Page 35 of Ruined
“Never have I ever danced with silks,” Lucas said.
“Drink!” Aldrich said, pointing at me. I shrugged my shoulders and took my penalty.
“Never have I ever been a virgin at twenty-two,” Lucas said.
I shook my head. “Not my age.”
“Are you older, or younger?” he asked. “Twenty-three. Virgin at twenty-three.”
“It’s not even your turn.”
“It’s mine,” Aldrich said. “I second what he said. Virgin at twenty-three. Drink.” He swatted at me.
Both Mel and I took drinks. I exchanged a quick look with Mel and she smiled with her eyes. I knew we were probably the same age, but she had admitted to doingstuffin the Terrariums. I had a feeling she was lying to entice Aldrich. Innocence, purity, untouched. If she could play the part, he wouldn’t know the difference.
“I didn’t realize you were so innocent,” he said. He kissed the back of her hand.
Somehow, I was the only one who was down to a single finger.
“If you are a twenty-three-year-old virgin,” Lucas said, “then you were also a virgin at twenty-two. You should be punished for that slip-up.”
“Yeah, right,” I said. “It wasn’t even your turn.”
“Doesn’t matter,” he said. “You’re going down.”
He had three fingers, but I held my head high. “There’s still time.” I glanced over; Mel and Aldrich were practically necking now.
“Never have I ever made a bet on a person,” Aldrich said. Both of the men drank. Lucas glared at Aldrich, and he winked. There was a story behind that exchange. Maybe it had to do with their past. I wasn’t going to ask.
“Never have I ever had a one night stand.” Lucas and Aldrich put a finger down and drank. Lucas and I were one to one now, with the pressure on Lucas.
“Never have I ever kissed a man’s shoes,” he said. I took a sip. He whispered in my ear. “And liked it.”
His breath awoke a prickly sensation that crawled over my skin. He knew how much control he had over me. I hated it, but I couldn’t deny that I liked it too.
“Wait, does that mean Haley’s out?” Aldrich laughed. “First time for everything. Get her a shot!”
“I’m on it,” I said. I stood and turned to Mel. “Are you coming with me?”
She shook her head. “You’re on your own for this one.”
“I’ll come,” Lucas said.Come. Images of him coming on my skin, marking me, claiming me as his territory, filled my mind. I wanted to kneel before him. But I hated admitting it. I wasn’t supposed to like him. I wasn’t supposed to think about the way he made me feel. It wasn’t aboutme.
And I wasn’t supposed to get coffee with him outside of club hours, but I did. Even if I knew it was against the rules, I had done it anyway. I kept pushing my boundaries, trying to find new ways to make my desire for Lucas work within the rules.
He put a hand on my lower back as we walked to the bar. All of the nerve endings on my body were electrified, pulsing to that point, awakened and narrowing in that contact. I knew where the bar was, but he guided me. I didn’t stop him.
At the bar, I glanced back at our table in the lounge; Aldrich was giving Mel a hickey. The old me would have questioned security, but the thought was out of my mind now. My mind was focused on other things.
“What’s the punishment for losing again?” I asked Lucas.
A smirk crossed his lips. “Drinking is not the punishment I would pick.”
I blushed. My whole face was on fire now.
Focus on the game, I reminded myself. Be entertaining. He’s not here to make you squirm.
Or was he? I wondered. Maybe making me squirm was entertaining for him.
