Page 21 of I'm Gonna Get You Back
He looked down at himself, then back to me. “Do what?”
“You know, your whole annoying, hot-guy thing.”
“‘Hot-guy thing’?”
“You missed the ‘annoying’ part.”
Amusement lit his eyes again, and he shook his head slowly. “I don’t think I missed anything.”
My hands felt so heavy I didn’t know what to do with them. Just like I didn’t know what to do withthat.
Flustered, I pulled my hair off my neck. “I just meant—”
From the other room, Kenji yelled in a singsong voice, “Who wants to play truth or daaaaaaare?”
Delaney appeared at my elbow and pulled me toward the circle in the living room. “We do!”
“We do?” I huffed. “Because we’re twelve?”
“Because it’ll befun,” she whispered back, the vodka on her breath explaining her enthusiasm.
“Us too!” Mitchell called, yanking Reid by the arm.
Delaney exchanged a look with Mitchell as he pushed Reid down so we were seated next to each other in the circle. The narrow space between my arm and his hummed.
The game started innocently enough. Truths about worst fears and first hookups andWas that really only mud on your leg at the Mount Diablo Invitational? Dares to eat a raw piece of garlic, and do fifty push-ups, and remove an item of clothing (Mitchell chose one sock).
But the more people loosened up and drank, the more fiery it got. Amaya was dared to give Hunter Bishop a thirty-second lap dance that got entirely too uncomfortable and put Josh in a terrible mood. Jensen Hughes admitted that he and Heather hooked up in the bathroom at the Woodhurst Invitational last month—a fact that she had clearly planned on taking to the grave as she stormed out crying. Then Josh stepped in with an agenda playing out just behind his eyes. They sharpened on Logan.
“Logan,” he asked. “Truth or dare?”
Logan’s gaze shifted around the group, then back to Josh, assessing which option would be less painful. Finally he said, “Truth, I guess.”
I tried not to cringe. Josh was the least creative guy on the planet. He would’ve dared Logan to chug a glass of milk or something. But truth? Josh would go for something juicy.
“Who gave you that bracelet?” Josh asked.
All eyes fell to Logan’s wrist. It was a thin, braided-leather band that I never would’ve noticed. It was only the way Logan’s hand flew to it, his cheeks flaming pink, that gave away it was something special. Private.
“None of your business,” Logan finally said, flicking the subtlest of gazes to Mitchell on the other side of the circle.
Josh shrugged. “It’s truth or dare, man. You had a choice.”
Logan rolled his eyes. “I’m not playing, then.”
“Oh, c’mon, just tell us! Noah would make you if he was here.”
Logan visibly bristled at the mention of his older brother, a lacrosseLegacy and Woodhurst legend for winning a championship game against our rivals. Though word got around that he had gone to rehab last year.
“She can’t bethathideous,” Josh prodded.
A few of the guys laughed. Reid didn’t.
“Josh, let it go,” Kenji said, his tone light but laced with annoyance just the same. Kenji was one of the few openly queer people at school, and I had a feeling he knew what was going on with Mitchell and Logan. I wondered sometimes if he threw parties like this to constantly stay on the offense. For as many people in Woodhurst who were accepting and open, there were just as many who weren’t.
Logan’s cheeks flamed brighter, and Mitchell’s voice sprang out, cutting off all conversation. “Okay, someone else go!” He eyed Delaney, who picked up on it right away.
She set down her cup, her eyes a little glassy. “Yeah, my turn!” The attention fell to her when she said, “Reid.”
