Eden

“Curious?” he asks, folding his arms and leaning against the doorframe.

I hold up the bottle of tequila. “Thirsty.”

He snorts. “How generous. We’ve got our own fully-stocked bar, just you know.”

I shrug. “It can’t be as good as ours.”

“What the fuck is going on?”

I shiver at the sound of Saint’s growl as he comes up behind Liam and glares over his shoulder at us.

Holding the bottle up so he can see, I declare, “We came to get you all drunk.”

“I think you’ve had enough, Ellis.”

“Don’t be a hypocrite. You always show up on my doorstep shitfaced. It’s only fair I return the favor.”

Liam’s eyes widen and he turns a stu

“Just get the fuck in here,” he snarls, pushing past Liam to grab my hand and yank me into the cottage.

I let out a yelp of surprise but can hear Rosalind and Loni’s tipsy snickers behind me. Liam growls something unintelligible, then invites them in after us. The interior of their cottage is the same as ours, but I don’t get a chance to explore it as thoroughly as Saint hauls me all the way through the living room and out onto the back patio.

“Where are we going?” I ask, stumbling a little as I struggle to keep up with him.

“The beach,” he replies. “We’re going to watch the fucking sunset and get shitfaced, just like you want. Gabe’s already out there prepping a fire.”

My lips part in surprise. “That … sounds like fun.”

So why does he still seem so angry?

I want to ask, but it’s difficult to string words together when he’s pulling me like this. When we hit the sand, I look ahead and spot Gabe standing next to a pile of driftwood. He glances up at our approach and grins.

His eyes drop to the bottle in my hand, and then shift to where Saint has a hold of my other one. “Ellis, you lightweight.”

“You almost ready?” Saint demands and Gabe nods.

“Yup. Just going to light it up and we can get this party started.”

I glance up at Saint, and his features are hard.

It makes me worry what kind of party this is going to be.

“We should play a game!” Loni shouts.

It’s a couple hours later. The sun is set, and our beach fire is blazing. Most of my concern about Saint has faded as we’ve passed the time drinking and talking. We’ve genuinely been enjoying ourselves, which is something I wouldn’t have anticipated from this group. Even Saint’s loosened up a bit. He’s not scowling quite so hard as earlier, anyway.

“What do you want to play?” Gabe’s got a beer dangling in his fingers and mischief in his eyes, which seems like a dangerous combination.

“Never Have I Ever?” Rosalind suggests.

She’s sitting next to Liam, her cheeks flush with alcohol, her fingers tugging anxiously on a stray string dangling from her tiny blue bikini.

Loni purses her lips and nods. “Straight to the middle school nostalgia.”

A small amount of anxiety swirls in my belly. That’s a game that has a tendency to lead to secrets being revealed, and I’m not sure it’s such a good idea to play. Still, I also know I’ll only look more suspicious if I object to it, so I press my lips together and keep silent even as my heart beats a little harder than before.

“I’ll start,” Loni says. “We’ll go with an easy one first. Never have I ever shoplifted.”

It’s a softball question, but I’m grateful for it. And I’ve never actually stolen anything, so I don’t drink. To my surprise, though, Rosalind and Gabe both do.

“What’d you take?” Liam asks, his brows furrowed at Rosalind.

Her cheeks darken with what I’m guessing is embarrassment, but she admits, “It really wasn’t that big of a deal. It was just some lipstick when I was twelve. My mom said I was too young for makeup and wouldn’t buy me any, so I took a couple tubes from a Neiman Marcus department store when she took me shopping once.”

“What about you?” I look to Gabe, who’s smirking, no doubt just waiting for the chance to brag about his misdeeds.

“I stole a pair of panties from an Agent Provocateur store when I was thirteen,” he says, looking entirely too proud of himself.

“Why? I mean, did you wear them or something?” Loni questions, and I almost groan out loud, knowing we’re not going to like his answer.

He looks her dead in the eye and casually replies, “I thought it’d be better jerking off with them than just my hand.”

Our collective sounds of disgust fill the air, and I cringe, remembering how he’d stolen my underwear first semester after Laurel had taken my clothes to humiliate me.

Fucking. Awkward.

“Gross,” Loni groans. “Just for that, you have to go next.”

“All right.” Gabe cracks his knuckles and squints for several seconds before his eyes pop wide like he’s just discovered the fountain of youth. “Never have I ever fucked a teacher.”

I freeze, and I feel Saint tense next to me. Is this a joke? How could Gabe possibly know that? Since he’s not looking at me, I tell myself this is just a coincidence. A stupid question that any stupid teenager would ask, right?

My brain is screaming at me, Lie, lie, lie!

I don’t take a drink, and neither does anyone else. Laughing, Gabe just shakes his head.

“Damn, thought I’d air out some dirt,” he sighs dramatically. He’s still not singling me out in any way, and I relax a little.

It was just a dumb joke.

He doesn’t know.

Saint’s still rigid next to me, so I lean against his arm a little just to let him know I’m okay. He shifts, and I fall into him more firmly.

“Who’s next?” Rosalind asks.

“How about you?” Loni says.

Rosalind perks up. “Okay, I’ve got one. Never have I ever had sex in the Angelview library.”

I almost laugh at the question, but then I see Loni’s cheeks darken as she raises her drink to her lips. To my complete shock, Gabe drinks as well.

“Whoa, both of you? Did you guys fuck each other or something?” Liam teases.

Dead silence follows Liam’s words. For once, Gabe doesn’t look so cocky and amused. He shoots an uncertain glance Loni’s way, but she’s avoiding everyone’s eye.

Holy shit.

“Wait,” Liam says, shaking his head. “Did you guys fuck?”

Gabe glares at Liam. “Would you shut up?”

“You did!” Liam exclaims.

Rosalind’s jaw drops and her eyes fill with regret. “Oh, my God! I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean … it was just a stupid question…” she sputters helplessly.

Loni releases an exasperated sigh and rolls her eyes. “Fuck it, fine. Yes, Gabe and I had sex. It was freshman year when we were both on the boxing team. Happy?”

“V-Card,” Gabe mouths, and Loni throws a punch at him that nails him in the chest.

“Wait! You gave Gabe your virginity?” Liam looks absolutely stu

Loni is obviously embarrassed but trying hard to shrug it away. “Obviously, if I could go back and do it all over again, I’d do things differently. Since I can’t, can we move on now?”

There’s a definite tension in the air now, and I can’t help but notice that Gabe looks just a little bit disappointed.

“Um, let’s just keep going,” I quickly say, hoping to take the heat off of Loni. “I’ll go. Never have I ever done drugs?”

It’s an ironic statement coming from the girl who grew up with a meth lab in her basement, I know, but it’s the first thing that pops into my mind.