Page 67 of The Bound Zodiac

Theo cocked an eyebrow. “If you had to pick one person from this circle to be stuck with on a desert island, who would it be? And why?”

Valeria grinned, no hesitation. “Obviously Lydia, because we could fuck all day and night and never annoy each other.”

Lydia’s face went blazing red and Tye made gagging noises.

Valeria spun the bottle. It landed on Lucas. He cracked his neck and set his glasses down, like he was prepping for battle. “Dare.”

“Ooh, okay. I dare you to let Rowan give you a piggyback ride around the fire pit twice. Shirtless.”

Lucas shot her a look. “Evil incarnate…”

She waggled her eyebrows. “It’s a talent.”

Rowan yanked his shirt off, revealing all the muscle and ink, and dropped to one knee. Lucas actually rolled his eyes, but he stripped his own shirt off too, because why not turn this into a circus, and slung himself onto Rowan’s back.

Rowan took off at a jog, Lucas’s long limbs wrapped around his torso. By the second lap, everyone was whistling and cat-calling.

When they finished, Lucas just slid off, dusted himself off, and reclaimed his seat, like that was the most normal thing in the world.

Lydia actually fanned herself. “That was unexpectedly hot. Ten out of ten. I ship it.”

Lucas shot Rowan a look. “You’re buying me a pint every week for a month.” Rowan just grinned, looking pleased with himself.

Lucas spun the bottle. It creaked and wobbled, barely making it halfway around before it landed on Rafe.

Rafe flashed a lazy, catlike smile. “Truth.”

Rowan pounced. “Okay, what’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever jacked off to?”

Rafe didn’t even blink. “An instructional video about repairing a dirtbike engine.” He looked around the group unashamed and shrugged. “What? Bikes are sexy.”

Lydia wiped tears from her eyes. “I don’t even know how to handle this information.”

He spun the bottle and it landed on Percy. Percy considered for a second. “Dare.”

Rafe’s mouth twisted in a mean little smile. “I dare you to arm wrestle Tye. Loser has to call the winner ‘Daddy’ for the rest of the night.”

The group was in hysterics before the dare even finished. Tye rolled up his sleeves, eyes shining with anticipation. Percy just cracked his knuckles, and positioned his elbow on the log in front of Tye. “Bring it, baby girl.”

They squared off, hands clasped, muscles bulging. For a long second, it was a stalemate. Then Tye summoned some freakish hidden strength, and slammed Percy’s hand down so hard the log actually cracked.

Tye threw both arms in the air, triumphant. “My time has come.”

Percy glared at him, then, deadpanned, “Congratulations, Daddy.”

The group went absolutely feral. Lydia nearly fell off her seat cackling.

Tye looked genuinely pleased, like he was going to put it on his resume. “I want all my mail addressed this way from now on.”

Percy just rolled his eyes. He spun the bottle, and this time, it landed on me.

I didn’t even have to think about it. “Dare.”

I could practically feel Lydia vibrating with the urge to say something wild, but Theo got there first. “I dare you to make out with someone in this circle for a full minute. No breaks. Full tongue. No chickening out.”

There was a beat of silence. My first thought was, holy fuck, am I drunk enough to actually do this? I rolled onto my knees, getting my feet under me. The alcohol made the world tilt, but in a good way, like the grass was a trampoline.

I looked around the circle, pretending to consider my options. I grinned, and stalked across the circle, zeroing in like a heat-seeking missile. Eris raised an eyebrow, eyes darkening as I closed the distance. I dropped straight into his lap, straddling his thighs, bracing my hands on his shoulders.