“Wait, wait, wait,” Max called, as Caleb’s smile fell and his eyes bored into mine with a want in them that I felt right down to the centre of my being. “Xavier didn’t finish his.”
“You’re such a snitch, man,” Xavier complained and Caleb turned to look at them, leaving me staring at him with my jaw grinding as his fingers tightened in my shirt.
“Well you shouldn’t be a little cheat,” Max tossed back and I forced myself to look, my gut plummeting as I saw the bottle of beer which had half an inch of liquid left in the bottom of it.
Max shook it as proof that Xavier hadn’t finished the game and my heart was speared on my own misery.
“No,” I breathed and Caleb’s eyes snapped back to me, but I forced myself to step away, his fingers still knotted in my shirt like he couldn’t let go.
But then he did and he slapped on a bright smile, a laugh leaving him like he was relieved.
“Well thank fuck for that,” Caleb said and maybe it was just a lie, but it didn’t feel like one. It felt like a knife driving right into my chest and carving out my heart.
Xavier shoved out of his seat with a sigh, striding towards me and suddenly I was faced with kissing Darius’s goddamn little brother and Caleb was walking away to sit down beside Max.
No. Fucking no. It wasn’t fair. This wasn’t how it was supposed to go.
Xavier looked to me with a frown and I grabbed the back of his neck, yanking him against me with a growl and kissing him with so much bite that he whinnied in protest. Then I shoved him away from me and drained my beer in one before throwing myself down onto the chair beside Orion and Darcy.
Darcy looked at me with pity in her eyes as the game continued on, but I slapped a fake ass smile on my face as I pretended my heart hadn’t just been kicked and stamped on. That I didn’t feel like I’d been rejected. Because I hadn’t, but somehow, I had.
“My turn!” Geraldine cried, pointing a finger at Orion. “You sir have gotten away with this game far too easily.”
“I literally just got here,” he said as he swigged from his bourbon bottle.
“Precisely,” she said. “So I dare you to wear all the A.S.S. regalia I can carry from my room to here for the rest of the night and right through breakfast tomorrow as well.”
Orion wrinkled his nose while Darcy and Tory burst out laughing, nodding excitedly as he groaned and gave in.
“Alright,” he agreed. “Bring it here then.”
“Come salmon man, I need your bulky arms to assist me.” Geraldine hopped up, pulling Max after her who seemed more than willing to follow as he stared at her ass, though how he could see anything through the miles of pink taffeta covering it, I had no idea.
Caleb glanced over at me as he grabbed himself another beer and I pushed my fingers into my hair, pretending I was as chilled as a cucumber on ice when inside I was dying.
“I can’t believe you bit me, man. Is that how you always kiss people?” Xavier dabbed at his swollen bottom lip.
“Ah shit, did I just steal your rough kiss V-card?” I asked. “Or was it your first kiss V-card?” I gasped in horror.
“Dude,” Darius growled at me and I shrugged innocently.
“What? He shouldn’t have cheated if he didn’t wanna be mouth fucked. I can’t help it if it was his first time.”
“Seth,” Darius hissed. “I’ve already had to watch you kiss my fucking brother like he was one of your little Wolf pack Betas, can we stop talking about it now?”
“Alright, alright,” I said, backing down and looking to Xavier whose cheeks were pinking. “Sorry, man. If you need some cherry popping pointers though I’m all ears.”
“Who’s popping Xavier’s cherry?” Tyler stepped into the room with Sofia under his arm and Xavier swore beneath his breath.
“Look who we found in the hallway!” Geraldine exclaimed as she came prancing back into the cavern with Max trailing after her, his arms full of A.S.S. merchandise.
Tyler smirked at Xavier as he grabbed a couple of beers, passing one to Sofia as they moved to sit with him.
“What happened to your lip?” Sofia asked, reaching out to heal it and Xavier’s blush deepened.
“Seth bit it,” he murmured.
“It was weird,” Tory said thoughtfully. “It was such an angry kiss, like he was trying to rip Xavier’s mouth off.”
Caleb’s eyes slid to me as I fought to keep my smile hitched in place.
“Says the girl who kisses Darius like she’s trying to eat his whole face,” I tossed at her.