Chapter Six. Clara #2
The hairs on my neck rose, and my response tumbled over a nervous laugh. “That is such a cheesy line.”
He frowned. “It wasn’t a line. You look beautiful.”
No one had ever called me beautiful before. Cute maybe. Pretty sometimes. But never beautiful. It kicked my heart into a sprint. I was so unfamiliar with whatever feeling was bubbling up in me I panic-blurted, “Nicole’s gonna be so excited you’re here.”
His dark eyebrows furrowed further as we both stood slowly. “Nicole?”
“She’s been talking about you nonstop,” I said. “I think she likes you.”
Confusion shifted to genuine surprise. “Oh.”
I winced. In my nervous haste, I was pretty sure I had broken girl code.
“So, yeah, tonight,” I kept going, my tone light, my mouth incapable of shutting up, “you’re here, and she’s here. You can hang out.”
A group of juniors walked by, squeezing past us to get to the next room. It forced me to take a step closer to Reid, and heat prickled my cheeks. At five foot nine I wasn’t used to people towering over me. He did.
He scanned my face again. “So. You want me to hang out with Nicole tonight?”
“No. That’s not what I said—”
“Then you don’t want me to hang out with her?”
Was he enjoying watching me squirm? “I don’t care what you do. Just, be nice to her. Please don’t tell her I told you all that. And definitely don’t do this.” I gestured up and down between us.
He looked down at himself, then back to me. “Do what?”
“You know, your whole annoying, hot-guy thing.”
“‘Hot-guy thing’?”
“You missed the ‘annoying’ part.”
Amusement lit his eyes again, and he shook his head slowly. “I don’t think I missed anything.”
My hands felt so heavy I didn’t know what to do with them. Just like I didn’t know what to do with that.
Flustered, I pulled my hair off my neck. “I just meant—”
From the other room, Kenji yelled in a singsong voice, “Who wants to play truth or daaaaaaare?”
Delaney appeared at my elbow and pulled me toward the circle in the living room. “We do!”
“We do?” I huffed. “Because we’re twelve?”
“Because it’ll be fun,” she whispered back, the vodka on her breath explaining her enthusiasm.
“Us too!” Mitchell called, yanking Reid by the arm.
Delaney exchanged a look with Mitchell as he pushed Reid down so we were seated next to each other in the circle. The narrow space between my arm and his hummed.
The game started innocently enough. Truths about worst fears and first hookups and Was that really only mud on your leg at the Mount Diablo Invitational? Dares to eat a raw piece of garlic, and do fifty push-ups, and remove an item of clothing (Mitchell chose one sock).
But the more people loosened up and drank, the more fiery it got.
Amaya was dared to give Hunter Bishop a thirty-second lap dance that got entirely too uncomfortable and put Josh in a terrible mood.
Jensen Hughes admitted that he and Heather hooked up in the bathroom at the Woodhurst Invitational last month—a fact that she had clearly planned on taking to the grave as she stormed out crying.
Then Josh stepped in with an agenda playing out just behind his eyes. They sharpened on Logan.
“Logan,” he asked. “Truth or dare?”
Logan’s gaze shifted around the group, then back to Josh, assessing which option would be less painful. Finally he said, “Truth, I guess.”
I tried not to cringe. Josh was the least creative guy on the planet. He would’ve dared Logan to chug a glass of milk or something. But truth? Josh would go for something juicy.
“Who gave you that bracelet?” Josh asked.
All eyes fell to Logan’s wrist. It was a thin, braided-leather band that I never would’ve noticed. It was only the way Logan’s hand flew to it, his cheeks flaming pink, that gave away it was something special. Private.
“None of your business,” Logan finally said, flicking the subtlest of gazes to Mitchell on the other side of the circle.
Josh shrugged. “It’s truth or dare, man. You had a choice.”
Logan rolled his eyes. “I’m not playing, then.”
“Oh, c’mon, just tell us! Noah would make you if he was here.”
Logan visibly bristled at the mention of his older brother, a lacrosse Legacy and Woodhurst legend for winning a championship game against our rivals. Though word got around that he had gone to rehab last year.
“She can’t be that hideous,” Josh prodded.
A few of the guys laughed. Reid didn’t.
“Josh, let it go,” Kenji said, his tone light but laced with annoyance just the same.
Kenji was one of the few openly queer people at school, and I had a feeling he knew what was going on with Mitchell and Logan.
I wondered sometimes if he threw parties like this to constantly stay on the offense.
For as many people in Woodhurst who were accepting and open, there were just as many who weren’t.
Logan’s cheeks flamed brighter, and Mitchell’s voice sprang out, cutting off all conversation. “Okay, someone else go!” He eyed Delaney, who picked up on it right away.
She set down her cup, her eyes a little glassy. “Yeah, my turn!” The attention fell to her when she said, “Reid.”
He went still beside me. “Yeah?”
“Truth or dare?”
His expression didn’t change as he eyed her closely.
I wished I could’ve warned him that I had a guess as to what she was up to.
We had a long-standing party rule to have each other’s backs, which might have been why I let Nicole’s crush slip.
A conflicted part of me trying to help. Like when Delaney liked Marcus Jones in seventh grade?
I rigged it so that they went into the closet together.
Best seven minutes of my life, she’d sighed afterward.
But we weren’t in seventh grade anymore. She wouldn’t do something so middle school in front of the entire team … probably.
Reid’s deep voice cut through my thoughts. “Dare.”
Delaney pressed her lips together, trying and failing to conceal her excitement. I remembered then that I had told her what he’d said to me at the lake: I take dares seriously.
Oh no.
“I dare you”—she exchanged the most obvious glance with Mitchell—“to kiss Clara.”
There was a thrilled murmur from the group. I kept my eyes locked on Delaney’s face, hoping she could read the absolute fury in them. She ignored me.
I slowly turned to face Reid; his expression was stark, serious. “I’m not going to do that unless she says it’s okay.”
“It’s okay,” I said, without ever giving my mouth permission to do so. I couldn’t keep my usual cool for even a second.
That’s when I knew I liked him.
“But you don’t have to,” I said quickly.
His gaze collided with mine. “I know.”
My attention narrowed to the thud of my heart and the full shape of his lips as he closed in, his woodsy scent crowding me. Was it shaving cream? Cologne? I didn’t care, I wanted to curl myself around it. Needed to be closer to him.
Around us, people were whispering and laughing.
He shifted, and the angle of his broad shoulders acted as a shield blotting out everyone and everything else. Our noses grazed, his breath hot across my lips when he said just to me, “This really okay?”
“Yes,” I breathed.
Then it was happening.
A dared kiss was supposed to be quick. Over in a second. Besides, he was shy. I figured it would be a fast peck.
There was nothing shy about the way Reid kissed.
He took quiet command, his soft lips grabbing for mine. Once. Twice. Harder. Goose bumps flew across my skin as I inhaled him, shocked at the need fueling me. I opened my mouth to his, urging him on. Still, it wasn’t enough. I wanted to grab his shirt, thread my fingers through his hair—
“Okay, we get it.”
Josh’s sharp voice shocked me back into the room. I pulled away, breathless. I was faintly aware of conversation happening around us, but in that moment I saw only Reid. Who the hell did he think he was, kissing me like that? I was not prepared.
But reality crashed into focus as I tore my gaze away and looked around the room, immediately locking eyes with Nicole. Though her entire face had gone red, her expression was unreadable.
“Why do you care?” Amaya asked Josh.
“I don’t, it was just getting excessive,” he scoffed.
“You sound jealous,” Amaya said.
“Babe, c’mon.”
Worst of all was Logan, who looked at the ground, his face blank. It occurred to me how unfair it was that he didn’t feel comfortable talking about an innocent bracelet, and there I was, allowed to kiss Reid like my life depended on it in front of our entire team.
“Calm down, it was just a dare,” I called out, trying to get everyone to chill.
But it didn’t work. Amaya and Josh started bickering louder.
Reid frowned at me, and I kept my voice low so only he could hear me. “Right?”
His stare was so penetrating it added weight to my limbs. “Right.”
I swallowed, a thousand different feelings cascading through me like a waterfall.
Nicole’s raised voice cut into the moment. “Josh, truth or dare?”
That got everyone’s attention.
“Um…” He looked at Amaya as if assessing which was the right choice. “Truth.”
Nicole’s smile curled like a Cheshire cat’s. “Who did Heather see you go into that room with at the party when Amaya was in New York this summer?”
My stomach crashed to the floor.
“Nicole,” Amaya shot out. “He said nothing happened.”
Nicole scoffed. “And you believe him?”
Everyone stared at Josh, but he was focused on Amaya.
“She’s just looking for attention as usual,” he said dismissively.
Amaya scowled. “Don’t talk about her like that.”
“But she’s allowed to call me out with bullshit like this?”
“You could’ve chosen dare,” Nicole interjected.
“I have nothing to hide.”
Amaya kept her gaze steady on Josh. “You swear you didn’t lie to me?”
Josh’s expression went soft. “Do you really think I would cheat on you while you were at the biggest audition of your life?”
He made the lie sound so effortless, I almost believed it. Which seriously grossed me out.
When Nicole scoffed again, Josh turned a glare onto her. “Why are you always stirring up shit between us, Nic?”
Nicole went pinker with the accusation, but she glared right back. “Why are you always doing shit that hurts my best friend?”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Amaya buried her face in her hands, sounding on the verge of tears. “Stop it. I’m so sick of you guys fighting.”
The truth was on the tip of my tongue; I was sure that everyone would hate me, that Reid would be disgusted with me, but at least it would be out in the open and we could deal with it. I hadn’t known that they were still together. It didn’t need to cause such a problem.
Then Logan chimed in, as if grateful to pounce on something that would get him on Josh’s good side. “Maybe it wasn’t Josh’s fault.”
Everyone looked interested in that theory, especially Josh. Sweat sprang to my hairline. What was he doing?
Logan continued. “I mean, some girls would do anything to get a Legacy spot. Following the principal’s son into a room at a party … probably telling him no one had to know … hoping he’d put in a good word…” He trailed off.
Was that sexist comment seriously what he thought? What they would all think?
The group went quiet as the suggestion settled in, their eyes flashing at the blood in the water.
Reid’s expression shuttered. “You can’t possibly believe that.”
But it was too late.
They already did.