Alicia clapped her hands together. “Mia, I dare you to kiss Isaac, then.”
Ollie’s low voice interjected, “She just said—”
“Precisely my point. She doesn’t kiss people. It’s the perfect dare for her. She can either start kissing or strip off another article of clothing. Simmer down, Ollie. You already had your fair share.”
My head jerked from Ollie over to Alicia as a taunting grin slowly grew over her face. This was what happened when I stupidly opened up to people. I pulled my white tank over my head and was left in only my black bra and sweatpants. “I told you … I don’t kiss people.”
When I’d kissed Ollie, I was under the influence, and until I had a buzz going, I would continue to take off clothes. “You guys want to come at me with nonsense, and I’ll come back ten times harder.” I narrowed my eyes in Bria’s direction. “I dare you to lick Jake’s butthole.”
Isaac and Ollie’s mouth dropped open before a cackle belted and Jake’s eyes went wide.
“That’s disgusting,” Bria hissed and took off her shirt in defeat. “I dare you to kiss Jake,” she countered with poison in her tone.
Walking over to Ollie, I grabbed the bottle from his hands. After chugging a couple of gulps, I wiped my mouth and handed the bottle back to him before withdrawing my sweatpants, leaving myself in only my bra and black panties. My eyes fell over Alicia as she shifted in her spot. “Alicia—”
“I choose strip,” Alicia snapped before I could finish, and pulled her shirt over her head. “I don’t even want to know what the dare was going to be.”
Isaac and Ollie stayed quiet as Jake whined, utterly offended by Bria and my way of using him as a weapon.
“Mia, I dare you to kiss Ollie,” Alicia said with a smile. Everyone’s eyes grew wide when I reached for the clasp of my bra. They could strip me bare; I still wasn’t kissing anyone.
Before I had a chance to pull it over my shoulders and down my arms, Ollie jumped from the mattress and took a step in front of me, pulling me behind him. “Fuck. Leave the girl alone,” Ollie shouted.
A laugh escaped me as I stood behind Ollie. My bra already fell to the floor. The heat from the whiskey hit me, and I didn’t care anymore. Ollie turned to face me, continuing to block me from everyone else’s view. His mouth parted as his eyes roamed freely over my breasts, as if they were claiming me, and I could feel his stare penetrating my skin. The glowing buzz of the fever ran from my chest, up my neck, and to my cheeks. “Dammit, Mia,” he muttered.
As I tried stepping to the side, he took a step also, moving along with me as if he was shielding me from a predator.
Ollie reached over his head and pulled the shirt off his back.
“What are you doing? It’s fine. I don’t care …” I said as he fit his shirt over my head. He seemed frustrated as I pushed my arms through the holes. The hem of the shirt hit me mid-thigh, and when I lifted my eyes to meet his, he dipped down and crashed his lips to mine.
A whisper of a moan escaped from me as his force sent me back against the cement. He wouldn’t touch me; instead, his palms hit the wall on both sides of me, caging me in. The only link to each other was our lips, interlaced in dire need.
Ollie pulled back slightly and brushed his parted mouth against mine, testing me—teasing me. I wanted more, and he knew this, but he wanted me to come back for it.
Caving, I reached behind his head and took him. Ollie smiled before our tongues collided, spinning me into a rapture, whirling me into a heaven of him. His warm body melted against mine as his tender lips marked their territory. The gentle sucking only left me wanting more. I gripped his hair, pulling him closer, tasting him. Ice and fire. Nothing was ever enough. A familiar light ignited, and I held on to it a moment longer than I should have, before I pushed him away.
I kept him at arm’s length. “Why?”
Our breathing was erratic.
A mix of defeat and determination washed over his features. “Because I’m selfish,” he whispered and wet his already glistening lips, “and I don’t want anyone else to see any part of you.”
I was jealous of how freely Ollie spoke. I was jealous of the way he had no barriers to hide behind. He wasn’t afraid of anything—rejection, feelings, or the way I was going to destroy him. He wasn’t scared at all.
“Remember, you’re doing this to yourself.” I’d warned him too many times. Now, this was his doing. Not mine. My only problem was having to live in his aftermath.
As I stepped away, he wrapped his fingers around my wrist to prevent me from taking another step. He tilted his head to face me. “You’re in denial.” I jerked out of his grasp and found my seat back in the circle. All eyes were on Ollie as he stood in silence with his fingers gripping his hipbones, breathing still reeling from our kiss. “What?”
“Nothing …” everyone said in unison, averting their gaze and darting their eyes around the room. Ollie fell back onto the mattress and reached for the bottle of whiskey off the floor. He took a long, hard sip as the conversation went back to normal.
The game came to an abrupt end afterward, and the atmosphere died down along with it. Time passed, and Isaac passed out at the end of the mattress. Bria inched her way closer and closer toward Ollie as he finished off the bottle by himself.
His last comment about me being in denial replayed in my head. I wasn’t in denial. What could I have been in denial about? Making myself very clear, I’d told him I had no interest in him. I couldn’t feel. My feelings were all a reaction to the buzz. It would pass. He thought he could come to my rescue with a shirt and a kiss, but I didn’t need saving.
“What did you do to Ollie?” Jake giggled in my ear. The whiskey in Jake’s breath and his inability to whisper both told me he was toasted.
Ollie slumped against the wall, rambling things I couldn’t make out. He could hardly keep his eyes open as Bria tugged on his hair.
“Watch this,” Jake whisper-shouted, pointing in Ollie and Bria’s direction. Glancing back over, Bria swung a leg over Ollie’s lap and my stomach jumped into my throat. He tried pushing her away, but she continued circling her hips over him. “Three … two … one …” Jake counted down, and suddenly Bria forced her lips against Ollie’s. “Like clockwork,” he added, and slowly shook his head.
My stomach lodged in my throat was now doing backflips. “Do they do this when Ollie’s not … when he’s not drunk?”
Alicia joined in on the conversation. “You have to understand something. Ollie doesn’t mess around. He’s not the type.”
“What do you mean?” I couldn’t take my eyes away from Bria’s back as her fingers moved across Ollie’s bare chest—across the chest of the boy who made me feel things I was still trying to understand. My insides twisted as Ollie placed his hands over her arms to pull himself away. No one seemed to care, and with each passing second, the pit in my stomach grew bigger and bigger.