Page 11 of Dirty Roulette
She rolls her eyes and cuts me off. “I’m a virgin too... you know that. I’m telling you right now, we are gonna be fine.”
“Why are we really here?” I ask, but the intense look in her eyes is giving me the hint she’s playing to get back at Brody. Make him jealous, or something along those lines. The buzz doesn’t take long to seep back into my bloodstream. My nervous system is going haywire as Brody shuffles the cards and another guy cuts the deck.
“Anyone wanna hit?” Charlie passes the bong.
Brody finds a seat next to Brittni and the cards are dealt.
In the first few rounds, I’m not too messy. The bottle spins and girls lean across the circle to kiss one of the football players. When a guy lands on another dude, they gag, laugh about how that’s not how they play, and immediately tell the other to strip.
I study the cards in my hand and fumble at the corner. A chill crawls down my spine, staring at my two-of-a-kind. It’s useless. I’m bound to lose this round, and when I do, I lose my black booties. So far anytimeI have to spin no one wants a kiss. They make me strip, and the word sends a chill up my spine.
I lose again, and when I pull off my socks, reality starts to seep in. Either way, someone is popping my cherry, and the thought of taking off my shirt makes my palms sweat. Unlucky is my middle name, and I didn’t get the memo to put on layers like some girls did.
I hear the roar of the party downstairs and slick skin slapping in the other room next to us from two people who lost their clothes within fifteen minutes. They make noises of pure animal pleasure with a headboard banging against the wall.
“Payton!” Noah calls my name.
I snap out of it and say, “Yeah, what’s up?”
“Lay down your hand.” He places a flush in front of me. His square jaw was visibly tense. He comes off rugged. A thick lump rests in my throat and I stare at him hard. I can’t pull my eyes off the heart-shaped tattoo on his index finger as he rubs a hand over the faint dip between his chin. He has well-defined cheekbones and low eyebrows. His intense brown, almond shaped eyes stare at me expectantly.
I suck in a labored breath through my teeth and check my hand. “Well, damn.” My pair of sevens is tossed on top of his winning cards. I reach for the vodka bottle, twist the cap off, and pour more into my cup of orange juice.
“You’ll need to drink more than that sweetheart,” Brody cocks up a sly smile. He’s right. If I want to get through this game, I need to be sloppy drunk, blackout, and maybe this nightmare will be a blur tomorrow. I’ll never have to remember some guy going to pound town on me. I take a large gulp and put my cup down next to me. “Spin it. You might get lucky and someone will spare you a kiss instead,” Brody adds as I swirl the bottle.
My heart attempts to burst out of my ribcage as the bottle slows down to a stop, landing on Satan himself. I curl my fingers into tight fists in my lap. His hand covers his mouth, concealing a smile as he laughs. “I’d rather fuck you, so take something off,” Brody bites his bottom lip soaking it up. I feel like a pole dancer but without the dollar bills thrown at me.
“In your dreams!” Charlie snatches cards in the pile and chucks them in his face. Her cheeks burn, and her fierce eyes glare him down.
“You had your chance!” Brody shoots back at her. “I can fuck whoever I want now, and she’s kinda hot.”
“Dickhead!”
“I can’t wait for emo girl to lose again. I’ll make you take off that black bra of yours.” The Alpaca licks his lips as he eyeballs me up and down. All the Brads and Chads lean into each other’s ears and whisper.
“Well damn. If you’d landed on me, I would have kissed you.” Noah’s friend slurs.
“Screw them. Take it off and show them what they’ll never have.” Charlie curls her lip under her teeth. Noah’s friend shoots a roguish grin, and temptation is written all over his face.
I gulp down the tightness lodged in my throat and weasel out of my crop top. “My best friend is gorgeous!” Charlie encourages me, shaking my shoulder. I’m flattered, and a slight smile forms on my lips for a brief moment before my insecurities settle in again. I doubt I’m actually pretty, and I know my poker face sucks because losing seems to be written on my forehead until Brittni folds several rounds. Plenty of spit-swapping sessions occur, but now she is down to her matching cherry red lingerie. She lands on Brody a few times, and he makes out with her. He checks to see Charlie’s reaction every moment after, and it’s so brutal between them that my own chest hurts for her.
“I already made you squeal earlier. You want round two, don’t you baby?” Brody tells Brittni as she unclips her bra. “I like it when you take off your clothes.” She holds her bra between her fingers before doing the I’m-cute-head-tilt. A grin greets her pink lips, and the garment falls to the floor. Great, Brittni’s got great boobs too. I stare at the ceiling or anything else other than her nipples as I wrap my arms around my own bra.
Charlie loses a few rounds and tends to land on Noah. She continues to kiss him, tongue and all. Noah even adjusts himself in his jeans. When he throws down a completely shitty hand, he takes a swig and spins. It points to Charlie. She chuckles, batting her long lashes at him, and says, “Cheater. You’re doing this on purpose.”
“What will it be?” Noah asks. Charlie grabs a fistful of his hair and plunges her tongue down his throat.
Brody’s face molds into disgust. Neither of them are over each other and there is no doubt in my mind they’re messing with each other’s heads. Charlie pulls away and stares Noah dead in the eyes, and I overhear him whisper. “You better land on me.”
One by one, garments fall to the floor with each hand we play. Naomi folds, lands on Scottie P, and they leave. Brittni spins on a Chad stripped down to his tight boxer briefs and they disappear together.
On the king-size bed behind us, Autumn makes out with some dude with an ebony six-pack and the biggest ball sack I’ve ever seen. My stomach plummets to the floor when the headboard thumps against the wall, and the room turns into a Pornhub video with the cheek slapping and the exaggerated moans. Brody whips out his phone and starts filming for several minutes until they reach a climax. My head is between my knees the entire time, as I keep giving myself the pep talk everything will be okay. But it’s definitely not.
My whole body convulses as I’m still down to my matching black bra and panties. I’m dizzy and at any second I could vomit on myself. Drumsticks bang on my heart at the realization I lost the next round. Another shot burns down my throat and I spin the bottle. It lands on Brody like it has every single time I’ve lost. The bottle is possessed. “Damnit!” I swear the devil is out to get me.
“Take it off, so I can put you on this bed next.” He laughs. “Maybe I’ll go slow."
All I want to do is find an excuse to race out the door. If I lose again, I’m going to have to walk out of the room in shame with some random dude and sleep with him. Or worse, Brody. With my luck, itwillland on him, and I will straight up spit in his face if it does. I inhale a deep breath and fumble at the strap, unclasping it. Brody bites the edge of his lips as my breasts spill out and he continues to smirk, liking what he sees.
