The others laughed as Victor pulled away and my cheeks were still red. Victor shared a secret smile with me.
“Your turn to choose, Victor,” Kota said.
“Sang,” Victor said.
I rolled my eyes. “I just had a turn.”
“I get to pick whoever I want,” Victor said. “Pick one.”
“Truth.”
Groans.
Victor was quiet for a moment as if considering his question carefully. “Why did your parents name you Sang?”
This perked everyone up. Again eyes fell on me.
“My grandmother’s name was Sangrida. My mom shortened it to Sang.”
“Which grandmother?” he asked.
“My dad’s mother. She died when I was eight, I think. I don’t really remember her. Marie was named after my mom’s mother.”
“That was two questions,” Gabriel said. “Pick someone, Sang.”
“Your turn, Gabriel,” I said defiantly.
He smirked. “Dare.”
“Crap,” I said. Not that I had a truth picked out but I wasn’t sure what to dare him to do. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to...”
“Anything,” he said. His crystal eyes sparkled. “Just don’t make me burn the house down.”
“Make him kiss something,” Luke said.
“Make him drink from the toilet,” Victor said.
I thought about it. “You know the lip gloss in your bag?” I asked him.
“Uh huh,” he said, his eyebrow lifting.
I nodded toward his bag. “Go get it for me and I get to put it on you.”
The others roared with laughter. Kota had to ask them twice to calm down.
“God damn it,” Gabriel said. He stood up, ran over to his bag and dug through it for the tube of gloss. He brought it back and knelt next to me, smacking the tube into my open palm. “You’re so fucking mean.”
“You said anything,” I said. I pulled the brush from the tube and held it out toward him. “Pucker up, sweetie.”
He made a kissy face at me, smacking his lips as he kissed the air. I handed the bottom part off to Nathan to hold. I grabbed Gabriel’s cheeks and made him do a fish face like he had me do. I got the brush close to his lips and he made some strange face and poked his tongue out at me that I stopped, turning my head to laugh.
“Don’t mess up,” Gabriel said through his squished lips.
“Then stop making faces,” I said. I swiped the brush across his lips. I smeared it pretty well, marking up part of his upper lip just under his nose.
“Hey,” he said. He pulled back his head and reached with his palm to rub it off.
“No. You have to leave it on.”
“For how long?”
“Forever.”
He grunted.
I shrugged. “Until the end of the game.”
He growled. A flash went off. We both turned and there was another flash. Luke had his cell phone out, pointing it at us.
“Oh my fucking god,” Gabriel said and he lunged after Luke. Luke ducked out of the way, shifting to hide behind North. North took the phone from his brother and sat on it, giving Gabriel a look as if daring him to come get it.
I was leaning against Nathan, laughing way too hard. Nathan wrapped a hand around my waist to hold me up, pressing his cheek to the top of my head.
“Fine, fine,” Gabriel said, going back to sit cross-legged in his spot. “Sang’s turn.”
I was going to say truth again but everyone was looking and waiting for it. I relented. “Dare,” I said in a small voice.
Gabriel beamed, his shiny pink lips glinting in the light. “I should make you kiss a toilet.”
“Please don’t,” I begged.
He smiled and curled his fingers at me. “Alright, come here. You have to sit on my lap until the end of the game.”
My mouth popped open but what could I say? I sat on laps all night. No one argued his dare. I smirked, crawling over to him. He opened his arms and pulled me in to sit in the middle of his crossed legs, my back pressed to his chest. He put his cheek next to the side of my head. His arms threaded around my waist.
“Nathan?” I said, hoping he might be able to save me.
“Dare,” he said.
Gabriel’s lips traced my ear as he whispered. I started repeating it. “You have to... get three pieces of ice... and... oh man that’s so mean!” I said to Gabriel.
“You aren’t supposed to help her,” Nathan said.
“She wants you to put ice in your underwear,” he said. “That’s tame shit. I just did you a favor.”
Nathan turned to me. “Is that what you want?”
I blushed, putting my fingers to my lips but I couldn’t hide my smile. I didn’t have a better idea and Gabriel’s suggestion was funny.
“Fuck,” he said and he got up to go to the kitchen. He came back with three pieces of ice which he held out to me so I could see. He sat down in his spot, yanked out the elastic to his shorts and dropped the ice inside. “Christ,” he barked, and he closed up his legs, shoving his face into his knees. “Sang!”
“Dare!” I called out, still hoping he’d have pity on me.
“Bite Gabe,” he said through his teeth, seething. “Hard enough to leave a mark.”
“Hey,” Gabriel said.
I started a giggle fit. Gabriel shifted his legs so I bounced in his lap. I grabbed his arm, brought it to my mouth, and stopped short to laugh again.
Nathan’s head lifted. They all stared in silence as I opened my mouth and sank my teeth into Gabriel’s skin. I tasted salt, felt the hair on the back of his arm tickle my tongue.
“Good girl,” Gabriel said, nearly purring.
“I said hard, Sang,” Nathan said.
I bit down.
“Ow, fuck,” he said, yanking his arm from my mouth. His forearm had my teeth marks indented into his skin.
“Silas?” I asked.
“Truth.”
I knew exactly what I wanted to ask him. “What did you say...”
“You have a beautiful laugh,” he said. His brown eyes zeroed in on me. “That’s what I said to you outside of class in the hallway. I’m not ashamed to say it out loud.”
The others giggled.
“He’s right about that,” Gabriel whispered in my ear. He bounced me on his lap again.
“Sang,” Silas said.
“Dare,” I said.
He was quiet for a minute, looking at my face as if weighing in on what he could ask me. “I want another hug.”
The guys laughed again. I crawled out of Gabriel’s lap and knee walked over. Silas held open his arms for me, catching me. He wrapped his strong arms around me and squeezed me against his chest. My cheek pressed against his bare shoulder and chest. His nose pressed to my neck, and he inhaled deeply. I wrapped my arms around his neck, my fingers curled into his hair, breathing in his ocean scent.
When he let go, Gabriel called out to me, “Get back here.”
“Luke,” I said as I crawled back into Gabriel’s lap.
“Dare,” he said.
“I want the damn photo deleted,” Gabriel said.
“That’s not what I want,” I said, laughing. “I want... um...”
North caught my eye. He made a kissing motion with his lips.
“I want you to kiss...” I started to say.
North wiggled his toes.
“My foot,” I said, getting another round of giggle fits.
“I said no kiss dares,” Nathan growled.
“It’s her foot. That doesn’t mean anything,” North said, shrugging. “I actually meant to get her to say her shoe but close enough.”
Luke laughed, pushing blond hair away from his face. “I’ve got the easy one.” He crawled over. I held out a leg. He grabbed at it, and puckered, pressing his lips against the top of my toes.
A spark slipped from my foot to my stomach.
The others were laughing.
Luke gazed up at me and we locked
eyes. He winked. “Sang,” he said.
“Tru...,” I said, but I got a jab in the ribs from Gabriel. “Ugh, dare.”
Luke’s brown eyes flickered. He stood up and held out his hand to me. “Come with me for a minute.”
I dropped my hand into his and he hauled me to my feet. He tugged and I followed him to Kota’s bedroom door. He opened it and pulled me up the carpeted stairs. The others trailed behind us.
We clustered together in Kota’s room. Luke went to the closet and then held the door open. “In,” he said, jerking his head toward the dark space.
I blushed. He wanted me to stand in the closet?
“I don’t think so,” North said.
“She said dare,” Luke said. “She gets to sit with me in the closet for two minutes.”
“No way,” Victor said. “That’s too far.”
“You guys don’t trust me,” he said. “I slept in her room all night and you won’t trust me in the closet for a minute. I’m not going to hurt her.”
“No kissing, either,” Nathan warned.
Luke pouted. “You guys ruin everything.” He grabbed at my arm and yanked me into the closet, closing the door.
We stood in the dark.
Luke pressed himself close to me, enough to where I could inhale vanilla. His fingers brushed against my chin.
“Luke,” I whispered. “They said no.”
“I know,” he said. He felt for my cheeks. “Trust me.” He traced his hand over my mouth, his fingers covering my lips. “Now, I’m going to let go for one second, okay? When I do, yell at me about something. Tell me to stop. When they open the door, I’m going to make it look like I am kissing you.”
I smothered a giggle. I should have known. He was trying to prank them all.
Luke uncovered his fingers over my mouth.
In my best distressed voice, I cried out. “Luke! Stop it! No, they said not to!”
Luke’s hand flew back over my mouth. The door was opened quickly and Luke bent his head down and kissed the back of his fingers, tilting his head in a way that made it look like we were making out.
I still felt the warmth of his face so close to mine. His fingers were pressed to my lips. Was this what a kiss felt like? I was too flustered and my heart was thundering from being exposed.
The guys gasped together in surprised. Luke lifted his head away to reveal his hand had been there all along.
“You little shit,” North said. His brown eyes shot bullets at his brother. He reached into the closet and yanked Luke out by the shoulder. “I should take you home right now.”
“I didn’t kiss her,” he cried out. “We were just kidding.”
My face was radiating as I stepped out of the closet. Maybe that was too far. How was I going to lighten the mood again? “North? Want to go next?”
“I don’t want to play,” he said, letting his brother go with a glare.
“You have to,” Gabriel said. “It’s Sang’s game.”
North huffed. “Dare.”
Gabriel stood behind him and tugged at his shirt and tried to mouth something to me but I wasn’t understanding.
“Take off your shirt?” I asked out loud.
Everyone laughed. North shook his head with a smirk but pulled his shirt off of his body, hanging it over his shoulder. His muscles flexed, my eyes lingered for much too long on his abs and the trail of hair below his navel.
Gabriel laughed, shaking his head. “I was trying to tell you to get him to strip.”
“That’s too far, Gabriel,” Kota said.
“It’s truth or dare. It’s what girls do.”
“He knows so well,” Luke said.
“Sang,” North said, looking at me intently.
“Tru...” Nathan tagged me in the ribs. “Ugh, dare,” I said quietly, sighing. Of all the people to dare, North’s was scariest. His eyes were intimidating.
He curled his fingers at me. “Come here. Get on my back.”
I bit my lip, crossing the room. He turned and lowered to the ground so I could wrap my arms around his neck. His hands clutched my thighs to pick me up off the ground. He dug a cell phone from his pocket and flicked the camera on.
“Smile, Sang Baby,” he said. I grinned and he snapped the picture. He kept me on his back as he turned the phone around to look at it. His face was almost grumpy, tough and serious and I had a crazy face while I smiled. Night and day. “Not bad.”
“Kota!” I called.
“Dare,” he said.
North put me down on the floor. My eyes flitted around the room for an idea. I was trying to ignore Gabriel since he picked so many. Luke popped into view. I did my best to mimic what he was trying to pantomime.
“Rub your nose... against mine?”
The others laughed. My heart seemed to stop when I realized how close he’d get if he did that.
“As you wish,” Kota said. He closed the distance between us. His fingers found my shoulders, drawing me closer. His face hovered a breath away from mine. I had to close my eyes as it made me feel cross-eyed. Kota slipped the tip of his nose down to meet mine. He glided his nose back and forth.
Our lips were close enough that he only needed to tilt his head a tiny bit to kiss me.
A shiver, like a whirlwind, danced up my spine. Our noses touching felt like gentle spring breeze against my skin. I secretly wanted it to continue.
He drew away, cheeks red and his lips twisted up. I wondered why I felt odd now. I realized it was because no one was laughing.
“Sang?” Kota asked.
I sighed. “Dare?”
He seemed pleased. “Come with me,” he said.
He padded into his bathroom and flicked the light on. He took my hand and guided me inside.
“Hey now,” Luke said. “You all made a fuss when I did that.”
“You guys can come watch,” Kota said. He pushed the door open wider in invitation.
The others followed us, crowding into the doorway of the bathroom. I smothered my shaking, nervous as to what Kota was coming up with. It was exciting and scary at the same time.
Kota pulled me until I was in front of the sink. “Sit up here,” he said, patting the counter. He put his hands on my waist to assist me so I could hop up and sit on the counter in front of him.
“Close your eyes,” he said.
My heart did flips in my chest, my stomach tightened. I let my eyelids fall. The air shifted in front of me and imagined it was Kota waving his hand at my face to make sure I wasn’t peeking.
I heard the water from the sink behind me turn on for a second and Kota shifting around on the floor. Some of the others started giggling.
“Open your mouth,” Kota said.
I gaped at him. “What are you...”
“You said dare,” he said, the command slipping into his voice but in a happy tone. “Don’t you trust me?”
How much did I trust him? I took a deep breath, letting it out and opened my mouth.
A tender touch brushed up against my tongue and I flinched, pulling back. The object was removed from my mouth.
“Sang,” he said in a sharper tone. “Open your mouth.”
I opened my mouth again and steeled myself. Pressure fell against my teeth as he applied the object again. I tasted mint. I realized it was a toothbrush and he was brushing my teeth. I started giggling as the way he was brushing was ticklish against my gums.
“Don’t laugh,” he said. “I don’t want you to choke.”
I was going to say something, but I mumbled around the toothbrush. He reached up for my jaw, tugging at it with his fingers so I’d open up further. I opened my eyes. He was focused on my mouth, with a determined grin on his face. A flash appeared, causing me to jerk back again in surprise. North had his phone back out and he snapped a picture. I squinted my eyes at him, trying to send him a mean glare but he only grinned.
“The best part is,” Gabriel said, “he could have put that thing in the toilet first and you wouldn’t know.”
>
My eyes widened and I choked a little.
“You know I didn’t do that. Calm down,” Kota said. He pulled the toothbrush from my mouth. “Okay, you’re done. Go ahead and rinse. Let’s get back downstairs. You guys get out.”
There was the resemblance of thunder as the guys ran down the stairs. Kota remained behind with me as I bent over the sink to swish my mouth and spit. I pulled back and he had a towel ready for me.
“Having fun?” he asked, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning back against the sink.
“Yup,” I said, smiling as I wiped my mouth dry with the towel. The toothbrush was beside the sink. “Is this yours?”
“Yeah,” he said.
I pushed the toothbrush under the running water to clean it. “Aren’t you worried about girl cooties?”
“Are you worried about boy cooties?” he asked, smirking.
I didn’t know the right answer for that. Did that mean something?
“I’m glad you’re having fun,” he said, adjusting as he leaned against the sink and watched me. “The guys are doing their best.”
I knocked the toothbrush against the sink. Water droplets flickered back into the basin. “What do you mean?”
“We did this for you,” he said. “It’s been a tough week. A tough several weeks, actually.”
I blushed, dropping the brush back onto the counter and shutting the water off. “You guys didn’t have to go through any trouble.”
“We wanted to,” he said. He turned slightly so he was facing me.
“Why?” I asked, focusing on the basin. I started folding the towel. Did I really want to know this answer?
Kota wrapped his hands around mine holding the towel, forcing me to look up. His green eyes sparkled against the light. “When I first met you, you were this little haunted girl, and I just didn’t know why. Next thing I know, you’re neck deep in trouble, with us at school and at home. Despite all those problems, you’re positive and hopeful. Every time you’ve been knocked down, you’ve gotten right back up. But there was always some ghost hanging over your shoulder. You’d come up for air for a split second and then slip right back into that distant stare. Now look at you.”
I tilted my head at him, confused. Ghosts? Haunted? Is that how he saw me? I wasn’t sure. I just wanted to stop feeling so kept apart from everything. He’d said I’d eventually feel a part of their group, and I wasn’t sure if I felt that way at all, or if it would ever happen. “I haven’t changed,” I said. “I’m still me.”