Chapter Thirteen
“Girls’ night!” Jay screams, practically kicking the front door open and bursting into apartment 4F with enough high-voltage energy to light up the entire city block.
“I brought the jelly shots!” Mac sings out from right behind him, holding up a giant, colorful plastic container with a wicked smirk.
Stacey let out an appreciative moan from her spot on the couch. “God, I love jelly.”
I had decided to expand the guest list at the very last minute, making sure both Stacey and Liv were added to the lineup. Bear absolutely did not need to know that part when he originally gave me his dramatic refusal. What he didn’t know wouldn’t kill him.
“Mac, Jay—this is Stacey and Olivia,” I say, gesturing between the two groups as they settle into the living room. “Girls, meet Bear’s family.”
“It’s so great to meet you guys,” Mac says, tossing her jacket over the back of a chair and immediately making herself at home.
Liv leans forward, squinting at Mac curiously. “Wait, aren’t you friends with my roommate, Ying?”
“I am,” Mac nods, popping the lid off the jelly shots. “Only because we survived high school together.”
“So, you’re twenty-five?” Liv calculates.
“Yep.”
“I heard you’re actually a parole officer,” Liv presses, her eyes wide with fascination. “What is that even like? It sounds intense.”
Mac gave a casual shrug, sliding onto the floorboards near the coffee table. “It pays the bills. Honestly, my husband earns most of the heavy money anyway.”
“You know, I still haven’t met him yet,” I pipe in, realizing I knew next to nothing about the elusive older brother.
“He’s a complete mixture of Bear and Jay, personality-wise,” Mac explains, picking up a shot. “But he doesn’t look a single thing like them.”
“Probably because he’s adopted,” Jay jokes loudly, sliding onto the couch right beside Stacey and flashing a brilliant smile.
Stacey tilts her head, checking him out with a grin. “So, Jay... are you single?”
“Oh, absolutely not,” he chirps, flipping his hand dramatically. “I have an incredibly handsome boyfriend.”
Stacey raises her glass in a toast. “Cheers to that. No single ladies here tonight.”
“Uh, hello? I’m single,” I state, raising my hand from the kitchen counter.
Mac let out a loud, skeptical scoff. “Danny, please. You are clearly with Bear.”
“We’ve kissed, okay? But the man hasn’t actually asked me out or given us a label,” I claim, trying to defend my technical single status.
“It’s Bear,” Jay argues, rolling his eyes as if I were missing the obvious. “The boy is socially stunted. He probably honestly thinks you two have been exclusive since the literal day you moved in.”
“Hilarious,” I grumble, though my heart did a little unbidden flutter at the thought.
I grab a pair of oven mitts, pulling a baking sheet of fresh, gooey pizza scrolls out of the oven. The rich scent of garlic, cheese, and marinara instantly filled the apartment. I plate them up and carry them over to the living room, setting the dish right in the center of the coffee table.
“Oh my gosh, I love how you did Danny’s hair, Jay,” Liv says, leaning over to inspect my fresh, layered ombre. “Do you reckon you could do mine sometime?”
“Of course, darling!” Jay chirps, matching her enthusiasm instantly. “I’m actually free this Thursday.”
“Ooh, can you squeeze me in too?” Stacey asks, raising her hand.
“Awesome. Thursday is officially a hair emergency day,” Jay declares.
Once dinner was devoured and we all got thoroughly comfortable with our drinks, the alcohol started kicking in, and we decided to play Never Have I Ever. It was incredibly cliché, I know, but it was the quickest way to get a room full of people to spill their darkest secrets.
“I’ll go first,” Jay announces, leaning forward with a wicked glint in his eye. “Never have I ever... been with a woman.”
Stacey swirls her drink, raising an eyebrow. “Like... just a kiss, or all of it?”
“The whole shebang,” Jay clarifies.
Liv and Stacey immediately lock eyes, giggle, and take a synchronized sip of their drinks. “We’ve definitely kissed each other before,” they state in unison.
“Nice,” Mac comments, entirely unbothered.
“Your turn, go,” Jay says, aggressively nudging my arm with his elbow.
I thought about it for a second. “Never have I ever... had a one-night stand.”
Every single person in the circle immediately takes a massive sip of their drink, leaving me sitting there completely dry.
Jay blinks at me, utterly baffled. “Never? Seriously?”
“I’ve only ever been with people I actually care about,” I mutter, suddenly feeling incredibly vanilla.
“It’s sweet, ignore him,” Mac says, giving Jay a pointed look before leaning into the circle. “Never have I ever... done anal.”
Jay instantly pouts, letting out a dramatic sigh as he takes a reluctant sip of his cocktail. “That is unfair.”
“Life’s a bitch, honey,” Mac says, a triumphant smirk spreading across her lips.
“Okay, my turn,” Liv jumps in, setting her glass down. “Never have I ever... had a pregnancy scare.”
Mac, Stacey, and I all simultaneously reach for our drinks and take a heavy sip.
“Yeah, except mine turned into a reality,” Mac mutters, thinking of little Natasha.
“Mine was with my terrible ex,” Stacey sighs.
“Mine was with Jason,” I murmur, the ghost of my past making me cringe.
“Honestly, you are so incredibly lucky that never happened,” Jay says, shuddering.
Stacey burst out laughing, the alcohol clearly clouding her filter. “Oh my god, can you imagine if he actually had a kid with you, and then ended up with your mom? The family tree would be a flat circle.”
“Gross!” Liv shrieks, throwing a plush pillow at her. “I literally do not want to think about that.”
“Well, I’ve upgraded anyway,” I murmur into my glass, a small smile tugging at my lips.
“Oh, in the looks department, Bear absolutely demolishes Jason,” Stacey agrees heavily. “And honestly, it makes it ten times worse that Jay looks exactly like him.”
Jay’s jaw drops, his face flushing with a sudden, offended growl. “I do not!”
“You literally do,” I state, breaking the news to him gently. “Except you’re lean and you don’t have a single tattoo.”
“Because I loathe needles,” Jay says, visibly shuddering at the word.
“It’s true, the boy literally passes out the second a syringe comes within a five-mile radius of him,” Mac giggles.
“Bear loves the pain, though,” Jay counters, shaking his head. “He’s weird like that.”
“He’s your brother,” I point out.
“And you’re fucking him,” he mutters under his breath.
Stacey gasps so loudly I thought she was going to swallow her tongue. “Wait, have you?!”
“No!” I yell, my face bursting into a bright crimson blush. “Not yet, anyway,” I add in a small giggle.
“I bet he’d be unbelievable in bed,” Liv muses, resting her chin in her hands.
“Oh, I just know he likes it rough,” Stacey adds conspiratorially.
“Ew, please stop talking about my twin brother’s sex life,” Jay complains, slamming his hands over his ears.
“Well, if it makes you feel any better, Darren likes it when I’m on top,” Mac states entirely too loudly, taking another jelly shot. “He says he loves watching my jugs shake.”
Jay gags, pretending to choke on his drink, while the rest of us girls collapse into a fit of hysterical giggles. “Can we please just keep playing the damn game?” he mutters, looking traumatized.
“Fine, fine,” Stacey sighs, wiping a tear of laughter from her eye. “Never have I ever... moved in with a boyfriend.”
Jay, Mac, and I all take a sip.
“Never have I ever... used a sex toy,” Jay offers, trying to regain control of the game.
Every single girl in the room immediately takes a sip without a moment of hesitation.
“Never have I ever—” I start, but the words were cut off by the heavy sound of the front door latch clicking.
The door swings open, and Bear marches into the entryway. He froze the second his eyes scan the crowd living room, his heavy gaze locking onto me. And oh my god, the man looked furious.
“I thought I explicitly said no,” he growls, his voice dropping into that low, floorboard-vibrating octave.
“I—I—” I stammer, entirely losing my vocabulary under his intense glare.
“We told her to throw the party anyway,” Mac pipes up from the floor, entirely unfazed by his looming presence. “Because you don’t get to dictate her entire social life, Bear.”
Bear whips his head toward her, his emerald eyes flashing dangerously. “I wasn’t talking to you, Mackenzie.”
My eyebrows shoot up. So that’s what Mac is short for.
“Look, Bear, I didn’t think you’d actually mind that much,” I murmur softly, stepping out of the circle to bridge the gap. “I just wanted to have a fun night with my girls.”
He didn’t say a single word. He just let out a heavy, deeply irritated grunt, turns on his heel, and storms straight down the hallway into his bedroom. The door slams shut behind him with a resounding bang that made both Stacey and Liv physically flinch.
The rest of us, of course, didn’t even blink.
“Man, I’m really sorry, Danny,” Jay says gently, his usual theatrical air completely vanishing. “I know he’s incredibly hard to deal with, and honestly, Mac and I probably just made it worse.”
“No, it’s totally fine,” I say, shaking my head and trying to salvage the vibe. “Let’s just get dr—”
Suddenly, Bear’s bedroom door clicks open again. He marches down the hallway, his face a stern, unreadable mask as he strode straight toward the living room. Before I could even ask him what he was doing, he stops right in front of me, reaches out, and cups the back of my neck. He leans down, firmly smashing his lips against mine in a quick, possessive, scorching-hot kiss that left me entirely breathless.
He pulls away, turns back around, walks out the front door, and slams it shut behind him as he left the apartment.
I stand frozen in the center of the room, my hand flying to my tingling lips as a giddy, helpless smile threatens to break across my face. I quickly take a sip of my drink to hide it.
Mac let out a slow, wicked laugh from the floorboards. “Oh, he is completely whipped.”
“Shut up, Mackenzie,” I tease, throwing her own words back at her.
She let out a dramatic sigh, rolling her eyes. “Great. Now you know my government name.”
“Honestly, I think the name Mackenzie is absolutely beautiful,” Stacey chimes in.
Jay suddenly nudges my elbow, leaning in close so only I could hear him whisper, “Not dating, my ass.”
I bite my bottom lip, a helpless laugh escaping me as I look at the closed front door.
I guess we might actually be.