17. Delia
Seventeen
Delia
T he entire senior class is congregated in a circle. Some in chairs and most of us on the floor. Which is awkward as fuck when you’re in a short skirt. I’d dumped my shot into the plant next to me when no one was looking. Drinking makes me feel ridiculous. Lyra is to my right and Langdon to my left. Everyone keeps vying for his attention but he’s stuck by my side all night, which is nice.
“Alright, kids! Seven minutes in heaven!” Hailie squeals and sets a bottle in the center of the circle.
“Do people actually play that game?” I squeak out feeling morose and incredibly young.
“You’ve never played?” Niko asks. Langdon shoves his shoulder. He’s had at least four shots already, and Niko’s had even more. I long to go make friends with the weed kids I saw earlier to bum a hit.
I roll my eyes. “No, and I’ve been to a lot of schools. I thought it was just a stupid game from teen movies, not something people actually do .”
A loud laugh booms out of Langdon. He spreads his legs wide and casual, taking up space like he’s at home in his own basement—not at a party in public. Whereas I’m sitting here with my legs crossed, arms circled around me, trying to not be noticed. Trying to be invisible and doing a horrible job of it.
“It’s Hailie’s favorite game,” Lyra says nudging my shoulder.
“One of these days, I’m going to get Langdon in that closet,” Hailie says, and points to the closet. Half the class ohh’s and whoops and the other half barely contain an eye roll. Which is exactly what I’m trying to do. Langdon, I notice, just cringes.
“Rules. Oldest spins the bottle the first time. Whoever it lands on has to go in the closet. A timer will be set. Seven minutes to do whatever you want, or don’t want. Hear that boys? Consent counts in this house.”
I never would have pegged Hailie as a consent pusher but I’m infinitely glad in the moment that she is.
“Who’s oldest?” Everyone looks to a single kid. I almost burst out laughing. He legit looks like he might be twenty. I push my knuckles to my hand to stifle my laugh.
“That’s Willy. He stayed back,” Langdon says quietly. His breath on the shell of my ear causes goosebumps to break out. He’s been weirdly protective tonight. Never leaving my side. Personally introducing me to people and shutting down any hint of flirtation with an intense glare .
I practically had to shove him away from me to use the bathroom. One that is in the basement no less. Who has a basement bathroom? Hailie, that’s who .
Willy grunts and spins the bottle. It lands on Lyra and some stoned guy I don’t know. Everyone hoots and hollers and sends them on their way. For seven long minutes, music plays and the rest of the class breaks off into micro conversations.
“Girl, you are giving off some serious pussy slay vibes.” A lanky guy holds out his hand to me as my brow wrinkles. “Miles.”
“Um, Delia.” I chance a glance at Langdon but he doesn’t seem concerned anymore.
“You are the talk of the town, literally,” Miles laughs and scooches closer to me. “So… what’s your story?”
I try to tug the hem of my skirt lower. “I’m just the new girl.”
“Miles, bro, what’s good?” Langdon’s voice booms from over my head.
“Eh, parents still hate me. Pastor’s still trying to convert me, but I’m determined to be the gayest son of a bitch in this town.”
A laugh roars out of me. “Wow, who needs a back story when you’re in the room?”
“For once, I’m glad there’s a new kid in town, gives the locals something to talk about besides me,” Miles says before laughing.
Langdon’s all smiles. I think he likes Miles. That is until Campbell squats down next to Langdon and says, “Dude, don’t even pretend that this fine piece of ass is going to befriend you. ”
Anger radiates off Langdon but he doesn’t say a damn thing which makes my own rage bubble to the surface.
“This fine piece of ass can choose her own friends and Miles, here, is at the top of the list.” Miles’s frown tips up into a smug smirk. “You’re a douche bag,” I say to Campbell. A couple classmates near us snicker. “Miles, I’m thirsty, wanna get a drink with me?”
“You know he doesn’t put out for chicks right?” Niko chuckles. I don’t miss the way Langdon smacks his back a little too hard as we walk away.
“God. Sorry. That was horrible,” I say. Miles pours me a shot at the wet bar and shrugs.
“It’s been like that since I came out. I’m used to it.”
“What?” I squawk. “That’s….”
“A small town,” Miles says. “Where like ninety percent of the population all attend the same stifling church and have the same outdated views. Only a year left and then I’m outta here.” Miles holds his shot glass up.
“To one year left.” I clink his glass with mine. “Cheers.”
Still angry, I down the shot and slam it on the counter as it burns a trail down my throat.
“Another!” Miles says. Normally I’d say no but I’m angry at the idiots in the room and even more angry at Langdon for not shutting the hateful bullshit down.
Before I can do my fourth shot, Langdon snatches it from my fingers and shoots it himself. I don’t even have time to glare at him when Hailie yells at us all to sit the fuck down because it’s Lyra’s turn to spin the bottle.
Miles and I leave Langdon at the bar and sit next to each other, both warm and giggly from the alcohol. I almost never drink and am feeling the three shots Miles gave me. Lyra stands over the bottle, gives it a powerful spin, then sits down. We all watch it twirl and twirl until it wobbles to a stop.
On me and…my eyes shoot across the circle to the other end.
Langdon.
Hailie pouts before flicking her hair over her shoulder. “Well, hurry up then, we don’t have all night.”
Langdon looks as stunned as I feel as we’re all but shoved into a rather large, narrow closet.
Niko cackles like a hyena. “Enjoy fuckers.”
The door latches closed. The party on the other side—muffled. The music can still be heard, the speaker shares the same wall as the closet.
My heart pounds in my chest. Langdon doesn’t speak—just stares at me. I feel a blush creep up my neck and heat my cheeks. The way he looks at me makes me want to tear at his clothes and taste his skin. The xx starts playing and I lean against the wall. Everything is too intense. Including his gaze.
I study Langdon’s profile. The angled cut of his chin and jaw. And the soft splay of his lips as they turn up in a smile at me. His dimples appear before his gaze fastens on my neck, then slowly moves down my body like a soft stroke that I swear I can physically feel .
An electric current races through my body, the tips of my breasts tingling in response to his deliberate exploration and I’m certain I might spontaneously combust. I clear my throat, trying to throttle the intense feeling buzzing in my body, and adjust my skirt.
“Well, what are you waiting for?” My voice comes out hoarse. I also don’t know why I said that.
With wetted lips and dilated pupils, his gaze rakes boldly over my torso back to my face. My chest heaves to the beat of the music. I lean my shoulders back against the wall. Take it all in, big boy. The air between us buzzes with static, and as hard as I try to throttle the woozy current racing between us, I can’t.
The lines of his throat tighten with each swallow. I have never wanted to touch a throat so badly as he stalks closer. I’m panting and he hasn’t even touched me yet. He cups my cheeks with warm hands. An avalanche of goosebumps spills down my spine at the contact, and I could swear I hear a slight hitch in his breath. His fingers slide past my jaw and press sensuously into the back of my neck, sending an involuntary chill up my spine.
His eyes lock on mine as he slowly brings his lips to mine and softly, tentatively, captures my mouth. And I die . I’m certain I die a perfect death right then and there.
The current between is palpable and shocking. His hands slide down my neck to my biceps and I’m so lust-drunk I might topple over. I don’t know if it’s the shots or his touch. The haunting piano notes of The xx song set an intoxicating mood as I kiss him back. I do nothing with my hands. They feel too stunned to respond. I’m too lust-drunk to touch him back.
Langdon lowers his mouth to my neck, tracing a line up my throat with his tongue. I’m heaving breaths now, struggling to keep myself under control. He lands with a nip at the base of my ear. A small gasp leaves my mouth and makes his cock twitch against me. Our bodies flush.
“Five minutes left, Delia.” His voice is husky.
He reaches down, cupping my ass and lifting me up. I lock my ankles around his waist and my arms around his neck as he moves us to the closet floor. He’s strong, moving me like I weigh nothing.
I should say no. Tell him to stop. That I absolutely do not want this or him or his cocky attitude or the way he ignores me when it suits him, the way he irritates me. I say nothing . Because I absolutely do not want this moment to end. Every cell in my body is alive and firing in a way they never have before. My pulse hammers, rushing blood to parts of my body that I generally don’t think about much.
He slides down my body before trailing his nose up my thigh until he reaches the apex between my legs where he hovers for an agonizing moment before pressing a kiss to the cotton-clad mound beneath my skirt. I gasp. Out loud. Kill me now. We aren’t even naked, and my head is spinning. I’ve never felt like this from anyone’s touch before .
He licks through my panties, his tongue rough along the fabric, then grazes his teeth against my covered clit. No man has gone down on me before and a tiny part of me protests thinking this is not the place to experience this.
“I’ve never done this before,” I breathe out. “But don’t stop.”
Langdon groans and licks my panties again. A bang on the door yanks me from the moment. My hands shoot out, landing on his head and I shove him hard. I jackknife into a sitting position and scooch away from him panting hard as the door opens.
“What the hell is this?” Niko asks, his eyebrow cocked at Langdon on all fours. “Were you crawling at her, Bro?”
I force out the fakest laugh I’ve ever uttered. “He’s a real animal.”
Real cool, Delia.
Langdon’s on his hands and knees heaving and glaring. I bite my bottom lip as he pushes to his feet. He drags his hands through his hair, glances between me and Niko and walks out, bumping Niko’s shoulder on the way. Niko furrows his brow and extends a hand to help me up. What the actual fuck?
“Everything okay?” he asks. I tug my skirt as low as it can go, thoroughly embarrassed.
I shrug. “Who knows.”
I try my best to not appear thoroughly ravaged as I step out of the closet. Everyone in the room’s eyes are on me. Heat, a different yet familiar heat, creeps from my chest upward. Scanning the room, I don’t see Langdon anywhere. I don’t know where I’m supposed to go. Who I’m supposed to sit with.
Hailie’s missing too. Overwhelmed, anxiety floods me as I stand awkwardly in front of my entire class-to-be.
Lyra and Miles rush to my side as I struggle to inhale oxygen. Each one loops an arm through me and I am briskly walked up and out of the basement, completely embarrassed and confused. Why the hell is Langdon mad at me? I let them because I’m too stunned to do anything else.
“H.o.l.y. S.h.i.t. Girl, that was intense.” Miles opens the sliding doors to the backyard and leads me onto the patio. “Fresh air. Cures all.”
Inexplicably, I burst into tears. I bury my face in my hands. “What the hell did I do?”
“I think you broke Langdon,” Lyra laughs out. “Aww, don’t cry.”
I look up at Miles and Lyra. “I think he broke me actually.” I sniffle. “You guys are really nice. Thanks for not leaving me hanging down there.” They chuckle and sit next to me. “Can we be friends? Pretty please? I’m normally really chill. I have no idea what the hell I’m doing here tonight.”
And I don’t. I’m horny as hell, completely confused, and apparently somehow made Langdon angry at me without even getting to touch him.
Raised voices echo in the air from further out in the yard. I squint into the darkness but can’t really see who it is. Miles glances at Lyra and then they both glance at me.
“Maybe we should leave.”
I nod because that sounds like the best idea I’ve heard all night.
“Why her though?!” Hailie’s voice screeches.
“I came out here to get some air, Hailie, to be alone. Why are you here?”
Definitely Langdon. Oh god. I’ve managed to ruin the back-to-school party for a school I haven’t even attended yet. Shoot me now.
“Why her, Lang?” Hailie pushes again. She sounds really upset.
Langdon says something but it’s too quiet to make out and then, “Just leave her alone Hailie. Don’t make trouble.”
“Ignore them. Come on. I stopped drinking hours ago. I’ll drive us,” Lyra says. She pushes to her feet and holds her hand out to me.
“Let’s go chill at the river for a little while, alone. I have weed.” Miles dangles a little baggy in front of me.
I ignore Lyra’s hand and stand on my own, straighten my shoulders, and jut my chin out. “Sounds like the perfect night.” Taking the elastic from my wrist I finger comb my hair up into a ponytail and say, “Lead the way.”