15. Spin The Bottle
15
SPIN THE BOTTLE
OLIVER
Spin the bottle is a time honoured party tradition to help people get laid. Or the very least, some action. It should not be played by horny college students, especially hockey players, who can get action whenever they want.
But yet, here I am, in Anissa Mariso’s apartment, playing spin the fucking bottle like a teenager. They only reason I came was because it’s in Mallory’s building, so if Russo tries something and asks to go back to hers, I can formulate a plan on why he absolutely fucking shouldn’t.
I’m aware I’m acting a little caveman–like, and I don’t know where the fuck it came from. I was fine with Gus doing… whatever the fuck they did whenever they were together, I still don’t know. Probably because I knew she didn’t have feelings for him. But they’ve been getting closer and closer every day. Since before sports day.
She blushes at him, and it pisses me off. I want all her blushes. Her laughs, her nervous smiles. I want to make her understand what she does to me, make her feel what she does to me.
I want it all, I want her .
But she’s my friend. So here I sit, cross legged on the floor, sandwiched between Courtney and Shawn, the lovesick couple, and Jules and Cory, the… I have no clue what they are, and I think they also share the same opinion.
Mallory and Gus sit opposite me, and I'm not even trying to hide my snarl. I play it off by saying I'm looking at Tommy, who very obviously has his hand up some Sophomore's skirt.
Every time Gus whispers something and she giggles, I feel the vein in my neck tick. I don’t know if he’s doing it deliberately or not. Ever since I told him I was in love with her, he’s been more openly affectionate to her. She doesn’t always respond to it. But he’s upping his game. Because of me.
“Oliver man, it’s your turn.” Someone says to me, and I resist the urge to roll my eyes. I don’t want to kiss some random girl, and I don't want Mallory to kiss someone either.
I lean forward, giving the bottle a light spin, hoping it lands on Juliana or Courtney or something, that way I can just kiss them on the cheek – out of respect – and be done with it.
The empty beer bottle spins, its neck taunting me as it decides who it wants to land on. I think it’s going to land on Anissa, and I feel beads of sweat roll off my forehead. It’s her party, I can’t refuse to kiss her at her own fucking party when it’s literally the rules of the game.
And to my utter dismay, it lands on Anissa. She tries to hide her squeal, but everyone lightly chuckles anyway. She sultry gets on all fours, and crawls to me. Her low cut top cut just enough for me to see she’s not wearing a bra.
Just kiss her. Just a quick peck to be polite. You can do that.
I cup the back of her neck and plant a quick three second kiss on her pink glossy lips. Our lips part with a smack. She opens her eyes and looks dazed, like she’s spaced out for hours. Like she was riding an hour long high and just came down. It was a three second peck for fucks sake. I didn’t even use my tongue.
When she moves to go back to her seat. I notice Mallory staring at me – or Anissa – with parted lips, something twinkling in her eyes that, if I'm not totally delusional, looks a lot like jealousy.
When Anissa goes back to her seat, it's Mallory's turn to spin, since she sat next to Anissa and apparently Anissa can choose who goes next since it’s her party or whatever.
Mallory leans forwards and delicately spins the bottle. Time slows down. I can’t hear anything other than my heartbeat, see anything other than the goddamn bottle that could make or break my entire night.
Then it happens. The bottleneck lands in the empty space in between Cory, and me. By that rule, Mallory can choose to either kiss me or Cory, or forfeit her turn in exchange for a dare.
I feel a lump of bile make its way up my throat as her eyes flicker from me, to Cory, to Juliana.
Just as I think she’s going to choose Cory, but when her mouth opens, I think I just die right there on the spot.
“Ollie, come here.” Her voice was shaky, and dare I say a little breathy. She could have forfeited her turn. She definitely would have kissed Cory on the cheek. That’s the obvious option. But she didn’t. She picked me. She wants to kiss me. I try to hide my smirk as I see the obvious wave of jealousy that flows through Gus.
Take that, Russo .
My eyes lock on Mallory’s as we both make our way to the centre of the circle. It takes everything in me to keep my eyes on hers and not drift down to her chest. We meet in the middle, our faces inches apart, so close that our noses are touching.
“You could’ve kissed Cory,” I whisper. “On the cheek.”
She swallows. “Juliana didn’t want me to. I – I respect that.”
I hum, choosing to count the freckles that dust her cheeks. “You want to kiss me, Dolcezza mia?”
“It’s just a game, Ollie.”
“Mallory, when it involves you and me, it’s never a game,” I drag my eyes back up to hers, basking in the honey flex that dances in her eyes. “But you know that already, don’t you, Marshmallory.”
I hear our classmates hollering at us, whooping and cheering, but I block them out. Game or not, this is my chance to kiss her. And I'm not messing it up.
I cup the back of her head, leaning in even closer than before, until our lips graze each other. She lets out a light gasp, like she’s waiting for something.
Then she surprises me.
She kisses me first.
A quick featherlight kiss. Once. twice. Then she captures my lips with hers. It’s slow at first, soft, gentle. But then she lets out a small gasp. I test the waters and let my tongue scrape against her teeth, but then stop. I’m very aware of the people around us right now, and as much as it hurts to pull away, I know that once I let go, I'm never going to stop wanting to do this.
I break away, both of our heavy breathing matching each other. I know everyone’s cheering and shouting, but it’s all muted. I can’t hear anything but her heavy breathing.
She pulls away from me, looking at me with wide eyes, mouth agape. Her lipstick is slightly smudged, so I know it’s probably on my mouth. But I couldn’t give a fuck.
She kissed me.
She kissed me.
I don’t know what’s going on with her and Gus, but I know she has to feel something. Friends don’t kiss like that.
It’s time I take my friend’s advice, and tell her how I feel.
But first, a quick trip to home depot.