She turns to face me and rolls her eyes, moving her hair out of the way. The two of us move in at the same time and our lips touch. They’re smooth, softer than Knox’s, but fire is nowhere to be found. Our mouths move against each other as Tessa counts to five, and when we pull away, we both break into hysterics. Knox, on the other hand, is looking at me with pupils the size of planets. I give him my sweetest screw you smile and go to spin the bottle.
Karma must be on my side after having to go from kissing no one to two people in one night, because the bottle lands right back on Knox. I giggle at the subtle “fuck” he murmurs under his breath.
“Revenge is the sweetest thing,” I tell him. “Truth or dare.”
“Dare.”
“I dare you to kiss Carter.”
Carter’s jaw drops and he throws his hands in the air. “The fuck did I do to you?”
Tess and Savannah are laughing so hard they can barely breathe, but I keep my attention focused on Knox. I can see his confidence starting to waiver as he stares me down.
“I could just kiss you instead.”
I hum. “That hardly seems like payback.”
“So much more fun though.”
It’s tempting, really. I’ve wanted nothing but his lips back on mine since the moment he walked out of my room earlier. However, letting him kiss me right now would have the same outcome as answering that truth.
“Maybe for you.” I shake my head, but can’t keep the smile off my face. “Fine, I dare you to sit on Stone’s lap for the next ten minutes.”
He grins brightly and throws himself onto Stone, not caring if he hurts him in the process. “Hey, buddy.”
Stone narrows his eyes at me. “Thanks for this, Delaney.”
“You’re so welcome.”
THE BIGGEST DOWNSIDE TO throwing a massive party is having to clean it up the next day. Tessa suggested having the maids come in for the day and do it for us, but then there would be a huge possibility our parents would find out—and that’s not a risk I’m willing to take.
“Seriously, there should be something illegal about cleaning with a hangover this bad,” Tess complains.
I laugh, tossing more of the empty cup
s into the garbage bag. “I wouldn’t know anything about that. One of the benefits to not drinking is no killer headache in the morning.”
“Yuck. That’s such a buzz kill.” She picks up her phone and brings it to her ear.
“Who are you calling?”
“Easton. If I have to clean this shit on my birthday, he’s going to come help me.”
A half hour later, not only do we have Easton helping, but he brought along Zayn, Stone, and Gage. I managed to get Savannah over as well, but she’s not very useful. Even the guys start doing more harm than good when they start using the garbage can for basketball tricks instead of cleaning.
“Seriously? You can’t shoot for shit,” Tessa ridicules. “The only one of you who can throw a ball is Knox.”
I try not to let my disappointment at him not being here show. “Speaking of, where is he anyway?”
“He had a thing,” Zayn answers.
“A thing?”
He nods. “None of us know what it is. He didn’t say, but he left my house before eight this morning.”
Strange. Being as they didn’t even leave here until after three in the morning, it must have been important for him to wake up that early for it. I take out my phone and send him a quick text.
Delaney: Zayn said you had a thing, and that’s why you’re not here helping us clean. I think you’re just good at making excuses. ????