Chapter 20: Chapter 20

MELODY

It was almost midnight when I woke up. I was in my room. My stomach growled because I’d missed dinner. I hopped out of bed and walked to the kitchen.

Nick was sitting at the kitchen counter with a beer in his hand.

“Need company?” I asked, walking over.

“No, I want to be alone,” he grumbled, taking sips from the bottle.

“Okay.” I shrugged, took a beer from the refrigerator, and leaned against the counter, bringing the bottle to my mouth. I knew he would eventually tell me what was bothering him.

So I stayed there, drinking my beer. He grumbled something under his breath.

“I had privacy when you weren’t here.” He hopped down from the counter and sat on the couch in the living room.

“We all had privacy,” Jake commented, coming forward, rubbing his eyes.

“You’ll have your privacy again when I’m out.” I sat on the chair across from them.

“So, can’t sleep?” Jake cocked his head, questioning.

I shook my head. I emptied my bottle and spun the bottle on the floor. The bottle stopped spinning, pointing toward Jake.

“Truth or dare?” I asked Jake, grinning.

“I’m not playing this game again. Last time, you asked me to walk naked on the college campus.” He glared at me.

I laughed. “But you didn’t complete your dare. Besides, you can always choose truth.”

We played a few rounds of Truth or Dare.

We laughed and drank and teased each other.

“Remember last time we played Truth or Dare, you asked Lisa to kiss the first person who walked into my café?” Jake laughed.

“Yeah, remember who the first person was?” Nick rolled down on the floor, laughing.

“I don’t remember his name, but I know he gave Lisa a really hard time, always following her like a puppy dog, saying, ‘I love you.’”

We all laughed, remembering he had been a teenage boy when Lisa was in her midtwenties. He’d followed her everywhere and even had come with flowers in his hand, asking for a date.

“I still remember Lisa’s face when he asked her on a date.” I laughed out loud.

“Oh my God. She looked like she would faint any minute. He seriously gave Lisa a hard time. She never played Truth or Dare again after that.”

My stomach was aching from laughing. I sat on the floor, holding my stomach as I was laughing so hard.

We all stopped laughing when we heard someone clearing his throat and saw Xavier, standing with a water bottle in his hand. I ran my eyes up and down a few times.

He was only in his boxers. I licked my lips when I saw his hard-on. My eyes traveled again from his boner to his eyes. Every time I looked at him now, I remembered our time in New York.

My hands clenched against the urge to touch him, and he smirked when he caught me eye-fucking him.

“Do you need anything?” Nick frowned, and Jake pinched me lightly on my arm.

“Ouch.” I rubbed my arm, glaring at him.

“No, I just heard a voice and came to see.” His eyes were still on me, traveling up and down my body. I shivered under his gaze.

I looked away from him and turned to Jake.

“What?” I hissed, glaring at him.

“You were drooling over Lisa’s boyfriend,” Jake snickered.

I glanced away, picked up another beer, and downed the rest of it. I felt a little pit in my stomach, the bad kind of pit. “I don’t drool on anyone’s boyfriend. I have mine,” I lied.

He was still standing. “We were playing Truth or Dare. Want to play?” Jake asked him.

He didn’t respond immediately. There was a thick silence for a moment. “Sure,” he said.

Without giving my body permission to do so, my head turned to look at him. The pull was far too strong. I couldn’t resist it.

I cleared my throat. “I think you should put something on first.” He let out a throaty chuckle that burned deep within me.

“Maybe we should call Lisa too.” Jake winked at me, then looked at Xavier.

He nodded and went back to Lisa’s room. After a few minutes, they both emerged from her room. We all sat in a circle and placed the bottle in the middle.

Jake spun the bottle, and it stopped, pointing to Lisa. Jake asked her what secret she’d never told anyone. After a few more rounds, the bottle stopped, pointing to me.

“Truth or dare?” Lisa asked.

“Truth.”

“Ever had a one-night stand?” Xavier asked.

Before I could respond, they all laughed out loud. “Xavier, you asked the wrong question. She may have had a boyfriend, but she never does one-night stands,” Nick snickered.

My lips were dry, so I licked them before answering. “Yes,” I replied, looking directly at him. We maintained eye contact because I was unable to look away. Everyone’s laughter died.

Xavier wore a smug smile on his face.

“Fuck.”

“Shit.” The curse came from a different direction.

Lisa’s jaw fell on the floor.

“When?” Jake narrowed his eyes at me.

“I think it was one question.” I avoided his eyes.

“It’s not a game anymore, Mel. I’m serious.” He crossed his arms over his chest.

“Last year, when I was in New York,” I knew he would ask with whom if I didn’t mention New York because he knew everyone in Portland.

“When you went to meet that douchebag?” Jake hissed.

I nodded.

“Who was he? The guy, I mean?” Lisa asked.

Unwillingly, my eyes turned to Xavier. His eyes were already on me. All the things from that time were playing in front of my eyes like fucking movies.

“Stranger,” I smirked. Rising to my feet, I went over to get another beer.

“What do you mean, ~stranger~?” Jake’s voice followed behind me.

“Are we playing or not?” I asked. Frustration was clearly audible in my voice.

“Nope,” they said together.

“Good night, then,” I said, but Jake blocked my way before I could move.

“Sit,” he ordered me.

My breath left me in a rush. I hadn’t expected that.

“Seriously, it was just a casual hookup. Why are you making me feel like I committed a crime?”

Nick looked up at me, his eyes softening with sympathy. “It’s not a crime, Mel. You went to a different city and hooked up with a stranger. What if he was a killer or a rapist?” Nick said softly.

“But he wasn’t.” I crossed my arms.

“The next morning, I called you. You said you were busy,” she paused.

I cringed inwardly. “I thought you were with your boyfriend.”

~I was with your boyfriend.~

~

My eyes found him again; he was like a magnet for my eyes. I wanted to punch him in his face for bringing up the one-night stand.

I flopped on the couch and tucked my legs beneath me and leaned into the corner.

“Did he tell you his name?” I took a deep breath, feeling uncomfortable.

I nodded.

“So?”

“I am not going to give you his name.” I took another long sip.

“Did he use protection?” Jake asked.

I choked on my beer and coughed loudly.

“Jesus, Jake! You can’t ask me a question like that. I’m your sister, for fuck’s sake!”

“Did he?”

I groaned out loud. “Yes, he did use protection on the first night,” I blurted out without thinking. I was trying hard to control my emotions.

“What do you mean the first night?” Lisa asked. I knew now why she was the best lawyer. She knew when to point something out.