed to get a bit of ground over Hannah, just enough to take her down. In close calls like this, Theodore supposed the smallest advantage could make a huge difference. Laith let go of her hand with a big grin on his face.
“One for one!”
The crowd clapped and cheered as Hannah rolled her eyes. There was no ill-will behind it, though; she got up with a smile and offered Laith a hand, which he graciously took. “Beginner’s luck,” she commented, pulling him up.
On his feet, he bowed. “It was an honor.”
She rolled her eyes again, smiling wider now. Back in her spot, she spun the bottle. It stopped on Emily. “I actually don’t know anything about you,” she confessed, “so I’ll give you a truth. What are some things you like to do?”
“That’s too easy!” Theodore remarked.
“If you’d told us anything about her, I wouldn’t be asking this question.”
The circle oohed. That comment was enough to shut him up.
“Thank you, Hannah; that’s a lovely truth. My favorite thing in the world is to have fun. I enjoy long walks at the graveyard and playing bass for the ghosts. I also like seeing my friends and dancing to good music.”
Hannah smiled. “You’re a goth.”
Emily leaned back on a hand, playing coy. Her fingertips touched the spikes on her choker. “What gave it away?”
The crowd snickered.
She took the bottle and spun it. Daisy was her victim, sitting between Justin and Theodore. “Please tell me you’re a lesbian. That’s your truth.”
Daisy placed a hand on her own chest, eyebrows apologetically drawn. “I’m taken.”
“Shit!” Emily’s outburst was comical, not serious at all. In fact, her whole demeanor was very playful.
Daisy’s spin landed on Theodore. “I dare you to kiss your boyfriend, right here, in front of us.”
That word sent Theodore’s heart up to his throat. “He’s not my boyfriend,” he immediately retaliated.
“We’ve been over this,” Hannah interrupted. “He either takes the title and visits our apartment, or he can never show his face there again.”
He felt the burning attention of the circle focused on him. When had that conversation taken place? He didn’t remember it at all. He remembered Hannah arguing with Laith about it, but he hadn’t exactly accepted those terms. Unless, of course, they’d rehashed it in the kitchen while Theodore had showered. He didn’t dare move his eyes away from her, in case Laith was watching. He’d rather not know.
“Is that how it went?” His voice was small, but it didn’t quiver. It took a lot to keep it steady.
“That’s how it went.”
His eyes bounced over to Justin. Surprisingly, he didn’t find Justin looking back at him, but staring at Laith’s end of the circle instead. He swallowed thick.
“So you two are together,” Emily jumped in.
Theodore couldn’t look at her.
“It’s a conversation,” Laith explained. The awkwardness in his tone was crystal clear to Theodore, but he knew the others might not be able to tell so easily. He’d just grown accustomed to the way Laith covered things up, mainly how he really felt. “We haven’t decided anything yet,” was Laith’s verdict, which brought to mind the simple fact that, as far as Theodore knew, there wasn’t anything to decide.
“I thought you liked him.” The pain in Hannah’s voice perfectly mirrored how Theodore felt about the whole situation. He could tell exactly where this topic was going and knew he had to kill it right here or risk bursting into tears. He’d already thought about this for way too long; Streisand’s wasn’t the place for this discussion.
“Okay!” His voice ended up a little too high, but all in all, it conquered the circle’s attention, which was the point. With a breath in his throat, he met Laith’s eyes. “Okay.” This time, he whispered it.
A hand helped him uncross his legs and move up to stand on his knees, pressing gingerly over the ground for balance. Nadia was the only person between him and Laith, so the crawl to him was brief.
Laith watched him come over without a word, leaning on his right hand. He sat with his legs stretched in Jessie’s direction, turned to face the middle of the circle. Theodore was mindful to keep his knees away from Laith’s fingers. He carefully leaned forward and closed his eyes. The moment their faces met, his heart jumped, cheeks burning with the knowledge that the whole circle was watching them right now. If there happened to be any vocal responses to this, he couldn’t hear it over the loud gushing of his own pulse. It was brief—a chaste peck on the lips just to remember what they felt like. He pulled away before Laith could do anything, specially touch his face the way he liked to. That was too private; he didn’t want the others to see it.
Green eyes watched him low, staring at his mouth, but he couldn’t do it, not in front of a crowd. This was enough. Breathing in, he turned around and crawled back to his spot.
It was only when he sat down that he saw everyone’s reactions. His eyes first landed on Emily, who sat directly across from him, but couldn’t read the emotion on her face. There was one, he knew that much, but couldn’t figure out what it was, or if it was even good. It probably wasn’t. Next to her, Jessie grinned wide. It was genuine, with rosy cheeks and hands clasped together, even if half-hidden in her lap. Hannah and Justin had pretty much the same look on their faces, small smiles that had come straight from the heart, warm and sweet. Nadia and Daisy were the only ones that he couldn’t glance at without making his observation far too obvious.
He quietly spun the bottle. It landed on Justin. “I want you to kiss the prettiest girl here.” That dare flew out of his mouth as the first comprehensible thought his mind could put together. It took him a full second to realize what he’d done, eyes wide. He promptly glanced at Justin, who stared back just as shocked. His lips parted to apologize and come up with something else, but nothing left them. Instead, he watched Justin pass the circle a glance.
“Does Laith count?”
His joke made the girls snicker.
“Why don’t you grab my crotch and maybe change your mind about that?” Laith’s eyebrows were drawn, but his response was clearly humorous.
“That’s very cisgender of you,” Justin remarked.
“C’mon,” Jessie jumped in, ponytail moving as she tilted her head. “Don’t you think anyone here is pretty?”
Justin opened his mouth to reply, but immediately closed it again. He did that a couple of times while looking for an answer, kind of like a fish out of water, speechless. Theodore could practically see the synapsis in his brain, the many thoughts that crossed his mind, all completely unspoken. When he finally looked away from her, it was to stare at Laith next, still wordless. The two shared a very knowing look that received a nod from Laith.
“She’s the supermodel,” Laith added.
Suddenly, Theodore couldn’t breathe.
“Supermodel?” That word curled Jessie’s lips into a hesitant smile.
“Yeah. I called you a supermodel earlier, but it didn’t stick ‘cause Justin didn’t know you,” Laith clarified. “Now he does.”
A big breath left Theodore’s lungs; he couldn’t be more relieved that Laith hadn’t ratted him out. Then again, he didn’t think Laith would; that just didn’t seem much like him. The only person Theodore had ever seen him shit-talk was Ryan, who’d definitely deserved it.
“That’s so cheesy, it sounds like a pickup line.” Jessie’s tone was so humorous that she practically laughed her words out. “If you were straight, I would’ve slapped you.”
“If I were straight, I would probably have liked that.”
The two grinned at each other. This wavelength was really strange to witness.
“Okay, I’m going to kiss girls now,” Justin quickly announced, holding his palms up in the air. “But just so y’all know—I’ll kiss your cheeks.”
“That’s a chickenshit move,” Emily promptly rebutted. “You can’t go around kissing everyone’s faces. Theo told you to only kiss the prettiest one.”
“What if you’re all tied?”
“Impossible. You must have a type.”
“At this point, I think he’s game for whoever,” Laith cut in. “I’ve never seen him make out with anyone.”
“I usually do that away from you. We all do. Have you seen Emily make out with anyone?”
“That’s not the point. I know she’s getting pussy, but are you?”
“Okay.” Theodore held out his hands, sitting between the two. “I revoke my dare.”
“No, you don’t,” Emily corrected. “It’s already done.”
“Then, Jessie,” Justin raised his voice. The hint of frustration in it was new, something Theodore would’ve never guessed. “Can I kiss you?”
She grinned. “Sure.”
Justin crossed the circle and planted a peck on her lips, infinitely briefer than the kiss before it. The whole thing was very quick. Within the same minute, he was back in his spot, taking the bottle for a spin. It landed on Nadia. “I dare you to tell Emily she’s a cunt.”
The entire circle stared at him.
“Whoa, what the fuck?” Emily scowled.
“Um…” Nadia shifted nervously, hands clasped together. Instead of addressing Emily at all, she reached for the bottle and used the cap to pour herself a shot. Her solo cup still had beer in it.
“Why? I was just stating the rules of the game,” Emily defended.
“No, you’re—” Justin shook his head, eyes down at his own cup. The whole time she spoke to him, he refused to meet the stare. “You’re putting me on the spot.” His voice was small, shoulders tense.
Emily relaxed. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think a stupid game would get to you.”
Especially considering nothing ever got to him. If she truly didn’t know how he felt about her, then his reaction must’ve seemed bizarre. Theodore wished they were sitting closer, so he could try and cheer Justin up a bit.
In utter silence, Nadia screwed the cap back on the bottle and lay it on its side. Emily stopped her before she could spin it. “No, it’s Laith’s turn.”
“No, it isn’t,” Laith rebutted.
Their eyes met.
“Everyone already got their chance to play, except for you. She’ll give you a dare, so we can start round two.”
“Part of the fun is waiting for it to happen.”
“I’m tired of waiting. No one’s drinking.”
“What happens on round two?” Theodore asked.
Emily glanced at him next. “It’s a round of dares. Every time we close a cycle, meaning all players get to play, the game gets more interesting. I want Laith to go next, so he can close the cycle.”
“We could let Nadia spin and see if it falls on him.”
“That’s a one in eight chance.”
“But it’s still a chance.”
They held the stare.
Clearing her throat, Nadia turned to Laith. “I want you to tell us your favorite thing about everyone here.”
Well, then. She’d broken the tie.
“As a group, you mean?”
“No, your favorite thing about each person here.”
Laith nodded. “Okay. Well, I’ve only known you for a day, but my favorite thing about you is probably how sweet you are. If you were a color, you’d be pink.”
Nadia smiled at him.
Laith turned to Jessie next. “You have great tits. That’s my favorite thing about you.”
She shoved him on the leg, wearing a big grin on her face, nose tinted red. “You can’t say that!”
“You’re right, sorry.” Laith laughed. “I mean you’re pretty. Beautiful, even. Drop-dead gorgeous!”
The circle snickered.
“Okay, that’s better.”
“Emily, you’re a bitch. That’s my favorite thing about you.”
“Asshole.” She grinned.
“Hannah, you’re a badass. Next time you hit the gym, call me up so I can show you how to lift right.”
Hannah squinted humorously. “If the dare had been for me to fight you one-on-one, I would’ve taken you down in ten seconds.”
“Good thing that’s not what it was, huh?”
She scoffed.
“Justin, you sell the best weed I’ve ever had.”
Justin smiled, eyes downcast. It was clear he was still upset, and being unable to comfort him broke Theodore in two.
“Daisy, I don’t know you very well either, but I can tell you have balls of steel.”
That put a strange look on her face. “What does that mean?”
“You’ll figure it out. Theo.”
His heart stopped. Laith glanced him down for a moment, deliberating on what to say. He held a breath.
“You’re also gorgeous.” Laith took the bottle and spun it.
That was… it? His shoulders drooped. Oh.
“Wait, that’s it?” Jessie interrupted, putting his thoughts into words. “That’s all you’re gonna say about him?”
Laith passed her a glance. “The dare was to say only one thing about each of you.”
“Yeah, your favorite thing.”
“I was just saying what came to mind first.”
That wasn’t true.
“Then you didn’t do the dare right.”
The bottle landed on Daisy.
“That’s ancient history.” With that, Laith turned to address the crowd. “So, our goal for this round is to make everyone drink as much as possible, which means giving them dares they would absolutely never do. For example, Daisy, I dare you to choose two people to make out with you right now.”
“At the same time?” she asked.
“Yeah.”
Daisy glanced at Nadia first, then at the rest of the circle. “Well… I choose my girlfriend and Emily, because I think that’s the only choice I have.”
“Emily, what do you say?”
Her eyes bounced from Laith to the two girls and back, reluctant. “I know I’m supposed to decline this and make her drink, but I can’t, in good conscience, pass this up.”
Laith groaned. “Okay then, Nadia, what do you say?”
She held Daisy’s stare. “I mean, if Daisy thinks it’s okay…”
“Are you fucking serious?”
“Laith, can you take five?” Justin interrupted, back to his normal self. The humor in his voice brought wind to Theodore’s lungs. “Let them do their thing, bro.”
“Dude, the whole reason I said that was ‘cause she’s in a relationship!”
“Yeah, and now she’s gonna kiss her girlfriend.” Justin motioned to the girls in question. “Ladies, please.”
Suddenly, Emily’s demeanor changed, from highly interested to deeply suspect. She shot daggers at her friend, eyes narrowed. “Wait a minute. I change my mind.” She glanced at Daisy next. “I’m sorry, but you’ll have to drink.”
Daisy noticed the strange atmosphere and the glares, but decided against bringing them up and simply downed her shot in silence. It caused Theodore to wonder if Justin’s interest in watching the three-way kiss was genuine, or if he’d only said that because he knew it’d compel Emily to switch sides. Either way, the game was back on track.
From there, the dares only grew more outrageous. Daisy dared Jessie to make out with one of the girls, Jessie dared Justin to go skinny dipping, Justin dared Nadia to do a backflip, Nadia dared Hannah to sing her favorite song for the whole party to hear it and Hannah dared Emily to bench press her. In every instance, the receiver of the dare took the shot rather than attempt the dare, either because they were too self-conscious to do it, or in Nadia and Emily’s case, because they physically couldn’t.
Emily’s turn landed on Laith. “I dare you to fuck a stranger in this party.”
Laith disinterestedly looked around. That was definitely something he’d done before, so Theodore wasn’t sure what the point of her dare was. Did she want him to leave for a while? Did she want to see him with somebody else? Did she want Theodore to see him with somebody else? If that was the case, then it wouldn’t hurt; he’d seen Laith with a stranger before and he’d felt nothing about it. Sure, he’d been drunk and numb, but even remembering it now, all he felt was shame for having ruined Laith’s evening. It was his signature move, but it didn’t mean he had to like it.
“Right now?” Hannah asked.
“Yeah, right now.”
Laith passed his best friend a glance. In silence, he took a sip of his water.
“Why aren’t you having a shot?” Jessie questioned.
“I’m on a cleanse. It’s a hippie thing.”
“He’s on pills,” Emily corrected. The way she’d said that made it sound like he’d taken drugs, not prescription. “Now give Theo a dare,” she urged.
Their eyes met.
“I dare you to sing us one of your songs.”
Bastard. Theodore reached for the bottle and poured himself a shot.
“What kind of pills?” Jessie asked.
“Why? Are you interested?”
She shrugged.
Theodore was so numb that he barely felt the rum burn down his throat this time.
“You just don’t look high.”
“Oh, but I am, except that has nothing to do with it. I’m on prescription.”
Her mouth opened in the shape of an O, but the surprise didn’t last long. It quickly morphed into realization as she glanced at Laith’s friends. “Are all of you high?”
“Yep. Like I said, if you’re looking for good weed, Justin’s your man.”
Justin tugged on the collar of his flannel, proud. “I mean, I could be your man anyway, but you know. I’ll be your weed man too.”
“Oh, ballsy.” Emily’s eyebrows raised. “He thinks he has game.”
“I do. She let me kiss her.”
“It was a dare.”
“She still could’ve said no, but she didn’t. I’m a catch.”
“I mean,” Jessie cut in, gathering their attention, “you are the cutest one here.”
“See?”
Theodore spun the bottle.
“Whatever helps you sleep at night, sweetie.” Emily gave her friend a tilt of the head and a condescending smile.
“Don’t mind Emily,” Laith faux whispered, addressing Jessie but holding his best friend’s stare. “She’s jealous.”
“Why would I be jealous?”
“Oh, man.” Laith leaned back on a hand. “I don’t even know where to start with that one.”
The bottle landed on Emily.
“Emily, I dare you to make out with Justin right now.”
The circle stared at Theodore.
“And I mean really give him the work; show us all you’ve got. I want you to make it so hot and heavy that we’ll all need to take a break from this game.” As he talked, Emily’s brows shot up her forehead, lips curling into a wide smile.
“You know,” Laith cut in, cup of water in hand, “that’s actually the natural progression of the game. Round three is about dares that you want to see happen.”
“So you wanna see this.” Emily smirked.
“Who doesn’t?”
“So this is round three?” Jessie asked. “I thought Theo had to land on Nadia.”
“Nadia already had her turn. Laith closed the cycle by giving Theo a dare,” Emily explained.
“Okay, so make out with him right now,” Theodore urged.
“Alright, alright.” Up on her knees, Emily crawled to her friend. Theodore couldn’t really see her face from where he sat, only the anxiety that blew Justin’s eyes wide and shot his eyebrows up into his hairline. He leaned back as she approached, terrified. She pushed his knee out of the way. “C’mon, quit acting like I’m the boogeyman. You’re looking at me like I’m about to kill you.”
Justin couldn’t even reply. Actually, his silence halted her approach.
“What? Should I take the shot?”
“No.” That word slipped out so fast that Justin practically spat it. “No, I mean…” His shoulder bounced, head cocking sideways.
That was enough for her to resume her advances. With the way he sat, she had to lean over him to reach his face, holding herself up with a hand by his hip, flat on the grass. The other one held him by the back of the neck as she closed the gap between them. His eyes slipped shut, body frozen otherwise. There was tongue, a quick flash before it disappeared into his mouth. He followed her lead, mirroring the movement of her jaw, meeting with her every time. The crowd hollered as they kissed, whistling loud, fingers snapping.
It was wild. Watching those two, Theodore kind of wanted to make out too. Not with them, though. Well… no, Emily was terrifying.
When she was done, she pushed Justin away with a hand and turned around. First, she wiped her face and fixed her hair, then crawled back to the spot directly across from Theodore. Their eyes met as she sat down and the look she gave him chilled him to the bone. It wasn’t malicious, but mischievous with a smirk to really drive home the fact that, if the bottle ever landed on him, he was done. He was fucked. Her smudged lipstick with the elongated corners perfectly intact only served to make her look even scarier somehow, like a killer clown on the loose. Incidentally, that might be what drew Justin to her. She was definitely a lot more unhinged than Theodore had thought.
Without a word, she reached into the center of the circle and spun the bottle. “Just to make things clear,” she started, passing everyone a glance, “denying the dare this time is worth two shots in a row.”
The bottle landed on Nadia. Even without looking directly at her, Theodore could see how her body straightened up.
“I want you to tell us your wildest sex fantasy. It might not be something you’d ever actually do, but it’s something that fascinates you. If anything, something you’d love to watch.”
Theodore turned to see Nadia’s face grow beet red.
“Um… I guess…” She threw her girlfriend a quick glance. “Double penetration, I think is—is a mystery to me. I don’t know how they do it.”
“How the two guys stack up on each other?” Emily asked.
“No, like… how someone could even handle that. It’s just so crazy.”
“I can’t say I have any experience with it, so I’m not of much help, but if anyone is…” Emily trailed off, shoulder bouncing.
The circle stared up into space, thoughtful.
“Practice, probably,” Laith suggested. “Sex is always about practice.”
“Yeah. I bet if you start small and work your way up, you’ll be able to do it too,” Jessie added.
That comment set Nadia’s face on fire. “I don’t wanna do it! I just think it’s crazy!”
“I’m just saying.” Jessie shrugged. “Laith’s probably right.”
“Yeah, he would know something about that.” Emily stared at him.
“Are you talking specifics? ‘Cause I do know a lot about that, but I thought it was obvious.”
“Oh, it’s just that taking someone’s virginity shares the same concept. That’s what I mean,” Emily explained.
Theodore felt all air leave his lungs. Paralyzed, he watched Laith’s eyebrows slowly furrow while the rest of the group stared at him. Laith was the only one who didn’t, thus the only one he could look at.
“I don’t think I’ve ever done that,” Laith told her.
The circle glanced between Theodore and Laith. Even Emily, indicating her point to Laith.
“Oh. No, he had a threesome the day before.”
Every pair of eyebrows lifted while Theodore’s soul exited the current astral plane. He no longer existed at this party.
“Are you serious?” Emily spoke with a big, yet shocked grin.
“Yeah. We ran into each other in the dark room.”
Oh god, Laith didn’t know. Oh my god, he didn’t know. Theodore’s heart hammered into his ribs.
The group responded with shock.
“Your first time was a threesome?!” Jessie practically shouted.
There was no way he could answer that, especially as the target of everyone’s undivided attention. He could barely even breathe.
“Wow, who would’ve thought.” Emily grinned.
“Couldn’t be me,” Nadia commented.
All the other girls agreed with her.
“I didn’t…” His brain scrambled to make sense, pulse racing in his ears. “They weren’t both on me; I was in the middle.”
“Of course.” Laith raised a shoulder.
“How do you figure?” Jessie asked.
“He was with a couple. It’s etiquette.”
“Do you know them?”
Laith glanced at Theodore, but as soon as their eyes met, he looked away. Everything about this was a nightmare. “I know everyone, Jess.”
Theodore touched Nadia’s arm. “Please, spin the bottle,” he whispered.
She gave him an understanding look before doing it. Unfortunately, as it spun, the group continued to talk.
“We know you two slept together last week,” Daisy pensively commented. “Which means the threesome happened on Friday, then.”
Laith nodded.
“Well, I remember when Theo told us about it, just before leaving for Justin’s farm. He told us he’d run into you.”
“Yeah. It was, uh… unexpected, really. I didn’t think I’d see him there.”
“He was with Hwan and Marquis.”
The circle went silent. The bottle slowly landed on Daisy, but Theodore and Nadia were the only ones paying attention to it. She failed an attempt to cut the conversation short by addressing her girlfriend; Daisy held a palm up in the air, clinging to her train of thought. “He never told us he’d slept with them.”
Theodore was about to throw up.
“Yeah, I remember that,” Hannah added. “He only talked about sleeping with you. If I recall correctly, he even mentioned something about all of us being even now, like, no longer virgins. He said that after you.”
“He probably didn’t want you guys to know about the threesome.”
Okay, so Laith was in denial. Thank god for that.
The girls weren’t, though. They all looked very confused, unsure what the truth was. Unable to speak a single word, Theodore touched Nadia’s arm, which prompted her to turn to Daisy and speak up again.
“I dare you to tell me what kind of things you like in the bedroom.”
That worked like a charm. It severed Daisy’s thought process with surprise, dark eyes quickly finding her girlfriend, wide. She had much bigger fish to fry now, unrelated to Theodore’s virginity. “I’m sorry?”
“What kind of things you like,” Nadia explained. “You know, what your favorite things are.”
“Like…?”
Nadia shrugged, cheeks growing warm. Nothing else left her.
“You can say oral,” Emily jumped in. “It’s okay.”
Both girls stared at her wide-eyed. In response, she simply grinned.
“Disgusting.” Laith clicked his tongue. “Spin the bottle, Daisy.”
“Oh, shut up.” There was so much humor in Emily’s tone that she almost even laughed. “We’ve been talking about butt sex all day!”
“So why change the subject?”
“She hasn’t even answered,” Nadia defended.
“You really wanna hear this.” Daisy sounded perfectly surprised. “Okay, well, besides what Emily said, I like to make you feel good. I like to see you enjoy yourself.”
Nadia cast her eyes down in embarrassment, smiling a bit.
“You too, huh.” Laith smirked.
“What can I say?” Daisy shrugged, reaching for the bottle. “I’m a giver.”
“And you have every right to be,” Emily added.
“You’re—” That word left Theodore’s mouth without any thought attached to it, an impulse spewed out into the universe.
The circle stared at him, but he had nothing else to say. His brain was currently engulfed in fog; he didn’t even know what he’d intended to bring up in the first place.
“Are you talking to me?” Laith asked, sincerely confused.
“No.”
The bottle landed on Justin.
“I dare you to tell us what you thought about that kiss. You seemed… put off by it,” Daisy told him.
Oh, he remembered it now. His non-thought was suddenly fleshed out before his very eyes, the continuation of his unspoken accusation—you’re not a giver. If he didn’t count the last couple of times, it was very clear to him that he was the giver; the one who always started it, who got his hands dirty and actually made it happen, while Laith just sat back and relaxed. It’d been different today, and of course, when he’d first asked Laith to top him, but for the majority of the time, Laith had been a real bottom—in spirit, of course; he’d only literally bottomed that one time.
Wait, was it the majority? That time on his bed and the one on his couch made two, plus topping him made three, which—wait a minute, it was a tie; three to three. Only if that very first time even counted in his favor, when he hadn’t even made Laith cum. Shit, was Laith a lot more involved than he’d thought? Had Laith been giving him an easier time due to his lack of experience? He didn’t want that. He wanted the Laith who fucked strangers in the dark room without asking their names first. On second thought, that was probably the Laith from today, who’d lain him down, turned him around and later fucked his face. Damn, maybe Laith was a giver after all.
Justin talked, but Theodore couldn’t understand a single word that left him. He looked nervous, moving his beanie with a hand, avoiding eye contact. It reminded Theodore of that time in his truck, when they’d talked about his massive crush on Emily. Oh, right—Daisy had just asked him about the kiss. Theodore blinked, trying to focus through the high.
“—someone so fierce before. She’s definitely uh, passionate.”
“It’s okay to say I’m the best kisser you’ve ever had.” Emily proudly grinned.
Justin’s lips curled up, but never actually formed a fully-fledged smile. “You’d be right to say that.”
The girls d’awed.
Before anyone had time to say anything else, Justin spun the bottle. He kept his eyes on it the entire time, watching it land on Hannah. “So apparently, you’re a bodybuilder,” he commented, facing her. “I would’ve never known.”
“I’m not a bodybuilder; I just love martial arts. I’ve been taking Okichitaw for almost ten years now.”
“I’m guessing that’s a type of martial arts.”
“Yes. It’s from the first nations in Canada where my dad’s from. He teaches it in his gym.”
“Shit.” Justin’s eyebrows bounced, eyes half-lidded with his intoxication. “He must be really strong. You two probably are; you’ve only ever lost at arm-wrestling once. You’re incredible.”
She shrugged, not in an attempt to downplay her own strength, but to avoid showing off.
“Can you bench press anyone here?”
His question prompted her to glance around the circle, appraising everyone’s measurements. “Daisy, Nadia and Emily would be easy, since they’re so small. Theo would be next, then you, then Jessie. I don’t think I could do Laith.”
“So Jessie’s your limit.”
“I guess. I’m assuming she’s heavier than you and Theo, because you two are twigs, honestly.”
“Hey, I’m all muscle!”
She glanced him down. “How much can you lift?”
Justin held the stare, unable to answer the question. He clearly didn’t hit the gym. Theodore didn’t either, but he wasn’t about to make a joke out of himself and pretend he did. It was evident that most people could knock him out without having to try very hard.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought.” She clicked her tongue.
“Bench press Laith, then. That’s your dare.”
She squinted. “I’ll do Jessie instead.” With that, she leaned over to catch a glimpse of her friend, who sat behind Emily. “Is that okay with you?”
“Yes! I’ve actually wondered this for a long time, but I’ve never had the balls to ask.”
Hannah grinned. The two girls got up in unison.
“Okay, fine; I’ll let you do Jessie, then,” Justin commented, as if that would’ve changed anything.
As Hannah instructed Jessie on how they’d go about it, a movement in the crowd caught Theodore’s attention. People came and went all the time, but one of them seemed to stop dead at the foot of the stairs, which was what stood out to him. When he glanced over, he saw Hwan standing in the middle of the crowd, staring at Laith. Theodore didn’t know why, but Hwan’s presence compelled him to get up and excuse himself. Ironically, he had to step over Laith’s legs on the way, and as soon as he did, Hwan’s eyes moved to him instead.
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