The next two weeks pass by in a blur. Between classes and spending time with Tanner at his place, I've barely had time to myself.
After spending another night at his laying in his arms, I meet up with Ben and Zara as planned and go into town to buy some new outfits for tonight's party at the frat house.
I'm a little apprehensive about going to another one, seeing as last time I ended up making a fool of myself by throwing up in their yard, but Tanner has assured me he'll take care of me.
As the three of us get ready in my dorm room, Ben sits on my bed talking to Toby on the phone, while Zara and I do our makeup. This time I'm staying true to myself, and apply minimal makeup to my face. I hope Tanner likes the end result, as he commented a couple of days ago that he likes my natural look compared to being caked in makeup like the other girls.
I swipe my pink lip gloss on my lips and smack them together, and then grab my new purple, formfitting dress and get changed behind the closet door. Like the last dress I wore, it fits my body like a second skin, but this time, it hides my thighs. I grab a pair of black heels and pair it with the dress, then add a gold anklet and gold charm bracelet.
"Ready!" I announce as I close the closet door.
"Me too," Zara sings, dropping her mascara back into her makeup bag.
She's opted for an even darker look this time and is wearing her black lipstick, and made the lids of her eyes completely black. Usually you can only see her nose piecing, but she's tied her hair back for once which shows off her pierced ears as well.
"Awesome," Ben adds as he puts his phone back in his pocket. "Let's get started on the drinking games!"
Zara immediately goes to her top drawer and pulls out a deck of cards to play with.
We all sit on the floor in a close circle, and I watch Zara as she expertly shuffles the cards. One by one, she hands out the cards, and we begin the game.
I quickly realize Ben and Zara are experts at this game, while I'm still new to it. As I lose another hand, I down a shot of schnapps that Zara sneaked into the building. And after my third one, I feel my body buzzing. We carry on playing a few more games of this until I receive a phone call from Tanner, letting us know he is waiting downstairs in his car for us.
When we exit the building, I immediately spot his gray Mercedes parked next to the other beat-up cars. He has the window rolled down, and I can hear Kings of Leon blaring out of the stereo.
"Hey, babe," Tanner says as I jump into the passenger seat.
His lips are immediately on mine, and I hear Ben and Zara snicker in the back of the car. I ignore them and carry on kissing Tanner, enjoying the feeling of his warm lips against mine.
"Mm, you taste like peaches," he notes, licking my lip.
I breathe in his heavenly cologne and sigh. "I just downed some schnapps."
"You guys have started already? Man, are you lot gonna get wasted tonight." He laughs.
I shake my head vigorously. "No way. Not me. I'm going to be on my best behavior."
"We'll see," he jokes.
I jovially poke him in his side. "Come on, driver. Get going."
"Okay, okay." He grins.
Tanner starts the engine and swings his right arm over the headrest as he looks behind him to reverse out of the parking space.
After a fifteen-minute drive, we arrive outside the familiar building where revelers are already gathered on the grass, chatting and drinking. Tanner takes my hand when I exit the car, and he leads me through the house and straight to the living room. I see that Jake is sitting on one of the couches and his bleach blond hair is gelled up tonight, and he's wearing a white T-shirt that can barely contain his muscles. When Zara spots him, she instantly jumps on him and starts to make out with him in front of everyone. One of the guys sitting on the couch next to them gets up and moves to an empty chair, while another guy just stares at them with his jaw open.
"I guess we're not the only lovebirds," Tanner whispers in my ear, making me blush.
I turn my head to him, and give him a quick peck on the lips, before pulling him to the other empty couch. Ben comes and joins me on my other side, and while Tanner is busy talking to Zara and Jake, I talk to Ben.
As I sit next to Tanner with his hand resting on my leg, a flash of silver hair catches my eye. I zoom in on the person's face and realize it's Chloe.
Awesome, just who I didn't want to see tonight.
She walks into the room with her entourage, and her eyes immediately land on my lap, seeing Tanner's hand there. A scowl forms on her face, and she sits on one of the chairs and glares right at me. I squirm in my seat, feeling uncomfortable from her presence. Somehow Tanner notices my unease and kisses my hair.
"Ignore her. She's just jealous."
Yeah, because she wants you.
Sometimes I wish Tanner had nothing to do with her, but then I can't really blame him for getting with someone when I wasn't in the picture. I try to do as Tanner says and take my eyes off her, pretending she isn't in the room.
After twenty minutes of chatting and drinking, someone lowers the music slightly, and one of the guys shouts to everyone in the room.
"Who's up for a game?"
A few cheer and whistle, expressing their excitement. I instantly freeze as I remember the last time I was here and played one of their games. It didn't end too well for me as I stormed out because Chloe pissed me off. I squeeze Tanner's arm for reassurance, and he kisses my cheek tenderly. I look up into his blue eyes, and he smiles back down at me.
"How about, Never Have I Ever," Chloe shouts out to the group.
Fucking fantastic. I already know I'm going to hate it.
The group quickly decides that Jake should start the game, which leaves me for a while to think of an interesting thing to say. And as I comb through my past, I struggle to think of one good thing that the group will want to hear. I nibble on my lip in worry and listen to Jake speak.
"Never have I ever been arrested."
Surprisingly, a couple of people take a sip from their cup, including Zara. I look at Zara in amused confusion, and she just shrugs her shoulders. "I was arrested at a protest march a couple years back. They didn't charge me or anything."
I shake my head and grin. Only Zara.
Zara's up next, and she kisses Jake on the cheek before taking her turn. "Never have I ever faked an orgasm."
A couple of guys cheer and slam their cups against Jake's while I slowly lift my cup to my lips and take a sip. My drinking doesn't go unnoticed by Tanner as he looks down at me with down-turned lips. I snort and pat him on the arm. "Don't worry. It wasn't with you."
The frown that forms on his brow tells me he's not happy with that response either, yet he lets it slide and gently squeezes my leg.
As the game continues, I occasionally whisper to Ben about the crazy statements people are drinking to. And every time I catch Tanner taking a drink from his cup, I begin to realize just how much stuff he's been getting up to.
When the girl next to Ben takes her turn, I gulp nervously as I realize it's getting closer to me to speak. The girl snickers and takes hold of her girlfriend's hand. "This one's inspired by you, sugar. Never have I ever run around the campus naked!" she shouts out to the room.
A few people hoot and cheer while the girl's girlfriend immediately extracts her hand from her and tells her off for sharing that secret with everyone. While all of this is going on, I see Tanner out of the corner of my eye taking a sip. "What? When were you naked?" I ask quietly, shocked that he has done this.
He shrugs his shoulders like it's no big deal. "It was part of my initiation into the hockey club. There was about five of us who had to do it."
Wow! I've heard of these crazy initiation tasks, but to hear what Tanner had to do for it is insane. I could never bring myself to run around outside naked for all to see.
Ben's up next, and I can see he is kind of nervous. I can tell when an idea pops in his head as his eyes light up. "Never have I ever kissed a woman."
I immediately burst into a fit of giggles as Ben smiles triumphantly next to me. As I look around the circle, I see a few girl's faces fall, disheartened that they won't be able to make a move on him.
Tanner nudges my shoulder and tells me I'm up. "I don't know what to say," I whisper.
He kisses me on the lips and tells me to say the first thing that pops into my head.
I scrunch my brow together and stare at the floor. "Never have I ever taken drugs before."
"Really, that's what you're saying, how lame. Taking just one look at you, I can tell you haven't even smoked a cigarette." Chloe says.
Zara places her cup on the floor and stands up, facing Chloe. "Leave her alone."
Chloe's lips curl in a smile, and she moves her hands in a come-hither motion. "Bring it."
"Don't tempt me," Zara snarls.
The atmosphere in the room goes tense, and Jake grabs her by the arm and pulls her back down to her seat. For the next minute, they have a heated discussion while others in the room either gossip to each other or look in every direction but at Zara and Jake.
It seems Jake has worked his magic as he kisses her on the forehead, and Zara curls into his outstretched arm. Someone shouts for Tanner to carry on with the game, and he claps his hands together and puts his arms around me.
"Never have I ever not rocked my girlfriend's world."
Lots of people cheer and take a sip from their cups, while a few guys jovially down all their drinks and high-five each other. I look at Tanner in surprise, wondering if that's what I am to him now. "Girlfriend?"
He curls his hand around my cheek and leans into me. "Only if you want to be, babe."
I nod my head happily and kiss him passionately. The room erupts in cheers and hoots, and I quickly pull away from Tanner embarrassed. I see Zara watching me, and she gives me a wink.
After a few more people take their turn. The next person it lands on is Chloe's blonde friend. She's about to say her never have I ever when Chloe grips her shoulder and leans in, whispering something into her ear. I can tell that whatever Chloe just told her has something to do with me as her bright eyes immediately look my way. A cold shiver goes done my spine as she snickers and nods her head in response to whatever Chloe said.
"Never have I ever had a threesome with Tanner Cole."
As if in slow motion, I watch Chloe as she raises her cup to her mouth and takes a massive gulp.
What the fuck!
In shock, I whip my head up to Tanner's, and he sits there with a guilty expression on his face. I go cold. The mere thought of Tanner having a threesome with her turns my stomach.
I edge away from him, and as soon as I do this, Tanner lowers his head to mine and looks at me with pleading eyes. I glare back at him. "You did that with her!"
"Please, Leah. Let's not talk about this right now."
I snort. "Why not?"
"Ooh, do I sense a fight brewing?" Chloe taunts.
Tanner turns his head to Chloe with a face of thunder. "Shut the fuck up, Chloe!"
She cackles, clearly enjoying the mess she's caused. "You're missing out, Leah. Tanner sure knows how to please two girls at once." She smirks directly at me and raises her voice. "Though I can tell you're too much of a prude to even go there. It won't be long until Tanner dumps your boring ass for another ménageàtrois with me."
The room turns quiet and all eyes fix on the pair of us. I feel so humiliated and I want the ground to swallow me whole. A few stifled giggles begin to escape from some of the girls in the room while others mutter low curses, shocked by what she's just said. Anger flares inside of me and before my mind processes what I'm doing, I lunge cross the room, my sights fixed firmly on her as I go in for the kill.
"Cat fight!" someone yells.
Others cheer in response, clearly wanting a fight to happen between us while others gasp in horror. All rational reasoning has left my body and right now at this moment I want to inflict pain like she has caused me. Though, as I'm about to dive on her and exact my vengeance, two strong, firm arms encircle my waist and pull me back with such force that I'm momentarily winded.
My blazing eyes glare at Chloe on the couch as I'm pulled further away from her and I watch as her shocked cowardice turns into smugness. She sits up straight on the couch and raises her middle finger up at me, miming the word 'bitch'. I snarl in response, wanting very much to lunge at her again.
"Stop fighting me," Tanner grunts close to my ear.
I didn't even realize I was fighting him. With my blood still boiling and my sights firmly set on Chloe, I haven't been able to process the rest of my surroundings. I don't want to hurt Tanner or put him out so I work on calming myself down. As I give in to his hold, he's able to take me out of the living room and across the hallway to the staircase.
"I thought that bitch would never leave," I hear Chloe shout loudly from the living room.
"Shit," Tanner curses.
Before I have time to catch my breath, Tanner manages to sling me over his shoulder and carries me upstairs to his room.
"Let me go!" I shout at Tanner, my anger quickly making a return.
"She's not fucking worth it, Leah."
"Yes, she is!"
Why should she get to say all of these horrible things and have no repercussions for them? It's not fair.
I struggle against him, but his strong muscles keep me in place as he climbs the stairs faster. He's panting harshly as he strides down the hallway and when he shoves open his bedroom door, he quickly locks it behind him and then throws me on the bed.
What do you think of Never Have I ever? I've played it a few times & find it very awkward of what to think of.
Do you think Leah should have kept her cool or did Chloe deserve it?
Thank you for reading! Please vote ⭐ and comment ❤️. These little stars mean a lot.
xoxo