“What do you want to play?” Gabe’s got a beer dangling in his fingers and mischief in his eyes, which seems like a dangerous combination.
“Never Have I Ever?” Rosalind suggests.
She’s sitting next to Liam, her cheeks flush with alcohol, her fingers tugging anxiously on a stray string dangling from her tiny blue bikini.
Loni purses her lips and nods. “Straight middle school nostalgia.”
A small amount of anxiety swirls in my belly. That’s a game that has a tendency to lead to secrets being revealed, and I’m not sure it’s such a good idea to play. Still, I also know I’ll only look more suspicious if I object to it, so I press my lips together and keep silent even as my heart beats a little harder than before.
“I’ll start,” Loni says. “We’ll go with an easy one first. Never have I ever shoplifted.”
It’s a softball question, but I’m grateful for it. And I’ve never actually stolen anything, so I don’t drink. To my surprise, though, Rosalind and Gabe both do.
“What’d you take?” Liam asks, his brows furrowed at Rosalind.
Her cheeks darken with what I’m guessing is embarrassment, but she admits, “It really wasn’t that big of a deal. It was just some lipstick when I was twelve. My mom said I was too young for makeup and wouldn’t buy me any, so I took a couple tubes from a Neiman Marcus department store when she took me shopping once.”
“What about you?” I look to Gabe, who’s smirking, no doubt just waiting for the chance to brag about his misdeeds.
“I stole a pair of panties from an Agent Provocateur store when I was thirteen,” he says, looking entirely too proud of himself.
“Why? I mean, did you wear them or something?” Loni questions, and I almost groan out loud, knowing we’re not going to like his answer.
He looks her dead in the eye and casually replies, “I thought it’d be better jerking off with them than just my hand.”
Our collective sounds of disgust fill the air, and I cringe, remembering how he’d stolen my underwear first semester after Laurel had taken my clothes to humiliate me.
Fucking. Awkward.
“Gross,” Loni groans. “Just for that, you have to go next.”
“Alright.” Gabe cracks his knuckles and squints for several seconds before his eyes pop wide like he’s just discovered the fountain of youth. “Never have I ever fucked a teacher.”
I freeze, and I feel Saint tense next to me. Is this a joke? How could Gabe possibly know that? Since he’s not looking at me, I tell myself this is just a coincidence. A stupid question that any stupid teenager would ask, right?
My brain is screaming at me, Lie, lie, lie!
I don’t take a drink, and neither does anyone else. Laughing, Gabe just shakes his head.
“Damn, thought I’d air out some dirt,” he sighs dramatically. He’s still not singling me out in any way, and I relax a little.
It was just a dumb joke.
He doesn’t know.
Saint’s still rigid next to me, so I lean against his arm a little just to let him know I’m okay. He shifts, and I fall into him more firmly.
“Who’s next?” Rosalind asks.
“How about you?” Loni says.
Rosalind perks up. “Okay, I’ve got one. Never have I ever had sex in the Angelview library.”
I almost laugh at the question, but then I see Loni’s cheeks darken as she raises her drink to her lips. To my complete shock, Gabe drinks as well.
“Whoa, both of you? Did you guys fuck each other or something?” Liam teases.
Dead silence follows Liam’s words. For once, Gabe doesn’t look so cocky and amused. He shoots an uncertain glance Loni’s way, but she’s avoiding everyone’s eye.
Holy shit.
“Wait,” Liam says, shaking his head. “Did you guys fuck?”
Gabe glares at Liam. “Would you shut up?”
“You did!” Liam exclaims.
Rosalind’s jaw drops and her brown eyes fill with regret. “Oh, my God! I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean … it was just a stupid question…” she sputters helplessly.
Loni releases an exasperated sigh and rolls her eyes. “Fuck it, fine. Yes, Gabe and I had sex. It was freshman year when we were both on the boxing team. Happy?”
“V-Card,” Gabe mouths, and Loni throws a punch at him that nails him in the chest.
“Wait! You gave Gabe your virginity?” Liam looks absolutely stunned. “In the school’s library?”
Loni is obviously embarrassed but trying hard to shrug it away. “Obviously, if I could go back and do it all over again, I’d do things differently. Since I can’t, can we move on now?”
There’s a definite tension in the air now, and I can’t help but notice that Gabe looks just a little bit disappointed.
“Um, let’s just keep going,” I quickly say, hoping to take the heat off of Loni. “I’ll go. Never have I ever done drugs?”
It’s an ironic statement coming from the girl who grew up with a meth lab in her basement, I know, but it’s the first thing that pops into my mind.
“What kind of drugs?” Gabe asks, waggling his eyebrows.
I make a face. “What do you mean?”
“It’s no fun if you include pot because we’ve all done that.” There’s an edge to his voice, and I have a bad feeling he’s trying to stir up shit. “Get more specific to make it interesting.”
Though I’m sure I’ll regret giving in, I can’t help but be curious as to what his game is.
“Alright,” I nod. “Never have I ever raided my mom’s pill stash.”
There’s a heartbeat of stillness and then…
Rosalind slowly lifts her drink to her lips.
“Fuck, really?” The words are out of my mouth before I can stop them. “Shit, I’m so sorry, Rosalind. I had no idea—”
She shakes her head and waves off my apology. “It’s alright. Half the people here already know about it, so why shouldn’t you?”
There’s a note of bitterness in her tone, but I don’t think it’s really directed at me. I realize, though, why Gabe was goading me.
He knew, and he knew that I didn’t.
“Rosalind, really, you don’t have to…”
“I know Saint told you about my stepdad,” she cuts me off. “I took pills to escape. Stupid, I know, and addictive. I had a real problem. It’s why I left Angelview.”
Fucking Gabe. I’m going to kill that sonofabitch.
“I’m sorry,” I say, as sincerely as I can.
She gazes down at her lap and sifts her fingers through the sand.
“It’s alright,” she murmurs.
“I think that’s enough of this fucking game,” Saint growls.
“Ah, come on,” Gabe laughs. “We haven’t gotten dirt on everyone yet.”
I’ve never seen Gabe like this, and it’s disturbing as hell. Is it just because he’s angry at Loni? Drunk? Both?
Whatever the toxic combo that’s brought this side out of him is, I have a feeling he could potentially be more destructive than Saint.
“Gabe, just shut the fuck up, man,” Liam snarls.