Robbie pins him with a look that sends a chill down my spine. “Because I made the rules and I say there are shots and forfeits.”
The game starts and in typical Titan fashion it’s chaos. Mattie has to send the last photo on his camera roll to his family group chat—he won’t tell us what it is, but he does step away from the table to take a call from his grandmother. Henry and Bobby have to switch clothes. Joe pulls a block that says, “give your underwear to the person opposite you” and Aurora’s friend Emilia argues with Kris that she’s definitely not opposite Joe; he is. By the time the game reaches our side of the table, Kris is wearing Joe’s boxers over his clothes and he takes two shots instead of making out with Emilia, who has a girlfriend and threatens to punch him if he even tries. Emilia pulls a blank block. Followed by Aurora doing the same. It’s hard to miss the disappointment.
I’m distracted by her cute pout when I hear a “hurry the fuck up, Muffin” from one of the guys. I push the block through the center carefully.
SHOW THE LAST MESSAGE YOU RECEIVED TO THE PERSON BESIDE YOU
I try not to drop the block as my hands start to sweat, flipping it over because whatever my forfeit is won’t be as bad as that.
SEND FAULKNER AN “I LOVE YOU” TEXT
Wrong.
People are asking me what it says, but my mind is running, working out how to get out of this without explaining why I need to. Aside from having no desire to get on Coach’s bad side again, my last-received text message was from my dad asking me to send him money. My stomach sinks with the weight of the ugly truth that he finds a way to snake his way into every situation and spoil it. I didn’t even read it fully before closing the conversation; it’s always the same shitty excuse anyway.
I’ll pay you back. I’ll pay you double back. I know a guy who knows the trainer and the race is a sure thing.
Or, once he’s had a drink, you have everything because of me. You’ve turned your back on this family. Won’t even help his own flesh and blood, you’re not my son. You think you’re better than us because you go to a fancy school, you’ll just fuck it up anyway.
Impatient for a response, Stassie plucks the block from my hand and reads it out to the group, who understandably laugh. I’d laugh, too, if the message was from anyone else. I take a shot in each hand, downing them in quick succession.
“Wow, you really didn’t want me to see those nudes,” Aurora says as I wipe a stray droplet with the back of my hand. “I’m kidding, don’t look so serious. It’s nice.”
“Nice?”
She nods. “That you’re not flashing around your private stuff. Private is nice.”
Private. Something I’m good at. Shame it’s for all the wrong reasons.
The game continues, round and round, shots are taken, dares done, insults flung in the direction of Robbie and JJ. Nate ends up having to cash app his sister money for not kissing the person to his left: Robbie. Bobby sends an “I miss you” text to Faulkner, Henry has to shotgun a beer and I end up shirtless for not kissing the nearest red head, which happens to be Lola. Kissing the girlfriend of my roommate and coach doesn’t feel like the best way to make it through the rest of my college career.
Emilia leans across to the tower, which is looking significantly more unstable than earlier. A grin spreads across her face as she reads from the block. “Nominate two people to kiss. You guys are so childish,” she mumbles, turning the block around to face us, lips tugging into a mischievous grin. “Well, since they’re the only people I know . . . I suppose . . . I’ll just have to choose Aurora and Russ.”
“What am I? A ghost?” JJ shouts from the other side of the table, throwing his arms up dramatically. “Our friendship is clearly a joke to you.”
I hear her say my name, but it doesn’t immediately register that she’s said my name until I sense Aurora looking up at me. She really is gorgeous, Jesus.
The only person who knows you’re not confident is you.
Her cheeks are more flushed than earlier, eyes glossy. “Are you sober enough to be okay with this?”
She nods, grinning. “Are you?” I gently slip my hand beneath her hair to cup the back of her neck, rubbing my thumb beneath her jaw as her pulse hammers against my palm.
“Yep.” She stretches up onto her tiptoes as my head lowers, her hands finding their place on my neck and then my mouth meets hers. Soft at first, hesitant, until she moans softly and for a minute, I forget that we have an audience.
The audience don’t forget us though and, when I pull her body closer to mine, they whoop, bringing us both back down to earth with a crash. Breaking apart, she takes a step back, hand shooting to her lips as she turns to Emilia and mutters something that makes her grin.
Fake it until you make it.
The game moves on, blank block after blank block round the whole table, making people question if Robbie and JJ just gave up writing dares, to which they’re incredibly insulted. Aurora pulls another blank block and a disappointed groan from the table follows.
“This tower is holding it together better than I can,” Aurora mumbles, putting the block on the top of the wobbling structure.
I pull mine and immediately spot Robbie’s untidy scrawl on the wood.
CHANGE DIRECTION
“Change direction?” I read out loud. “I don’t get it?”
“It means it’s my go again,” Aurora says from beside me and Robbie nods to confirm.
She picks her block which—speaking strictly from an engineering standpoint—is one of the worst one’s she could’ve chosen if she wants the tower to stay upright. It occurs to me that she might just want to see it fall over, but the thought stops there when she starts to laugh. And it’s fucking magical.
She spins the block to face the group.
GIVE YOUR NEAREST HOCKEY PLAYER A LAPDANCE FOR 2 MINUTES
“That was the one I wrote!” Lola shouts happily. “You’re welcome, Muffin.”
If looks could kill, I’d be dead. Every player is looking at me with pure jealousy after appraising Aurora for a little too long. I clear my throat loudly and they all snap out of it.
Oh, man. I’m going to get a boner in front of all my friends.
Bobby rushes off to find one of the chairs we stored earlier as Anastasia asks Aurora her musical preferences. I know it isn’t a big deal, but it low-key feels like a big deal. I’m pretty sure my face is bright red. How the fuck am I supposed to fake confidence through this?
Bending to her height, I move close to her ear so only she can hear me. “You don’t have to do this. Don’t let them peer pressure you.”
“It’s a silly dance,” she says, squeezing my arm. “But thank you. If you’re not good with it, I’ll just do the shots.”
“I’m good with it.” I’m so fucking good with it.
“Anything you don’t want me to do?”
God, no. “You can do anything.”
There’s something about already being shirtless that makes this whole thing feel more intimate. Thankfully, having multiple people staring right at you while you sit in a dining room chair is enough to wipe that feeling away.
Nice to know this is what I’ll think of next time I sit to eat.
Aurora reaches for her shots, doing two. “I’m not forfeiting,” she confirms quickly. “It’s for courage.”
I feel like I need courage and all I’ve got to do is sit here and let a woman who is so far out of my league we’re not even playing the same sport dance on me. The music changes from the upbeat chart song that was playing to something slower, darker and Lola holds up her phone with the timer set.