The Library Book

#30 - Seven Minutes in Heaven

Chapter 30 - Seven Minutes in Heaven
published: Wednesday, 13 May 2020

Beckendorf eyed the circle, earning wary looks from the rest of his friends. It was a party at Silena's this weekend, and it was time to play some tipsy Truth or Dare.

Connor Stoll was in a hula skirt, and Piper couldn't stop laughing from where Leo was perched daintily on her lap.

Beckendorf was notorious for his knack for giving terrible Dares or Truths to torment his friends.

His gaze landed on Percy, who had, up till now, been quite safe. All he'd had to do was dunk his head in a bucket of ice water.

"Percy," a mischievous grin spread across Beckendorf's face. "Truth or Dare?"

Percy studied his expression hesitantly. "Um, Dare," he said.

Beckendorf leaned back on his elbows with a laugh. "I dare you to do 'seven minutes in heaven' with Annabeth."

An eruption of "ooh"s and whistles from the group followed. Percy caught Annabeth's eye across the circle; it seemed it was just as difficult for her to keep her smirk hidden.

"Well, if it's a dare," Annabeth shrugged, getting to her feet.

"Yeah," Percy feigned a wince. "What a shame."

Annabeth nudged his foot with a glare. Be more discreet, her look ordered. He was going to give them away, and Annabeth did not spend the last two weeks throwing off suspicion only for Percy to blow their cover.

Percy tried his best to ignore Rachel's piercing look of suspicion.

"Right there," Silena gestured to the door, her uncontrollable smile matching everyone else's.

She stepped into the small room after Percy. It was the Beauregard's laundry room, a countertop hanging above the washing machine.

As Percy locked the door with a click, Annabeth set her phone down next to her, the timer on 7 minutes, and nimbly hopped up to sit on the counter.

"Dared to make out with my boyfriend," Annabeth coyly raised an eyebrow at him. "Boy, are they stupid."

Percy drifted forward to stand between her thighs, palms splayed on the counter outside of her hips.

Pulling him in, Annabeth kissed him, and she was reminded of the first time they'd done something like this.

It was one week into their relationship. They'd gone on dates, had movie nights at home, hung out at Walter's, but everything had been very PG so far.

Annabeth wasn't quite sure how to broach the topic. It was an awkward one; Percy was much more experienced in this than she was, and even though she knew that he wasn't the kind of person to break up with a girl over sex, she was afraid she wouldn't live up to his other girlfriends.

So, when he came over to her house on evening, both her parents out and her brothers at another soccer camp, Annabeth was nervous, to say the least.

They hadn't had the talk yet. Percy hadn't even mentioned anything remotely related to it, and Annabeth couldn't think of a way to bring it up.

As they sat on the couch, streaming an episode of Lucifer from Netflix, Annabeth couldn't stop glancing over at him. She loved the show, but Percy was more distracting.

His hair was all messy post-shower from swimming practice, and his eyes were slightly unfocused from fatigue.

When Percy shifted, the hem of his shirt rode up to reveal the skin just above the waistband of his jeans, and Annabeth almost lost it.