32. Kissing Rugby
thirty-two
Kissing Rugby
“ I figured it out.” Jasmine says as soon as I pick up the phone.
The rest of her family is staying in Mexico, but she wanted to be here for New Year’s Eve so she came home early.
“Taryn has a thing for Nate. That’s why she was so mad at you on Christmas Eve.
I don’t know why we didn’t see it before. ”
“Taryn barely knows Nate.” A big part of me wants to believe her, but another nagging part of me thinks she’s wrong.
“Remember the day we were all over moving things around in your rental house? They were carrying that couch together and they were totally flirting with each other.”
“No,” I answer honestly.
“Well as much as either of those two flirt. Anyway, it’s perfect. The perfect solution for both of you. We just have to get them together on New Year's Eve and get them to kiss. Then they’ll see how perfect they are for each other.”
“I don’t know.” Whenever Jasmine’s plans include a recurrent use of the word ‘perfect’ they usually end badly.
“Trust me.” Another dangerous phrase from Jaz. “I have it all planned out. All you have to do is keep from kissing anybody on New Years.”
“No problem.” I may never kiss anyone ever again. Kissing always seems to get me into trouble.
“It’s called Kissing Rugby,” Gage says as everyone gathers around him at the party.
Instead of going to the party Brad invited us to, Jasmine and I went for a tamer party at Taryn's long-time crush, Ryder’s house.
Maybe too tame. Ryder has acted nervous since the party got started.
His parents are somewhere upstairs. He looked practically panic-stricken when Gage offered to liven things up.
“Damn,” Jasmine says under her breath.
“What?” I move closer to her.
“He bet me he could kiss every girl at this party before I kissed every guy. I should have known he’d have an angle.”
“You two have the weirdest relationship ever,” Taryn says, but she doesn’t look mad.
Somehow she’s okay with Jasmine kissing all the guys she wants, but when it comes to me.
..I glance over at Nathan. Maybe she does have a thing for him.
That might make things easier. Or more complicated. I’ve kind of lost track.
Nate, Jacob, and I should all win Academy Awards for our performances on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
I don’t think anyone suspects anything has changed between us, but for the last week more than just the weather has been chilly when the three of us are together.
I’m surprised Nate agreed to come to the party with us.
“How do you play?” Ryder looks up at the ceiling skeptically. His parents have left us alone in their rec room for the party, but I can tell he’s worried about them coming to check on us.
“Easy,” Gage begins, “The girls all have a letter and the guys have a number—”
“We’re a few guys short,” someone points out.
Gage waves his arm as if he’s making a grand gesture.
“I will take on two numbers—to even things up.” Jasmine gives him a dark look, which he ignores.
“One person sits in the middle and calls out a number and a letter. If it’s a girl in the middle, the number of the boy she called comes out and tries to kiss her.
At the same time, the girl whose letter was called tries to catch that boy and kiss him before he catches the first girl, the one in the middle, and kisses her.
The person who doesn’t get kissed has to stay in the middle for the next round.
No getting up and running around though, the whole thing has to be on your knees or on your hands and knees. Is that clear?”
Most of the room is full of blank stares. Only one or two people nod.
“We’ll just start playing and you’ll all get the idea,” Gage says. “Questions before we begin?”
A dark-haired sophomore raises her hand. “Yes?” Gage asks.
“Are we supposed to kiss on the lips or on the cheek or what?”
“Lips or cheeks will work, but it has to be on the face—legs, arms and butt-kisses don’t count. And it has to be a quick kiss, no make-out sessions in this game.”
“We’ll play that game later,” a guy yells. Everyone laughs. Ryder glances toward the stairs nervously.
Jasmine raises her hand. “What about those of us who are wearing heels and skirts, spent a couple of hours on hair and make-up, and don’t want to crawl around on the floor?” She's the only one who dressed up for the party. I’m glad I decided not to wear the skirt she bought for me.
“You’re welcome to sit out, darling,” Gage drawls.
“I could lend you a pair of sweats,” Ryder offers.
Jasmine crosses her arms. “Not thanks. If I can jump around the sidelines at a football game in a mini-skirt, I guess I can play Gage’s stupid game in one.”
“Great,” Gage says. “Let’s play.”
We all sit in a big circle. It becomes clear that people are remembering who has what letters and numbers.
The same people get called over and over.
The first time I end up in the middle I make sure to call Taryn and Nate.
Unfortunately, Nate gets to me before Taryn even makes it out of her seat.
Despite the last few days, the kiss he gives me doesn’t scream friendship.
I glance back at Taryn, but can’t tell if she’s annoyed about it.
Only Gage and Jasmine choose a different combination every time. I’ve lost track of which of them has kissed the most people.
Nathan ends up in the middle. He closes his eyes, “H and eight.” My letter and Gage’s number. I can’t tell if he did it that way on purpose or if he forgot.
“Don’t let him kiss you!” Jasmine screams and I realize that I’m the only girl in the room Gage hasn’t kissed yet.
My competitive side comes out. I dash to the center, grab Nathan by the shoulders, and lean in.
Gage grabs one of my legs. He drags me backwards.
Nathan grabs my hands and holds on. I’m being torn between the two of them.
Gage tickles my foot. Big mistake. I kick backwards and smack him in the face.
“My eye!” Gage lets go and covers his face.
I release Nathan’s shirt and turn back to Gage. “Gage, are you okay?”
He takes his hand away from his eye, pins me down and kisses me long enough that when he finally lets me up, I'm out of breath. Long enough that both Jasmine and Nate look ready to murder him. “You owed me that one,” he whispers.
He turns to Jasmine in triumph. “You owe me too.”
“Forget it!” She hisses back at him. “I’m never, ever kissing you again.”
“Good job, Gage,” Nate says. “You’ve managed to piss off everyone in the room.”
“I don’t hear Jess complaining,” Gage points out.
Nate steps toward him. “You tricked her.”
“No trick. You’ve got to be willing to take the pain to get the reward.” Gage moves his hand away to show a red mark under one eye. It looks like it’s already turning into a respectable shiner. He winks at Nate. “You’re in the middle again, bro.”
“I’m done.” Nate stands up.
“Lighten up,” Gage says.
Nate moves so they’re chest to chest. “Don’t tell me to lighten up.” The air in the room thickens with tension.
I put my hands on Nate’s shoulders, gently pulling him away from Gage. “It’s just a game.”
He turns on me. “It’s all just a game with you. Isn’t it?” The venom in Nate’s voice shocks me.
I pull my hands back. “Nate, not now.”
“Why not? You don’t want your friends to know what you’re really like?
” He turns around, his voice getting louder as he addresses the circle around him.
“She looks innocent doesn’t she? Don’t let her fool you.
Jess has kissed me, Gage, and our brother Jacob, a guy three years older than her and a sergeant in the Army.
Good job, Jess, you’ve completed your Rick’s brothers collection.
No one will ever remember that fat little girl now. ”
“I didn’t kiss him,” I say quietly, but Nate still hears me. He turns around like he's ready for round two. “I didn’t kiss Jacob that night in the barn. He was telling me about his friend that was killed in Iraq. We talked, that’s it. I just wanted to make him feel better.”
Nate takes a breath that sounds loud in the silence of the room. “Don’t make me into the bad guy. I’ve seen the way you look at him. I’ve seen the way he looks at you. Something is going on between the two of you. You used me to get to my brother. Don’t try to deny it.”
“I’m sorry,” I barely get the words out. They’re all I have left.
“Not good enough this time, Jess,” Nate says. “Not good enough.”