Leila
“One more,” Gabriella says, holding out her red cup.
“Nope.” Madi grabs her cup and places it on the table behind her. “You promised we’d leave at one.”
“One thirty?” Gabi asks, blinking up at her.
Madi glares, shaking her head. “One.”
“Fine,” Gabi concedes.
My eyes look around the dark tiles of the kitchen, now littered with drinks and snacks. Grayson is going to have fun cleaning this place up tomorrow, considering how big this damn house is.
“Is Rosie here?” I look around the party, trying to spot her face in the crowd.
Madi hums. “I saw her with Grayson like ten minutes ago.” She laughs. “Those two were two minutes away from public indecency.”
“Is it considered public indecency if it’s inside your house?”
“It is if there’s an audience.”
“No,” Gabi replies. “That’s just a good time.” She grins, wrapping her arm around mine.
Madi groans. “You’re drunk? Already?”
Gabi waves her off, attempting to stand up straight, leaning all of her weight onto me. I snicker, glancing at Madi. “No,” Gabi says. “I’m fine, look.” She tries to take a step forward and almost trips us both over. I grab onto her, keeping her steady. “Okay,” she breathes out. “Maybe.”
“That’s a yes,” Madi says with a sigh.
“And you’re too sober.” Gabi grabs her cup, holding it out to Madi. “You want a drink?”
Madi smiles. It’s hard not to. Gabi is the kind of girl who can make you laugh even when you don’t feel like it. “I can’t,” Madi tells her. “I’m driving tonight.” I admire Madi. Never stepping out of line, always in control. It’s got to be exhausting, though.
“C’mon,” Gabi urges. “We can walk home instead.”
Madi snorts out a laugh, shaking her head. “You can barely stand.”
Gabi waves her off, grabbing my drink from my hand and downing it before I can stop her. Jesus. “Okay,” I tell her. “You’re cut off.”
She eyes me, her eyes dipping down to my outfit. “You look hot in green.”
I breathe out a laugh. “Thanks.”
“You know what would be fun?” she asks, sighing dramatically.
“Sleep?” I offer.
“No,” Gabi says with a headshake. “A hot tub.”
I scrunch my brows at her. “A hot tub?”
She nods. “Do you want to go swimming?” she asks, grinning at me.
Not particularly, no. But I’d rather not kill all of her dreams. I sit her down on the nearest chair, avoiding the mass amount of people walking past us. “Sure,” I tell her. “But there’s no hot tub.”
“Yes, there is,” she says. “Travis and I took a dip a few weeks ago last time we were here.”
I look up at Madi, seeing her eyes widen. “They have a hot tub?” she mouths at me.
I shrug. “I have no idea. Don’t ask me.”
Our heads turn when chants come from the other room.
“What’s going on?” Madi asks.
A girl turns to face her, sipping her drink. “They’re playing Spin the Bottle.”
“Damn, we should go,” Gabi suggests.
“Who’s playing Spin the Bottle?” A dumb-ass frat guy asks, throwing his arm around Madi. He licks his lips, looking down at her. “I wouldn’t mind kissing you,” he says, blowing Madi a kiss.
She slaps his hand away, taking a step away from him. “No one is playing.”
“We’re not?” Gabi asks, frowning at me.
Brad grins at Gabi. “I’ll play with you if you want.”
What a sap. I roll my eyes. “Get out of here, Brad.”
He laughs at me, running a hand through his styled brown hair. “Don’t come running back to me when you want to get some.” He winks my way and finally walks away. Not without causing damage, though, because now the secret’s out.
My lips thin, feeling their eyes fall on me. I can already feel it. The questions, the judging, the disgust.
“You slept with him?” Madi asks.
I blow out a breath, closing my eyes. “It was dumb, I know.”
“He’s an asshole,” Madi replies.
I nod. “I’m well aware.”
“He made fun of you,” Gabi says, her mouth turned in a frown.
That one’s like a punch to my stomach. “Yep. Know that too. Thanks for bringing it up.”
Call it a lapse in judgment, if you will. It was dumb; I know that. I regret it every day. But that’s what happens, isn’t it? Guys like Brad call you names to your face and beg to sleep with you in private.
I love the girls, I really do. But none of them know what it’s like being a bigger girl. I don’t have the same experiences they do, and that includes putting up with comments about the way I look and completely ignoring how they made me feel when they come back around and flirt with me.
I don’t want to get into it with them. I know it should probably be one of the worst mistakes of my life, but ultimately, he was half decent, and it made me feel good about myself, even if it was just for a brief moment.
“Come on,” I urge Gabi to stand, wrapping my arm around hers to keep her steady on her feet.
“So, we’re playing?” she asks, grinning at me like an idiot.
I laugh. “Yeah, sure, why not?”
We make our way over to the living room. Madi follows us behind, walking over to where all the noise is. A crowd surrounds the circle of people on the ground, two of them meeting in the middle for a kiss.
I spot Grayson sitting on the couch with Rosie propped on his lap. I snicker, making my way over to them. “Having fun?”
He sighs. “We were already here when they came in.”
Rosie turns to face me. “Grayson doesn’t want to play.”
“Hell no,” he says, clutching onto Rosie. “I don’t want to kiss anyone but you.”
“You wanna join?” I ask Rosie, wanting to see what Grayson will do.
She eyes him for a second, mischief sparkles in her eyes, no doubt wanting the same reaction I do.
He narrows his eyes at her. “Don’t even think about it, angel.”
“But I’ve never played Spin the Bottle before,” she replies, her lips painted with a smirk.
Grayson leans in, planting a soft kiss on her lips. “I know you’re just fucking with me,” he says. “But I still don’t like it.” She smiles up at him, his eyes on her, completely consumed by each other. “We’ll play together sometime,” he tells her.
Gabi plops herself on the ground, joining the group. She turns to face me, and I roll my eyes, giving in and joining her. I sit on the ground with her and a bunch of people I don’t want to kiss.
My head lifts when the door opens again, spotting the one person I was hoping I wouldn’t run into tonight.
Aiden Pierce steps into the room, looking around the group.
“Oh shit,” his teammate, Ethan, says, looking around the room. “What’s going on in here?” Where Aiden goes, everyone follows, which means not only his teammates but a bunch of other people have joined in.
“You want to join?” one girl asks, smiling up at Carter, another one of Aiden’s teammates. He smiles at her, shaking his head.
Aiden makes eye contact with me, his eyes widening when he sees me. “Leila.” His deep, gruff voice makes me shiver when I see everyone’s eyes on me. “You came.”
I decide to play coy, blinking up at him. “And you are?”
There’s a low howl coming from his teammates, the girls in the room shooting me daggers with their eyes. Not Aiden, though; he laughs, a smile spreading across his face.
I watch as Jordan nudges Aiden, eyeing me carefully. “What’s her deal?”
I scoff, Aiden’s eyes still on me. His tongue traces his full bottom lip, wetting it, and he shrugs. “Leila here is my biggest fan. Isn’t that right?”
Gabi laughs beside me, and I glare at her. “What?” she asks innocently. “It’s funny.” Traitor.
My head snaps when I see Aiden sitting on the ground, everyone making room for him. “Are you playing?” he asks.
“Not if you are.”
“Oh, c’mon.” He stretches out, his dark brown hair hidden behind that baseball cap he always wears. “Don’t chicken out.”
I open my mouth to reply, but his phone buzzes in his pocket. I watch as he pulls it out and scans the screen, his jaw clenching when he reads whatever is on that phone. His eyes blaze, looking around the room.
I raise my eyebrows. “You look pretty scared to me. Are you sure you want to do this?”
He tucks his phone back in his pocket, his lips twitching a little, but just as quickly, his face drops, and I watch as he swallows, making his Adam’s apple bob with the movement. “You want to play?” he asks, his eyes darkening. “We’ll play.”
His hand reaches out in front of him, those long fingers grabbing the neck of the bottle. I glance up at him, seeing him staring back at me, smiling slightly, before the bottle spins on the ground between us.
“You’re watching that bottle pretty damn close,” Aiden says, his voice making me glance up at him. “Any particular reason?”
I swallow, looking into his eyes as he grins. Yes, there’s a reason. I hate to admit this, but something about him makes me nervous. And the thought of what might happen scares me. Will it land on someone else? Or will it… I gulp.
Please don’t land on me.
Please don’t land on me.
Please don’t—
“Look at that.” I watch Aiden’s head drop to the ground, looking at the bottle that is—
Fuck.
The neck of the bottle lands at my feet, pointing directly at me. I glance up at him, his blue eyes shining with humor.
“What are the chances?” Aiden asks, a husky laugh coming from him.
“Stop being cocky,” Grayson tells him.
“It’s my nature,” Aiden replies, looking up at his best friend. His eyes land on mine, tilting his head. “Are you up for it?”
“On second thought, this game is stupid.” I let out a breath, turning to face Gabi. “Do you want to take my place?” She smiles knowingly but shakes her head.
“No way,” Aiden interrupts. “You are not backing out now. Are you really that scared of me?”
“I’m not scared,” I tell him, leaning forward. “I’m just not interested.” I’m such a liar. The idea of kissing him has my blood pumping, but I can’t let him know that.
He shakes his head. “I find that hard to believe.”
I scoff. “That’s just because you’re conceited.”
He tuts, leaning in closer. “Not conceited, baby. Just confident.”
“If she won’t kiss you, I will.” A girl beside him says, glaring at me. I look to Aiden, raising my brow, seeing if he’ll take the bait, but he doesn’t even look at her.
He tilts his head, looking amused. “It’s just a kiss,” he says with that husky voice of his. “I promise it won’t get you pregnant.” He smirks. “I know I’m good, but—”
“Seriously?” I laugh. “You really can’t accept that I just don’t like you?”
“And you can’t finish the game and kiss me?” Those words on his lips have my breath hitching in my throat. I can tell he notices because his smile widens, eyes dipping down to my mouth. Is this really happening?
“Just kiss him,” Madi says, making me rip my eyes from Aiden and to her. Her long legs are crossed as she shrugs, her plump red lips lifting in a smirk. “He’ll never shut up if you don’t.”
“Listen to your friend,” Aiden coaxes. My head snaps to the man in front of me. Did he get closer? “She knows what she’s talking about.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “Do you even remember my name?”
He licks his bottom lip once again, making my eyes drift down to them. “Of course I do, Leila,” he emphasizes, making me look at his eyes instead of his lips. “Did you just want to hear me say it?” he teases. “You can hear me say it all you want. Just kiss me first.”
I want to scorn him for being such an arrogant piece of work. I want to say it will never happen. I want to say something, but instead, I lean in.
Dios. I’m going to regret this.
