Cursed Hearts (A Crossroads Novel) (35 page)

Aria
tasted sweet, she felt soft, and she smelt delicious. She was submissive and
enticing, and she wasn’t stopping her. She was letting her nudge her mouth open
with her lips, letting her push her tongue into her mouth and responding
eagerly to every stroke and caress. Scarlet reached up to smooth her hand slowly
over her soft curls. Her fingers slipped around
the
side of Aria’s neck, and before she realized what she was
doing, she was easing her back onto the grass.

“Oh,”
Jesse breathed. They’d almost leaned back into his lap. Ariahna’s head was
resting on his thigh, and Scarlet’s hand was brushing gently against the
outside of his leg as she caressed Aria’s neck.

“
They’re
touching me
,” he whispered excitedly, pointing at the two girls making out
on top of him.

“Shhh,”
Jason said, pressing a finger to his lips. If Jesse kept moving around like
that, he was going to shake them out of whatever spell
they were
under. The entire group was completely silent.

Rome fought back a growl as Scarlet’s hand swept over
Aria’s breast.
Her
skirt was slipping slowly higher, and by the look on Dallas’s face and the tilt
of his head, Rome knew he could see her underwear.

Sister
my ass
, he
thought.

“That’s
enough,” he said roughly. Scarlet made no move to stop, and Aria moaned softly
as her hand ghosted up her leg, pushing her skirt even higher. Rome couldn’t have
been more jealous.

Nearly
every guy in the group exclaimed disappointedly as he pulled Scarlet off of
her. “I said that’s enough. This is spin the bottle, not have sex on the fucking
grass.”

“Actually,
we were playing have sex on Jesse,” Jesse smiled.

Ariahna
hid her face behind her hands.

“It’s
a party,” Scarlet said. “Lighten up.”

Rome
sat back down, glaring at her intently. He really wanted to give her a piece of
his mind, but he didn’t think Aria would appreciate it right now.

“Someone
else can go,” she mumbled.

Amber
twirled the bottle after no one else made a move for it. It stopped, and Kaleb
and she turned to stare at each other in mutual disgust.

“I’d
eat her face off before I’d kiss her,” Kaleb said.

“Dude,
she’s hot,” Jason exclaimed. “What’s your problem?”

“She
smells like
bitch
.”

Amber
snatched the bottle off the grass and Shawn had to stop her from chucking it at
Kaleb’s head. “Better than a bloodsucking leach.”

“Alright,
knock it off,” Rome said.

“How
about a new game?” Dallas suggested.

“Let’s
play I’ve never,” Eliza said happily. “I’ll go first. I’ve never kissed a
girl.” She waggled her eyebrows at Scarlet with a grin.

“Wait,
we need more booze,” Jesse said. “I’m almost tapped out.”

“Christian,
go
fetch
some mini-kegs,” Dallas said.

Christian sighed. “Fine,” he mumbled, walking off towards
the
beach.

“What
about him?” Brooke said. “It’s not fair if he’s not drinking.”

“Someone
could conjure me a root beer,” Rome said.

Matt
opened his hand and a plastic bottle appeared in his palm. He tossed it at Rome
who caught it, frowning at it in disgust.

“This
is half gone,” he complained. “You got me a used bottle of root beer. And it’s
warm. That’s just sick.”

“What
if it was a stripper’s?” Jason smirked.

“That’s even worse. Now I’ve got really bad ideas about
where this thing’s been,” he said, tossing it over his shoulder and wiping his
hands off on the grass. Ariahna handed him an unopened bottle a moment later,
and he
smiled at her
in response. “Thanks.”

“That’s
still not exactly fair,” Brooke pointed out.

“It’s fine,” Dallas said. Brooke was nice, but she was
dumber than a
box of rocks. She and Jason would make a cute
couple, he thought
offhandedly.

Christian
hurried back with the kegs and a stack of cups under his arm. He poured
everyone a glass, and all the guys took a drink. Aria took a timid sip, and Scarlet
downed a healthy gulp.

Christian
wanted to laugh, knowing what was in it.

“Shawn,
are you sure you’ve actually kissed a girl?” Dallas teased.

“Scarlet,
your turn,” Eliza said.

“Okay.
I’ve never… broken a bone.”

Rome
and Aria were the only two who drank to that.

“Pass,”
Ariahna mumbled.

“No
passing in this game,” Dallas said. “That’s cheap.”

“Fine,”
she sighed. “I’ve never…” She clenched her jaw. The only things she could think
of were depressing or bitter. She finally just said the first thing that came
to her mind. “I’ve never betrayed someone’s trust.”

“You
might as well just say my name,” Christian said, taking a sip.

“Okay,” Jesse said. “
I’ve never been skinny dipping. But I want to
,” he mumbled
with a grin. He looked around the circle to see who would cop to it. When
Tabitha and Brooke took a drink, he wasn’t surprised. Scarlet was the
adventurous type, so that wasn’t a shocker, either. Jason jumped at any excuse
to take his clothes off. He didn’t know Kaleb, but it seemed fitting given that
he’d grown up in Lumara. The two that took him by surprise were
Amber and Rome.

“Really?”
he said. “When did you two end up doing that?”

“You
make it sound like we did it together,” Rome frowned.

“For
all I know, you could have.”

“For
all you know, we still might,” Amber said. Rome’s eyebrows shot up into his
hairline and Ariahna sent an icy glare her way. “We do have a beach just on the
other side of those trees,” she shrugged.

“Brooke,
it’s your turn,” Rome said, tripping over his words.

She
seemed to be having a hard time coming up with anything and Kaleb jumped in
without any prompting. “I’ve never eaten a cat,” he deadpanned, “and I seriously
hope none of you have, either.”

Rome shoved Kaleb on the arm.

“Seriously? I think you need to go again,” he laughed.

Kaleb just stared at him. “Why?
I’ve literally never eaten a cat.”
Rome didn’t seem satisfied with that answer. “Alright,
fine. I’ve never
eaten a
dog,”
he said sarcastically.

The group erupted in laughter.

“Yeah, but you want to,” Christian
grinned.

“Shut up,” Rome hissed.

“I don’t get it,” Jason said. “Why does he want
to eat a dog?”

“Can I just go?” Rome asked.
Dallas waved a hand at him, and he realized he didn’t even have anything to
say. “I’ve never… um,” he mumbled, clamming up. This was one reason why he
didn’t like social gatherings. He was too awkward for this, and he didn’t have
the alcohol to loosen him up like
everyone else. “I’ve never… left this town. Not
really.”

Nearly everyone took a drink.

Shawn thought about what he
was going to say as Tabitha and Amber took their turns. It wasn’t until Dallas
told him to go that he realized what was going to come out of his mouth.

“…I’ve never had sex.”

Rome grit his teeth. Everyone in the circle was drinking
to that but him. Even Aria had to take another timid sip.

“Bullshit,” Dallas shouted, calling him out.

“What?” Rome said, glaring
at the grass. “
Is that so hard to believe?”

“Not really,” Christian muttered. “Fucking pussy.”

“Screw you. Maybe I just actually want it to mean
something when I decide to do that for the first time.”

His words left Christian
feeling spiteful. “Or maybe no one’s ever
wanted to have sex with you. The entire town
knows you’re garbage.”

“Cool it,” Dallas warned.

“It’s not anything to be ashamed of,” Aria said,
glancing over at Rome. She looked away quickly. “I think it’s a smart decision
to wait.”

“He’s had his fair share of offers,” Kaleb added
smoothly, dropping a
hand over Rome’s groin.

“Kaleb,” Rome exclaimed, tossing his hand away.
“Knock it off. You’re not helping.” He bent his legs up, draping his arms
around his knees. After that, he was really just considering getting up and
leaving. The game continued, and Rome frowned at the way Dallas was smiling at
him. As soon as it was his turn, he understood exactly what that grin had been
all about.

“I’ve never seen a ghost,” Dallas smirked.

“Fuck you,” Rome said, smiling out of embarrassment.
“That shit happened.” He looked over to see that Kaleb wasn’t drinking. “Well?”
he said, poking the side of his cup.

“Technically,” Kaleb drawled, “I didn’t see him.”

“That’s so fucking cheap,” Rome laughed.
“Whatever.”

They played another two rounds before the group
decided to switch things up. They were all intoxicated thanks to both the booze
and the aphrodisiac. Christian was the only one that knew it, and he wasn’t
about to tell anyone. Things were getting way too interesting.

“Alright kids, moving on,” Dallas said. “New
game. We’re playing:
 
Baby, Do You Love Me?
Who
knows the rules?”
Only a handful of
people raised their hands. “Okay, this is how it
goes. One person is ‘it’.
That person
spins the bottle, and whoever it lands on, they have to sit in that person’s
lap.” He grinned at that part. “Once sitting in said person’s lap, whoever is
‘it’ has to say, ‘Baby, if you love me, smile.’ The other person has to
respond, ‘I love you, baby, but I just can’t smile!’ If they crack a smile when
they say it, they become ‘it’. If they don’t smile, the person who sat in their
lap has to spin again and sit in a new lap until someone else becomes ‘it’.
Simple enough, right?” He looked around to make sure they’d all understood. He
wasn’t sure they had, drunk as they were. This would be a
good break from all the drinking. “We’ll spin the
bottle to see who goes first
.” The
bottle
landed on Kaleb, and he narrowed his eyes at it in discontent.

“Do it,” Rome said, egging him on. “Payback for
not drinking.”

“You won’t think it’s funny
if I have to sit in your lap.”
That shut
Rome up, making Kaleb more pleased with the turn of events. He spun the bottle
wordlessly, the corner of his mouth twitching when it landed on Matt.

“Nope,” Matt said, waving his hands in the air as
Kaleb approached.

“You’re so unadventurous,” Scarlet teased, echoing
his words.

“Fine,” he grit out. “Bring. It. On.”

Kaleb shrugged elegantly, settling himself in
Matt’s lap.

“Baby, if you love me, smile,” he said.

Matt was trying really hard, but he couldn’t keep
a straight face with a dude in his lap. He couldn’t even get the first word
out. He squeaked before breaking into a fit of snickers.

“I’m not calling you baby,” he said.

“Your loss.”

“Great, now I have to sit in someone’s lap,” Matt
sighed. “Knowing my luck, it’s going to be another guy.”

Sure enough, he landed on Shawn.

“You jinxed yourself, man,” Jason said.

Matt hung his head in defeat. “So help me Shawn,
you better smile.” Shawn smiled before Matt had even fully gotten to his feet,
and Matt pointed at him excitedly. “That counts!” he said. “That counts,
right?”

“It counts,” Shawn assured him. He reached over
and spun the bottle before anyone else could argue with their decision. Ariahna
seemed stunned when it stopped on her. “Uh…” he said, stumbling to his feet.
“How am I supposed to sit in her lap?” Shawn was quite tall, and Aria looked
tiny in comparison. “I’m going to crush her.”

Ariahna was already biting her cheek, trying not
to laugh. Shawn floundered around her, trying to perch on her knee and almost
falling on his butt in the grass. She closed her eyes and tried to breathe
through the need to grin. He finally managed to sit without falling over or
squashing her. His legs were bent up awkwardly near his chest, and everyone in
the group was chuckling at them.

“What am I supposed to say again?” he smirked.
“Never mind, I remember. Baby, if you love me, smile.” Aria’s face was turning
red and he was starting to worry she wasn’t breathing.

She had told herself she wasn’t going to smile.
But then Shawn had started talking and it felt almost impossible not to crack a
grin. “B-Baby,” she
said, not even getting
the first word out before she had to turn away, laughing. She tried to clamp a
hand over her mouth, but the damage was already done.
Shawn climbed out
of her lap, and she bent down to give the bottle a good spin. It twirled
quickly around before stopping so suddenly it seemed like someone had slapped a
hand down over it.