Page 56 of Girl Like Me

“Echo, how many sexual partners have you had?” I snicker as he narrows his eyes at me and I poke my tongue at him. He grabs the amber liquid, pouring himself a shot and throws it back.

We go around the table, the questions getting more sexual and hardcore as we go along. I’m not even sure they’re from the box any longer.

Levi pulls a card. “Chloe, how many people in this room would you be willing to kiss?”

She giggles at his question but Echo answers for her. “Three, otherwise I’ll have to kill some motherfuckers.” We all laugh at him but he shouts, “Anyone in here want to die tonight?”

We play a few more rounds when Rocky pulls me away to the makeshift dance floor. I know he likes to move and this is perfect for him.

“Yummy” by Justin Bieber starts to play and I know instinctively that Clarissa has taken back control of the music. Rocky starts to dance and I follow suit, our bodies move together. The longer the song goes for, the closer our bodies get, until he leans in and his lips press against mine. The song changes to another while Rocky and I continue to make out. His tongue presses against mine and my breasts push against his torso as his hands run up my waist. Butterflies pool in my stomach and tingles start to pool between my legs.

I start to get hot and bothered so I pull away. “Are you okay?” he asks panting.

“I need to stop before this goes any further. I don’t want our first time together to be in a stranger’s bathroom. And I think we need to have a conversation about rules.”

His forehead comes down to press against mine. “I agree. Let’s go get a drink.”

We make our way back to the table and everyone is laughing and having a great time. I take my seat and Rocky heads over to get us a cold drink.

“What’s so funny?” I ask Rory as he wheezes from laughing so hard.

“Just something Echo said, it wasn’t important.”

I nod and he grabs my hand, intertwining our fingers. After a few minutes Rocky comes back with my drink.

“You know,” Mac says. “Everyone should come to Maximus’s birthday.”

“No,” Both Levi and I say at the same time.

“You wound me B. Why can’t I come to your boyfriend's party?” Echo mock cries, holding a hand over his heart.

“Maximus doesn’t do well around people. So no offence but even Mac isn’t going to be invited.” Levi says. “We keep it small, just us.”

“How did you even know it was his birthday?” I ask Mac.

“I’m not an idiot like you all think I am,” he pouts.

“You’re still talking to Savannah,” Mercer accuses.

“So what if I am? We’re still friends, the only reason it’s not public is because of you douches.”

“How about we all call a truce?” I ask, looking at Mercer. I know how protective they are of Maximus’s sister but she’s old enough to decide who she wants to be friends with and they need to understand that.

“Fine,” Mercer grumbles.

Echo starts to convince everyone to play poker, I have no desire to play and excuse myself to go upstairs and check on Maximus. Rory kisses me and I make my way through the house and find the stairs that go up to the game room. When I reach the top of the stairs I see Carter walk out of one of the rooms.

“Sister,” he slurs as he tucks his shirt into his pants with red lipstick smeared on his face.

“You have a little something on your face.” I say, pointing to my chin which causes him to laugh.I quickly walk away and type in the code on the door. I push it open and slip inside before I have to continue a drunken talk with my brother just after he hooked up with someone.

Maximus turns at the sound of the door clicking shut and smiles at me. I join him on the couch and remove my heels, placingthem on the floor.

“I needed a break from downstairs before I wound up passing out and waking up tomorrow with a hangover and a bunch of regrets.”

He pats his lap in invitation so I lay my head down and watch as he plays some shooting game that I don’t understand.

Maximus has come a long way since we first met, especially allowing me to touch him. I would even go as far as to say that me being close grounds him just like it does when Levi does it. I need to have a talk with Levi to see how he is feeling about all of this. I know he has a hard time letting someone else do it, something that they have both come to rely on each other for. The last thing I want is for him to feel like he is being replaced. But I’m also happy for Maximus that he’s pushing past the obstacles that have weighed him down for so long.

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