Page 50 of Winter Ends
The idea of Truth or Dare was quickly shot down, and instead, we all sat around in a circle to play Never Have I Ever. Everyone but me had a fresh bottle of beer to sip from when they hadn’t done something. They all seemed cool with me having a bottle of water. Hell, after earlier, it was for the best.
Chapter 32
Shawn
“Never have I ever...” Joe looked around the group, taking a moment to think of what he wanted to say. He finally shrugged. “Shit, I don’t know. This is hard for me. There isn’t a lot I haven’t done.”
Nathan laughed. “Fuck man, that’s terrible. Besides, isn’t it that you’re supposed to say something you have done to see who else has done it?”
“Are those the rules? Can someone google the damn rules?” Joe grabbed his phone and started typing. Daniel vibrated against my chest as he laughed. It was good to see him lightening up again. The game was stupid and maybe we shouldn’t be doing anything if we didn’t even know how to do it correctly.
Chase took a swig from his bottle, and Nathan nudged him with his shoulder. “Dude, save it for the game.”
The glare that Chase shot him could have murdered a hardened killer. “I’m thirsty. Fucking deal with it.”
And maybe we were all a little too drunk for this still.
“It’s supposed to be something I haven’t done,” Joe declared. “But I’m still supposed to make it juicy. Try to get y’all to admitto some fucked up shit. That’s not going to be as fun when it comes to me.”
“Just say something,” I demanded, holding up my bottle.
“Shit. Fine. Never have I ever drank water from a pet dish.”
Everyone stared in shock as Aiden lifted his bottle to take a sip. “What? I have an older brother who could be a bit of an asshole sometimes.”
Nathan laughed. “You didn’t have to drink it. How old were you, anyway? It was this past fucking summer, kid.”
Aiden’s cheeks tinged pink as he cleared his throat. “Okay, well, never have I ever...” He looked around the group, his blush deepening. “I’ve never slept in someone else’s bed.”
“Lame,” Nathan complained as we all took a drink.
Aiden only shrugged as the circle went around.
Andrew had never left the country, while Brandon had never kissed a girl. Me, Nathan, Daniel, and Joe drank to leaving the country. While everyone except for Aiden admitted to having kissed a girl. Nathan stared at his brother a little longer than necessary with that one.
Nathan had never eaten sushi, and Chase hadn’t ever left Washington State. We all argued that he was cheating with that one since Andrew had already used leaving the country. The game was turning out to be a lot more fun than expected.
“Never have I ever had sex in a public place.” Nathan, Chase, and Joe all drank to my admission.
Daniel fidgeted in my lap as it came to his turn. “Never have I ever...” He took a deep breath and looked around at all his friends. “I’ve never slept with someone I hated.”
There was that weird feeling my chest had been doing all day. He’d slept with me, so he wasn’t playing the game right. Unless he was admitting he didn’t actually hate me. Holy... Oh, fuck. That’s what was happening here.
The room fell silent as everyone looked at us. This game had taken a sudden turn. At least it had where the two of us were concerned. The silence continued to stretch until the game seemed to go on around us, but my focus was only on Daniel.
Joe said something about never having been inside a church. Everyone drank.
Aiden took a long moment again to think about his admission. “I’ve never...” he swallowed. “I’ve never...” he wasn’t forming a full sentence, eyes watering the longer he struggled to say what he wanted to say. He settled for lifting his bottle to his lips and chugging the whole thing back. “I’ve never been naked in front of another person.”
That awkward silence fell over the room again as everyone took a sip. Chase stood from his spot on the floor and dragged Aiden to another room. That seemed to be a big trend today, loads of talking to people in other rooms. Since when had this become the group of friends that kept things from each other?
Then again, no one knew everyone’s secrets, and sometimes that was for the best. I had too many to count, and I’d never told a soul.
“That’s weird, right?”
My attention was back on Daniel. “What’s weird?”
“Surely Aiden changed in the locker room in high school and stuff...”
