Chapter 32

Shawn

“ N ever have I ever...” Joe looked around the group, taking a moment to think of what he wanted to say. He finally shrugged. “Shit, I don’t know. This is hard for me. There isn’t a lot I haven’t done.”

Nathan laughed. “Fuck man, that’s terrible. Besides, isn’t it that you’re supposed to say something you have done to see who else has done it?”

“Are those the rules? Can someone google the damn rules?” Joe grabbed his phone and started typing. Daniel vibrated against my chest as he laughed. It was good to see him lightening up again. The game was stupid and maybe we shouldn’t be doing anything if we didn’t even know how to do it correctly.

Chase took a swig from his bottle, and Nathan nudged him with his shoulder. “Dude, save it for the game.”

The glare that Chase shot him could have murdered a hardened killer. “I’m thirsty. Fucking deal with it.”

And maybe we were all a little too drunk for this still.

“It’s supposed to be something I haven’t done,” Joe declared. “But I’m still supposed to make it juicy. Try to get y’all to admit to some fucked up shit. That’s not going to be as fun when it comes to me.”

“Just say something,” I demanded, holding up my bottle.

“Shit. Fine. Never have I ever drank water from a pet dish.”

Everyone stared in shock as Aiden lifted his bottle to take a sip. “What? I have an older brother who could be a bit of an asshole sometimes.”

Nathan laughed. “You didn’t have to drink it. How old were you, anyway? It was this past fucking summer, kid.”

Aiden’s cheeks tinged pink as he cleared his throat. “Okay, well, never have I ever...” He looked around the group, his blush deepening. “I’ve never slept in someone else’s bed.”

“Lame,” Nathan complained as we all took a drink.

Aiden only shrugged as the circle went around.

Andrew had never left the country, while Brandon had never kissed a girl. Me, Nathan, Daniel, and Joe drank to leaving the country. While everyone except for Aiden admitted to having kissed a girl. Nathan stared at his brother a little longer than necessary with that one.

Nathan had never eaten sushi, and Chase hadn’t ever left Washington State. We all argued that he was cheating with that one since Andrew had already used leaving the country. The game was turning out to be a lot more fun than expected.

“Never have I ever had sex in a public place.” Nathan, Chase, and Joe all drank to my admission.

Daniel fidgeted in my lap as it came to his turn. “Never have I ever...” He took a deep breath and looked around at all his friends. “I’ve never slept with someone I hated.”

There was that weird feeling my chest had been doing all day. He’d slept with me, so he wasn’t playing the game right. Unless he was admitting he didn’t actually hate me. Holy... Oh, fuck. That’s what was happening here.

The room fell silent as everyone looked at us. This game had taken a sudden turn. At least it had where the two of us were concerned. The silence continued to stretch until the game seemed to go on around us, but my focus was only on Daniel.

Joe said something about never having been inside a church. Everyone drank.

Aiden took a long moment again to think about his admission. “I’ve never...” he swallowed. “I’ve never...” he wasn’t forming a full sentence, eyes watering the longer he struggled to say what he wanted to say. He settled for lifting his bottle to his lips and chugging the whole thing back. “I’ve never been naked in front of another person.”

That awkward silence fell over the room again as everyone took a sip. Chase stood from his spot on the floor and dragged Aiden to another room. That seemed to be a big trend today, loads of talking to people in other rooms. Since when had this become the group of friends that kept things from each other?

Then again, no one knew everyone’s secrets, and sometimes that was for the best. I had too many to count, and I’d never told a soul.

“That’s weird, right?”

My attention was back on Daniel. “What’s weird?”

“Surely Aiden changed in the locker room in high school and stuff...”

I shrugged. “Maybe. Or maybe he went to a stall. Not everyone is comfortable taking their clothes off in front of other people.”

Another long silence. “Right, but what about... unless?”

Daniel’s face screwed up as he thought about it.

“Daniel, Aiden might not have ever slept with anyone,” I said it quietly so that not everyone heard. It wasn’t anyone’s business, anyway. That was the problem with games like this.

Across the room, Joe seemed oblivious to what we’d been discussing. He was content to sip at his bottle of beer while Chase and Aiden were away. When it was empty, he frowned at it before standing to grab another.

The game seemed forgotten at that point. Daniel was sitting in front of me, a bottle of water bouncing between his hands. “Well, that was sort of fun while it lasted.”

I laughed. “Oh, yeah?”

He shrugged, biting his bottom lip. He set his water bottle on the floor and spun it between us. “I think this game would have been more fun.”

I laughed. “You wanted to kiss your friends.”

He shook his head, a blush spreading across his cheeks. “Not my friends, no.” The bottle hadn’t stopped spinning yet when he leaned over it and placed a kiss against my lips. My hand wrapped around the back of his neck and held him in place. He made a delicious little sighing sound, which allowed my tongue access to his mouth. It didn’t matter that we were sitting in the middle of a room surrounded by people. I was getting a taste of the man I craved with the realization that he’d admitted to everyone that he’d never hated me.

But where the hell did that leave us?

When we parted, I let out a shuddery breath, resting my forehead against his.

“You never hated me?”

Those wide, doe-like brown eyes twinkled. “Hate is such a strong word. I didn’t want to like you. You reminded me too much of him.”

I could understand that. But I needed to wipe all traces of Arturo Sanchez from Daniel’s memory. He was mine. Only mine.

“Hey, fuckers. We got ten minutes!” Joe shouted as he popped the top off one of the bottles of champagne. Aiden and Chase came back into the room and Daniel and I pulled apart.

Glasses were filled and handed out to everyone. Daniel eyed him wearily.

“You don’t have to drink it. No one will think less of you.”

He laughed. “I know, but I want to. It’s one drink and I’ll stop after.”

We all stood around talking until the countdown officially began. The room filled with whoops and cheers as we all counted down from sixty. You could tell we were all getting tired the closer we got to zero.

But then we were there. “Five, four, three, two... one...”

Warm lips pressed to mine as fireworks sounded in the distance.

“Oh, what the fuck?”

I jumped back from Daniel at Nathan’s shout. Joe and Aiden stood in the corner, Joe’s arms around Aiden’s shoulders as the two of them kissed. They didn’t stop as Nathan marched across the room and yanked his brother away from his friend.

“Don’t you dare touch him.”

“Nathan. Stop. I kissed him.”

Nathan shoved Joe, ignoring his brother. “I warned you, man.”

“Nate.”

Chase was in on it now and at least Daniel didn’t need to worry now about having ruined the night.