12. Darian
DARIAN
So it’s safe to say I’m not missing a beat when it comes to Phoenix Johnson.
Nix.
Damn, she’s a hottie.
I’ve been flirting with her all afternoon, and now I’m sitting across the dinner table and struggling to take my eyes off her.
Watching her standing on the boat this afternoon, cheering us on and laughing as we all attempted waterskiing, was the best. She looked so freaking hot in her red bikini, I could barely see straight.
I blame those tiny pieces of fabric for the fact that I ended up wiping out on the water skis not once, but twice.
Mac fucking loved it. Laughed his ass off when I nearly got down-trailed too.
Thankfully, that shit ended and I could go back to the safety of getting my ass kicked at Mario Kart. Not loving that, but Nix’s reaction to winning is so damn cute, I can swallow the loss.
And now I’m all cleaned up for dinner—wearing my favorite pair of basketball shorts and my lucky T-shirt. This piece of cotton has served me well over the years. I call it my Chick Magnet. Charli always rolls her eyes and says I’m a dick for thinking that, but I don’t care.
I’ve hooked up with at least three girls wearing this T-shirt, and hopefully its magic powers will work this weekend too, because Nix is about all I can see.
I love the way her eyes dance every time she laughs. Her cute little nose scrunches up, and her pixie face gets this glow. It’s equal parts hot and adorable.
She beat me at almost every game we played. I quietly tell the guys it’s because I let her win, but the truth is, she dominated, and I couldn’t do a fucking thing about it. The girl’s got skills.
And she’s feisty.
And funny.
And so freaking hot.
Yeah, you’ve established that, man. Now stop staring at her. You’ll freak her out.
She glances my way for a brief second, giving me a pointed look, like she’s daring me or something. I don’t want to look away.
I want to read her.
Memorize her.
I—
“Bro.” Charli moves past me with a sharp whisper.
I glance over my shoulder in time to see her head tip, and I let out a little sigh before following her out of the room. Everyone else is chatting, Ben is starting to clear plates, and I’m pretty sure Nix is the only one noticing us walking out of the room.
“Enzo, Cash, help me wash up,” Ben calls over his shoulder while Sawyer stretches long, lounging in his chair with a smirk as he talks to Adonis.
Everyone knows the cook doesn’t have to do the cleanup, and sometimes I wonder if that’s why Sawyer always offers to cook. He fucking hates cleaning up.
Although, he’s a damn good cook.
I ate way too much pasta tonight, but it was too delicious to stop.
“Okay.” Charli spins as soon as we’re tucked away in an office overlooking the water. I’m guessing the room directly above us is the one Nix and I were sitting in earlier… before we started our epic video game marathon. “So… how do you think it’s going?”
I glance away from the ceiling and look at my sister. Her brown eyes are bright with expectation, and I nod, my Nix-obsessed mind too slow to really get what she’s asking.
“Yeah, good?” I shrug. “Can you be more specific?”
Charli tuts and gives my arm a little “wake up, dumbass!” slap.
“Who do you think you want to live with? Who are we gonna ask to share the house with us?”
“Oh, that. I don’t know. It’s a little too early to tell, don’t you think?”
Nix. Let me live with Nix! Damn, the things I could do with that girl.
No, bad idea! You don’t want to move in with a girl like that. What if it turns to shit? It wouldn’t work. Keep her out of this.
“Well…” Charli tips her head, nibbling on her thumbnail before saying, “I’m wondering about Ben. He’s good at cleaning up after everybody. Have you noticed that?”
I shrug again, because I’ve been kind of distracted ever since Nix got into my car.
“Seriously, stop being so useless.” Charli frowns at me.
“Hey.” I frown right back.
“You need to stop flirting with my friend and focus.” Slicing her hand through the air, she slaps the side into her palm. “We’ve only got the weekend to test these guys out, and we’ve wasted the whole first day already.”
“We still have the evening and night to go. I’ll try to make a better effort to watch and analyze, okay?”
She shakes her head. “We need to test them out.”
“Yeah, how are we planning on doing that again?”
“I researched some ideas.” She pulls her phone from her back pocket and rattles off a list, and I stop her after only a few terrible suggestions.
“Okay, we’re not treating them like infants or marines. Those ideas are stupid. We need to be subtle about this. We can’t have them know what we’re trying to do.”
“Hence the reason I pulled you aside to chat.” Charli flicks her arms wide.
“And made it pretty fucking obvious to everyone that we’re up to something.”
Charli whips a look at the office door and then huffs. “Shit, I totally did. But I wanted to check in with you. I don’t want to waste this weekend.”
“We won’t.” I squeeze her shoulders and give her a light shake until she’s rocking back and forth and laughing at me.
“So, what are we gonna do tonight, then? How do we make this time count?”
I stop swaying her to have a think, and my lips are soon rising into a smirk. “A drinking game.”
“What?”
“The best way to get to know someone is to fill them with alcohol so their guard is down. Then you can ask them anything, and they’ll probably tell you the truth.”
Charli’s face lights with glee. “I love it!”
“We just need to pick the best one.” Scratching my chin, I run through a bunch of my favorites and pause, then look at my sister.
At the same time, we start to smile and then say in unison, “Never Have I Ever.”