Chapter Five
Leo
I watched her go, her cute red party dress swaying around her thighs.
Thighs I hadn’t really noticed before tonight.
I shook my head, gritting my teeth. I’d been feeling weird ever since she’d put that dress on.
She didn’t look like my best friend anymore.
She looked like all the other girls at school.
And don’t get me wrong, she looked amazing.
But I always liked that Maddy didn’t wear the cutest, sexiest outfits.
Didn’t fuss with her hair or plaster on make-up the way others did.
She didn’t even need to try; she was effortlessly pretty.
It didn’t matter how many times I told her that, she didn’t believe me. It was true though and as I watched the way stupid Kyle was eyeing her up like she was his next meal, my soda sat heavily in my stomach.
I’d meant to settle Maddy in with Kat and Gertie before finding Melissa somewhere and spending the next few hours wrapped around her.
Not that I didn’t want to spend time with Maddy, I did, I wanted to spend all my time with her.
But there were other things I wanted to do that I couldn’t do with Maddy. Things I could do with Melissa.
Except for some reason I couldn’t explain, I found myself settling in the empty space across from my best friend in the spin-the-bottle circle.
I had a weird feeling about that look Kyle had given her.
I was to protect her, that’s what Charlie had always told me.
Not that she needed it half the time. She could whoop my ass something fierce, but you never knew what could happen.
Maddy gave me a funny look when I settled across from her before tucking one of those adorable curls behind her ear and looking over at Kyle. The light caught on the flame necklace that nestled between her breasts and I smiled, so pleased she’d loved it.
“Everyone know the rules?” Kyle called when everyone was sitting down. I looked around the circle and to my surprise, Melissa had joined. I grinned when she met my stare and she winked, blowing me a kiss.
But my focus needed to be on Maddy. I figured she’d had a thing for Kyle because I kept seeing her watching him at school. She’d chosen a seat near him but not obviously so. She was smart, she didn’t want to look too eager. My girl knew how to play this game.
I wondered how many boys she’d kissed. We’d never really talked about anything like that.
Except to moan when her dad insisted that the bedroom door now be kept open when I visited.
Which I didn’t have to hide from my mom anymore now that she’d lifted the ban.
She’d figured I was sneaking out anyway and just gave in.
I felt bad about deceiving her, but nothing would keep me from Maddy and Redemption Ranch.
Maddy sat across from me, chewing her lip nervously, glancing around the rest of the circle.
Probably calculating how likely it was she would get someone other than Kyle on her spin.
I tilted my head as I watched her eyeing everyone, the crease between her brows deepening until her stare landed on me.
Then it hit me.
Oh God.
We could kiss.
I spotted those hazel eyes darken with worry as the thought occurred to her too. A look of horror crossed her face that was so entertaining I burst out laughing.
She pursed her lips. I couldn’t see that mole on her top lip from here but I bet it had been smothered in disapproval. She narrowed her eyes at me, shaking her head and we spoke without words.
This isn’t funny, Leo.
Yes, it is, Maddy. If you hadn’t been so eager to get to Kyle, then you would have considered this.
If you hadn’t followed me here, then we wouldn’t be in this mess!
Relax Mads. It won’t land on us.
But what if it does?
It won’t.
Okay but—
It. Won’t.
Promise?
I promise.
She nodded her head once and then slowly slid her stare to Kyle. My eyes found Melissa’s who looked between me and Maddy with a frozen smile on her face.
Kyle quickly explained the rules for any spin the bottle newbies but honestly, it’s not hard. Spin the bottle, whoever it lands on, you kiss. No passes. Simple.
Maddy was rubbing her palms over her knees, like she was trying to dry them.
She was nervous. I could see it in the lines forming around her mouth, her wide pupils and the teeth worrying that damn lip.
By the time she came to kiss anyone, her lip would be so puffy she probably wouldn’t even feel it.
“Here we go!” Kyle declared and spun the old Coca Cola bottle. It didn’t land on anyone, and I saw Maddy push out a breath from the corner of my eye.
Kyle spun again. It landed on Lacey Chamberlain, a senior at our high school and Kyle looked like all his Christmases had come at once.
He practically leapt over the bottle to get to Lacey, and my heart sank at the downturn of Maddy’s mouth.
I clicked my fingers to get her attention.
It’s okay, I mouthed when she looked at me. She nodded sharply, steeling herself.
When it was over, much to Kyle’s obvious disappointment, Lacey spun and got Kyle again. There was an awkward titter around the circle, but Kyle ignored it and once again, smothered Lacey who discreetly wiped her mouth when he was done.
I pulled a face at Maddy. Really? You want to kiss Sloppy McSlop Lips?
She rolled her eyes. Hush it, you.
Then Kyle spun again and it landed on Melissa who hit me with a seductive smile before she prowled across the circle and pulled Kyle to her. She kept eye contact with me the whole time, but it didn’t make me even a little jealous.
When Melissa prowled back, I saw Maddy with her arms folded over her chest, one brow raised. She’d finally learned how to do that and did it all the freaking time like such a wiseass.
Really? Her?
I shrugged. She’s hot.
Maddy rolled her eyes again and I shot her a boyish grin.
Melissa spun and we watched with bated breath as someone other than Kyle was chosen.
Maddy.
It landed on Maddy.
My breath caught in my throat.
I knew she wasn’t a fan of Melissa. And Melissa wasn’t a fan of hers either, which is why it made me a shitty friend that I hooked up with her. But it’s not like it was anything serious.
Either way, I knew my best friend well enough to understand that she had a goal in mind and it was very important to her that Kyle was the person she kissed tonight.
“Uh, that looks like it’s landed on Simon,” I interrupted as the circle started whistling and getting excited.
Maddy followed my lead. “Yeah, Simon for sure.”
Melissa gave me a death glare but I was saving my best friend, and I didn’t care who I threw under the bus.
Melissa slowly shuffled across the circle to give Simon the quickest kiss known to man.
Then Simon was reaching for the bottle, his cheeks flushed from excitement and well, my karma ran out.
It landed on me.
I gave Maddy a long-suffering look.
She was fighting a smile. Your sacrifice won’t be in vain.
It had better not be.
“Come ‘ere Simon, let’s get to know each other better.” I met him in the middle and we kissed, it didn’t set the world on fire but I wasn’t expecting it to.
Then the bottle was mine.
Everyone had pretty much been kissed, except Maddy.
But that’s fine, I had done her a favor so the world would reward me.
I gave the bottle a big spin, and it just kept twirling, for a painfully long time, until it landed in between Maddy and Simon.
Maddy’s eyes snapped to mine, wide with panic.
“Uh, let me go again, that didn’t land on anyone.” I reached forward.
“No. It’s landed on Maddy,” Kyle helpfully pointed out. Unfortunately, the bottle had rolled slightly and now pointed directly at my best friend.
“Yeah, it’s definitely landed on Maddy.”
“Thanks, Simon,” I hissed through gritted teeth.
“You know the rules, bro. You gotta kiss,” Kyle reminded me, with a shit-eating grin.
I can’t save us this time, Mads.
I know, it’s okay.
It’ll just look suspicious.
It’s fine.
Weirdly, I wasn’t bothered about kissing Maddy. We touched a lot, were pretty affectionate with each other and it didn’t mean anything other than we were great, close friends.
This wouldn’t mean anything either.
“Okay, pucker up Mads,” I teased, getting to my knees and making my way over.
As I crossed the circle, the room turned hazy and time slowed down.
She blinked slowly, a flutter of long, dark lashes and then her hazel eyes were staring up at me, lighter than normal.
Her head was dipped low so I gripped her chin and tilted her up to meet my gaze, hearing her quick intake of breath.
“You okay?” I murmured, glancing down at her puffy bottom lip where she’d nibbled on it.
She nodded ever so slightly, her eyes dropping down to my lips and I ran my tongue over them, not wanting them to be dry for her. I could feel her pounding pulse through the hand she’d placed on my thigh. It was hammering, the beat matching mine.
God, was it hot in here? Suddenly I felt like I couldn’t breathe.
Holy shit, I was going to kiss Maddy.
I was going to kiss my best friend.
And why did I want it to be…good?
The circle became restless but it was just me and her.
“You scared, Tough Girl?” I rasped.
Her mouth kicked up on one side and she shook her head.
“Yeah, me neither,” I lied, then closed the distance and pressed our mouths together.
Our lips met, cushioned, soft and warm. I could smell her perfume on her skin, so sweet.
I lingered for a moment purely to please the spin the bottle circle, not for any other reason.
But just before I withdrew, her lower lip moved ever so slightly, caressing, coaxing mine and heat rushed through me.
I cupped her cheek and slanted my mouth, taking us deeper. I don’t know why, only that I wanted to feel that soft caressing, coaxing moment all over again. It was like lightning in my veins, rampaging through me, hitting every nerve ending and flaying me raw.
When our tongues touched, goosebumps ravaged my skin, the hair on the back of my neck stood on end and a quiver wracked my chest, like I felt it in my soul.
A low whimper slipped from her. I panicked I was hurting her so I pulled away, gasping for air. She did the same, her eyes wide and lips red. I couldn’t tear my gaze away from them. From her. Her eyes were like fire as they stared, scorching me and her hand came up to touch her mouth.
“Your turn Maddy,” Melissa interrupted. I jolted out of my daze and made my way back across the circle to my seat, keeping one arm resting over my crotch because that kiss did a number on me.
“Hmm? Oh, yes,” Maddy said, snapping out of her own daze and reached for the bottle, spinning it.
It landed on Kyle and irrational jealousy snapped at me. I had never been jealous of Maddy and another guy before. I tried to shrug it off as just a random protective streak.
I watched as she raised herself to her knees and crawled to Kyle. Fucking crawled to him and he didn’t make the move to go to her. I wanted to scream at him, did he know how lucky he was that my best friend was interested in him? She was the best damn person I knew and this guy had no idea.
Kyle planted a lazy, sloppy kiss on her which pissed me off.
But not as much as the heartbroken expression on her face when she sat back in the circle.
Like someone had just shattered her dreams. I couldn’t tear my eyes from her, willing her to look at me but she wouldn’t.
She just sat there with her eyes lowered, nibbling her lip and playing with the hem of her party dress.
Kyle spun and got Melissa again.
Melissa spun and got me.
She crept over to me and waited expectantly. Normally I’d be stoked about kissing Melissa but I was worried about my best friend.
Who I’d just kissed.
Shit. I needed to kiss Melissa.
To check if our kiss was as good as, no, better than the one I just shared with Maddy.
I mean, of course kissing Maddy would be good. We knew each other better than ourselves and we had a relationship—no, a deep friendship—so of course it would be good. I had something different with Melissa, a hopefully sexual relationship soon.
I cupped the back of her head and drew her the rest of the way to me. I waited for the fireworks, for the heat and sizzle I’d just felt with Maddy.
But they never came.
And I needed them to because there was no way I could feel like that about Maddy of all people.
I forced it, forced myself to enjoy it and to feel something and I did. I kissed Melissa longer, exploring if this feeling would grow. The circle eventually got bored of our make-out session and by the time I noticed, everyone had left.
“Wanna go somewhere quiet?” Melissa asked, playing with the buttons on my shirt and looking up at me flirtatiously.
“Uh,” I began, glancing around for Maddy.
“Don’t worry about her. She went off with Kyle, probably to find somewhere quiet too,” Melissa added, nipping my chin.
If she’d gone off with Kyle then that meant she was okay.
“Hey, she’s fine. I don’t know why you’re so worried about her?” Melissa said, gripping my chin and making me stare at her. My gaze ran over her face, blond hair, green eyes, round pouty mouth.
Why was I worried about Maddy? She was fine. Melissa just said so. We found somewhere real quiet to hang out until my phone alarm blared, telling me it was eleven and I needed to find the girls to go wait for Charlie.
I untangled from Melissa, kissed her goodbye and went looking around the house. I found Kat and Gertie waiting by the front door.
“Where’s Maddy?” they asked.
“I don’t know, I lost her,” I replied, glancing around and spotted Kyle. “Hey, you seen Mads?”
He shook his head. “Not for hours.”
My stomach plummeted. “Melissa said you went off with her after spin the bottle?”
“You’d better not have gone off with my little sister after spin the bottle,” Kat threatened, her voice low.
Kyle held up his hands. “I swear, nothing happened.”
“There she is,” Gertie interrupted, just as I was planning to wrap my hands around Kyle’s throat and squeeze until his eyes popped.
“You guys ready?” Maddy asked, her eyes wide but glazed over. She brushed past me and I gripped her elbow, pulling her back to me.
“Hey,” I murmured. “You okay?”
“Sure, let’s go or Daddy will be pissed and won’t let us out again, you included.” She flicked my chest and then was flouncing outside in her sassy party dress.
I followed her out and there was Charlie, the perfect dad, waiting patiently for his kids to finish having fun before he brought them home safely.
The ride back was quiet and he dropped me off first. I waited before getting out of the truck because although Maddy was chatting away, I knew she wasn’t fine.
“See ya later, baked potato!” She grinned wide. I didn’t answer her with a quip of my own, instead I wanted to know something else.
“Did your wish come true?” I teased, tickling her side.
She dipped, turning and pushing my hand away before shooting me a smile. “Kind of.”
“Kind of?”
She shrugged. “Sometimes wishes aren’t everything they’re cracked up to be.”