Chapter 14
FOURTEEN
VIX - PRESENT
“The only way to get out of completing your round is to take a shot,” Austin explains, excited as ever.
“Birthday duo starts by taking a shot for good luck,” Kash insists, placing a small glass with amber liquid in front of us.
“Good luck for what, exactly?” I ask him, laughing at his unconventional rule.
“Good luck with the game, what else?” he says, and Leah and I exchange a look.
“That makes absolutely no sense, but I’ll bite,” Austin says and picks up the shot glass. I grab the mystery liquor that is placed in front of me and hold it up.
“To us,” Aussy toasts, locking eyes with mine.
“To us,” I reply, warmth rushing to my cheeks.
We clink shot glasses, tap them down on the table and then shoot them back.
The burn of the rum slides down my throat and warms my insides, makes me feel alive, and I’m ready to play the game.
Austin leans across the table, catching my lips in his, and gives me a deep kiss that pulls me in.
The taste of liquor on his mouth has me wanting to taste more of him.
“Okay, love birds. Who’s going first?” Leah asks. We break apart, and I blush, suddenly aware that there are too many eyes on us.
“I’ll go first,” Kash insists. None of us is surprised.
“Okay, Kash, truth or dare?” Leah uses one of her empty shot glasses as a microphone.
“Dare, of course,” he says, like it’s the obvious answer.
“I dare you… to get that cougar’s number by the bar. The one wearing the snakeskin body suit. She looks like a good time.” She winks, and Kash swipes another shot from the table, downing it in one large gulp.
“Opting out of the first dare? Really?” Austin remarks. Kash smirks.
“Not a chance! You’ll have to try a lot harder than that to make me cower.
That shot was just liquid courage. The ladies love me.
” He palms his chest. “Especially the ones who are more mature and experienced,” he emphasizes.
Kash strides towards the bar with a newfound confidence, and a fit of laughter breaks out at our table as we watch him approach the women and begin flirting shamelessly.
They look like they’re having a girls’ night out, on the prowl for someone exactly like Kash.
He’s gone for five minutes and returns with a red lipstick stain on his cheek and the top button of his shirt undone.
With a smug grin, he places two white cocktail napkins in the middle of the table, both with phone numbers scrawled on them.
“Got both of them.” He flaunts. “Guess that means I nailed it, huh?” He slouches back in his seat.
“Yeah, yeah,” Leah mutters.
“Gremlin.” Kash sets his sights on me. “Truth or dare?” he asks, his tone trying to intimidate me into picking the former.
“Dare,” I smirk.
“Oh, boy,” Leah huffs. His eyes narrow, and he looks from me to Austin. Clearly scheming something up that we both won’t like.
“I dare you to kiss me.” I nearly choke on my Long Island iced tea, spewing it across the table in shock.
Austin’s foot shoots out, giving Kash’s shin a sharp kick.
“Fuck! I’m kidding! Jeeze, don’t flip your shit,” he quickly recovers.
“I mean, if you want to kiss me, I’m not going to say no.
” He shrugs, running his tongue over his bottom lip.
I reach over and grab a shot of tequila off the tray, my eyes never leaving Kash’s.
I throw the shot back straight-faced and slam the glass down on the table.
I reach for Austin and wrap my arms around his neck, pulling him in for a deep, sensual kiss that would have anyone who’s watching hot and bothered.
“Okay, okay.” Kash waves one of his cougar cocktail napkins as a white flag. “Message received,” he says, sitting back, a slight pout on his lips.
“Well, I guess it’s my turn then,” I state, sitting up a little taller and eyeing everyone around the table. “Leah,” I point a finger in her direction, “truth or dare?” I narrow my eyes.
“Truth,” she replies, and she almost looks fearful of what I might ask.
“Do you really hate how I dress?” I smirk at her. She bursts out laughing.
“Of all the things in the world you could ask me, that’s what you really want to know?” She continues to giggle. “No, Vixy, I don’t hate how you dress. But it wouldn’t kill you to add a pop of colour sometimes! Everything is always dark and depressing,” she says, and it amuses me.
“Maybe I like dark and depressing,” I answer.
“Oh, it shows.” She digs, and I stick out my tongue at her. She laughs and then sets her sights on Austin. “Lover boy, truth or dare?” she asks.
“Truth,” he blurts out way too quickly. “I don’t trust you fuckers at all,” he says, taking a shot off the tray.
“Tell us the moment you caught feelings for Vix.” Aussy stiffens but then takes his shot and visibly relaxes.
“It was a really long time ago.” He looks nervous and catches my gaze.
My heart picks up pace.
“Tell me… Please?” I ask, and he nods his head. He takes a moment before speaking, grabbing another shot and downing it, needing his own encouragement to speak so openly.
“Do you remember when we were seven, and I had the chicken pox? You climbed through my bedroom window, even though your mom told you we couldn’t see each other until I wasn’t contagious anymore?” He chuckles.
“You told your mom you wanted to talk to me through my window, but she didn’t know you packed your backpack with your favourite movies and your stuffed cat you used to carry around all the time, and you snuck in to see me anyway.
We watched Harriet the Spy while pigging out on popsicles, and your mom went ballistic when she caught us cozying up in our pillow fort.
” He pauses, as if remembering that day like it was yesterday. His expression grows serious.
“That was when I knew I loved you. Not the moment I caught feelings, but the moment I knew I didn’t ever want to live my life without you in it.
” I stare at him, mouth ajar, I’m speechless.
I remember that day well. He was so sick.
It was the first time we spent time together where he wasn’t teasing me or being overly protective. I didn’t like that he wasn’t himself.
“My mom gave me so much hell for being in contact with you. Especially when I ended up with chicken pox a few days later.” I giggle, remembering her frustration.
“There was nothing that could keep us apart,” he says, holding my hand under the table. My cheeks warm, and I rest my head on his shoulder.
“Well, this game sure took a turn,” Kash remarks, pretending to doze off during Austin’s story time.
Leah sits watching us with stars in her eyes, like she’s trying to envision the day that we’re talking about.
Those were the good memories. The memories of Austin and me when we thought it was the two of us against the world.
The memories I had never let go of, and the memories I never want to forget.
“Okay, new game,” Kash blurts. “I take the rest of these shots. Get shitfaced and you guys keep me from making a big mistake in going home with the foxy ladies at the bar… or worst of all, call Lana,” he says.
“Sound like a plan?” he asks the group, and we simultaneously shout, “NO.” He raises his hands, feigning innocence, and stands from the table.
“Fine, then, how about this? We each take an equal amount of shots, then hit the dance floor to make complete fools of ourselves before grabbing some fast food and crawling our drunk asses back to the dorms.”
“Deal!” I shout, already reaching for another shot. At this rate, I won’t even remember getting home. But with these people? I feel safer than ever.
We slam back shot after shot and work it all out of our systems on the dance floor.
Austin told the DJ it was our birthday so that he could get request privileges, which just ended up bumming strangers out.
The night continued with the four of us being the last ones on the dance floor, carefree, laughing, and making memories that would last a lifetime.
The bartender calls last call, and we pay our tab and head out for the night.
With the dorms being only a short walk away from the pub, getting back to our rooms shouldn’t seem like as much of a challenge as it is.
The world is spinning, and I’m having trouble walking straight, so we forgo the fast food idea.
“Can we just sit down for a second? I need fresh air,” I tell Austin, who begins to laugh.
“Vix, you’re outside. This is the freshest the air is going to get, baby,” he says while sitting me on a small park bench just off the university grounds.
“You’re smart, did anyone ever tell you that?” I tell him and give him a boop on the nose. He chuckles.
“Hey, we’ll meet you guys back at the room. We’re just going to take a minute for Vix to ground herself.” Kash gives us a thumbs up and proceeds to guide his sister on his arm to the school.
“Hey, Aussy?” I speak softly. “I loved you too, you know,” I tell him, continuing our conversation from earlier in the night.
“I didn’t know it, not yet. But I did. I know I did. I loved you,” I mumble.
“I know, baby.” He kisses the top of my head.
“I know.” We sit there for an hour until I feel sober enough to walk back unassisted to my room.
When we get to the door, we see Kash sprawled out across my bed, snoring away.
Leah is on her bed in the same position, making noises in her sleep that I never thought would be humanly possible to come out of her.
“My room?” Austin says, looking at thing one and thing two. “I have a surprise for you,” he says, smiling down at me. I nod my head and grab a few things that I’ll need for the next morning, and we leave the two to sleep the rest of the night away.