Jasper’s anti-bulky body and height was enough to make him clumsy when buzzed. He bumped into the doorframe a few times before entering the room.
“Hey, guys! Kate made Jell-O sh- shit.”
He turned the word shots easily into shit when he saw the position we were in. He drew our attention enough for the exchange or saliva to stop, and all I heard was our breath rattling in our chests, out of our control.
I sat back as I yanked two hairs from the back of her head as she yelped, still on top of me. She touched her neck like a mosquito bit her instead of throwing accusations.
I looked carefree, innocent, and comfortable.
These fucking hormones made me hyper aware that she was stretched into this perfect pin-up position, right on top of the parts of me that demanded attention.
On-the-way-to-drunk Jasper stumbled to the hard liquor we kept in this room, which was off limits to everyone else. I watched him pour shots before he attempted to carry them all over to us, while I waited for the cheers part of this.
He had no speech or witty comments or even the sobriety to say cheers before he gulped it back.
Arianna was next to throw it back, like a professional I noticed. Most girls didn't like Whiskey or hard alcohol. I was mildly impressed. I set mine down on the table, declining the liquid gold. I had two beers. If I had anymore, I couldn't be responsible for how rude or pushy I got with Arianna. That was my hard limit, two beers, and I was still in control.
She made no attempt to move or find her own chair, and the mind game of it all was getting to me. Parts of me loved whatever game she was playing, and I'm sure she felt that, while other parts of me despised that she could toy with me so easily.
She twisted her neck around, watching Jasper leave the room in his buzzed glory, one more shot away from drunk, before she looked back to me.
“He's a character.”
“He's a party trick.”
She looked at me confused with her eyebrows bowing along with her feelings.
“He’s always proving something… always performing a trick.”
She put her hands on my chest and her features softened into a clear lust. Even her lips were flirting with me as her tongue swiped her bottom lip.
“What was he proving tonight?”
My hands grasped her hips tightly to keep her from moving. She didn't need to know how easily I was turned on by her.
“That he's smart enough to not study, get drunk, and still make his marks. That he's better than everyone.”
She unzipped her black hoodie slowly and discarded it like suddenly she wasn't cold at all. She pulled her bottom lip in and caged it with her teeth.
“He wants to be king?”
I felt my eyes slant down at her mention of a threat—one I wasn't actually worried about, but any threat made my alarms go off.
“No one will be me.”
She took my calloused palm in her hand and dragged my hand along her body. She leaned back slightly, while slightly telling me what I knew was okay, to squeeze and grasp whatever I wanted in my hands.
I almost forgot about her strands of purple hair in my pocket, to either destroy her or make her one of us. I pushed away reason and the demands of the circle. Despite my reputation of being a selfish man, I really spent every minute protecting everyone else. This was my moment to be my reputation.
I looked up at Arianna, who looked as starved as me. “Are you sure?”
Her eyes glowed in the dim lighting. The glint in her eye looked like the whiskey in the cup next to me—liquid gold with darker flecks. She nodded her head, and I watched her fingers delicately pull her tank top from her ribs.
My eyes were glued to her in a way that my attention was never demanded. I kept my relaxed position, just watching her, not advancing her in any way. I was content letting her lead. She finally dipped her head, and I sat up for my busted lips to meet hers again, while my arms wrapped around her, making sure to land on her full ass.
Hungry, our lips pushed into each other with aggression, the sting radiating off my lip was well worth it. Her tongue was soft inside my mouth. She even tasted sweet, despite her sour outside.
Her hands grazed my abs under my hoodie and shirt. She was motivated to see more of me. I didn't realize how willing I was to show her until I felt myself kissing her with more passion than a moment ago.
Nyx was hard to miss when he entered a room. He was harder to miss when he brought back up, Austin. My eyes drifted to them before I pulled away from Arianna.
She must have sensed them, because she pulled away and craned her neck to meet my gaze. She turned back towards me unashamed, completely calm.
“Guess that's my cue.”
Arianna sat on me like a throne, and suddenly I felt like her king. Not the bullshit title I earned with my bad attitude, being superior enough to be this school’s leader, and the circle depending on me.
I earned this title differently tonight: A queen picked me to be her king, and it felt more fulfilling than anything I had ever done.
She zipped her hoodie again as we both stood, spinning her around I stood in front of her. The guys could probably read lips, but this was still private.
“I gotta deal with this. My room after?”
I saw her mulling it over and probably wondering what I meant by the vague “this.” I may be her newly crowned king, but those details were only going to be spilled after she proved her loyalty—and not one moment before. Good sex wasn’t enough to pry the vaulted parts of me open.
“Find me after.”
The back of her hand brushed mine as she exited the room, and I plopped down in the heavy chair with a thud.
Now they were cornering me?
Nyx didn't speak, he let Austin start the investigation that was pointless, because we were all there for the part that earned me a busted lip.
“We need to stick together, man…” Austin wasn't comfortable with the hard conversations. He was too rooted in his emotions and feeding off how other people felt.
I stared at Nyx, yet I was talking to Austin.
“I didn't throw a fist, Austin. Talk to your boy.”
His eyes were like knives when our stares finally connected. His arms were folded against his chest, and I could tell we needed more time for the dust to settle.
Austin was always fixing things without the gift of timing.
“We all know how special Luna is to him.”
He didn't have to justify anything to me, we all knew how much Luna mattered to Nyx. He had been pining after her since he transferred in from Australia last year.
In my memories, he had always pined for her, for longer, centuries even, if I wanted to dig up the past, yet he did nothing about it. He was the toughest person I knew. He had the strength of the gods, but little Luna scared him into silence?
“Does she know Nyx?”
I could be approaching this all wrong. I could be pushing him when I knew firsthand the avoidance of love. None of that mattered, being wrong was losing and being weak, and I wasn't any of that. So I was going to blindly fight my position until he caved.
His anger was only mounting into diabolical.
He got a clean shot at me before. Next time, I was going to hit back, I wasn't above defending myself, even from my best friend.
I pushed past Nyx in the doorway with better things to do… like Arianna.
I found Arianna easily in the clumps of people; she stuck out like a sore fucking thumb. Purple hair matched her “don't care” attitude, and her smirk could catch someone on fire.