「 six ✧ exquisite 」
a/n: translations of languages are at the end of the chapter, in the author's note.
"Never have I ever given a lap dance," Callum said.
Lacey took another shot and we all laughed. Aurora took one too and I grinned at her.
"It was for a dare," Aurora explained, a blush forming on her pretty features. "It was embarrassing."
"I'm sure it was good, though." Lacey winked at her.
"How about you?" Aurora laughed.
"The man was desperate," Lacey muttered. "He was begging for one. What else was I supposed to do except oblige?"
"Was this the same guy you sent nudes to?" I asked her, jokingly, but her expression sobered.
She shrugged, looking uncomfortable. I decided to drop it right away and remember to apologize later.
"Never have I ever been caught having sex," Rohan said. I silently thanked him for moving on.
This time, only Callum took a shot. Wiping his mouth, he grinned at all of our looks. "Her parents came in."
"That must've been traumatizing," Rohan said.
"Not really. Maybe for her, but I just laughed."
"Of course you did," I muttered.
"What do you mean, 'of course you did'? What are you implying, Em?" Callum narrowed his eyes at me.
"I'm implying, Cal," I replied pointedly, "that laughing after being caught is such a you thing to do."
He raised a single brow. "Wanna test it?"
"Alright, let's move on," Aurora said loudly, saving me from an answer. "It's my turn again, right? Never have I ever been involved with someone of the same sex."
Rohan, Callum, Lacey and I all took a drink. I grinned at them each in turn, giddy. The alcohol was definitely starting to get to my head.
"Who was it this time?" Augustus muttered from beside me. "Math teacher?"
"How about you shut the fuck up?" I glared up at him, but he just smirked down at me.
"Never have I ever flashed a bartender for a free drink," Lacey said.
I chuckled as Callum and Lacey both took a drink.
"It was worth it," the latter said. "He gave me free drinks the rest of the night."
"All I showed her were my abs, and she was practically on her knees," Callum said.
I scoffed, smiling. "Yeah, right."
"I'm serious," he responded.
"Uh-huh."
"Do you want me to prove it?" His smirk grew.
"Later," I answered, attempting and failing to hide my smile.
"Never have I ever read smut on an airplane," Augustus said, his eyes landing on me.
"You've got to be fucking me," I muttered, pouring a drink and throwing my head back.
He just laughed. "That's what I thought."
He knew that it had to have been on our flight two days ago, since I had told him that that was the first time I'd ever been on a plane.
I narrowed my eyes. "Never have I ever been an annoying fucking bitch." When he didn't do anything, I death-stared him. "Casen, that's you."
He feigned confusion, shaking his head. "No... I think you just called out yourself, actually."
"No, you dumb asshole. Take a shot or I'll shove it down your throat."
A corner of his lips tilted up. "I'd like to see you try."
I poured the drink in his glass and put it to his mouth. "Open up."
He shook his head, pressing his lips together in a tight smile.
Maybe it was the vodka in my system, but I suddenly got bold. I pressed my knees on either side of his outstretched legs, straddling him. I put my thumb on his bottom lip, tugging lightly. "Open up," I said again, but my eyes were only on his mouth.
I felt his hands come up to my hips, attempting to push me away – or hold me steady. I didn't know.
I tugged on his lip again, this time harder. And when I looked up at him, there was something in his gaze. Something I couldn't place.
But he opened his mouth and let me force the shot down his throat. I grinned in victory, getting off of his lap, pumping my arms in the air. Everyone clapped and Augustus just shook his head from beside me.
"How about we play spin the bottle dares instead?" Aurora said, glancing at Callum.
He shrugged. "Sure." He screwed the lid back onto the bottle in his hand and laid it on its side in the center of our circle. He spun first and it landed on Rohan.
"Show us your latest search on your phone," Callum said.
Sighing, Rohan pulled up his google. We all saw him blush when he clicked the history.
"It's not what you think," he muttered, running a hand down his face.
"'Can you get away with murder if you hide the body really well?'" I read aloud, my face contorted into laughter.
"That's a good question, actually," Aurora muttered, grabbing the phone and scrolling. "What were the search results?"
"You're joking," Augustus muttered, but when I glanced over at him, amusement was alight in his eyes.
"Aurora is right," I said, my gaze never leaving Augustus'. "I might need to learn about murder."
He looked at me, eyes now ablaze with mischief. "Me, too. You never know. It might come in handy."
Rohan took his phone back, his face still slightly pink with embarrassment. He quickly spun next, and it landed on me. He thought for a moment before asking, "Where is the craziest place you've had sex?"
I pressed my lips together. "Aren't you supposed to give me a dare?"
He rolled his eyes. "Fine. I dare you to tell us the craziest place you had sex."
I slumped, exhaling slowly as I thought whether or not to say my answer. "In a movie theater," I finally admitted.
"A movie theater?" Callum said, shocked, his mouth agape.
"How did that even work?" Lacey asked, chuckling.
"Well... we were watching the premier of Alaska Cassidy and Rowen Hendrix's new movie, and..."
"Understandable," Rohan said. "I would want to have sex with someone after seeing them. Especially with the chemistry they had in that movie..." He fanned himself.
"Right?" I shook my head at the memory.
"Didn't they end up dating?" Aurora asked.
"They're married now, actually," I answered, smiling. "I've been keeping up on their relationship a little too much."
I spun the bottle next, and it landed on Callum. "I dare you to tell us about the worst time you had sex."
He ran a hand over his face, groaning. "I'd have to say... my first time. It was so quick and I had no experience."
"Fair," I replied, nodding.
"And... her parents walked in. It wasn't fun."
I quickly connected the dots to earlier, when he had taken a shot and admitted that the worst time he had sex was when her parents walked in on them.
Lacey laughed next to him. "I remember when you told me that. Didn't they chase you out of the house with frying pan?"
"And a spatula," Callum muttered.
We all laughed. He spun next and it landed on Augustus. "I dare you to describe a relationship that you regret being in, and why."
My mortal nemesis was quiet in thought. I studied him, for an odd second. The way his brows furrowed, the way he ran a hand through his dark hair. The way that when he finally thought of something, I could see the subtleties change in his entire face – his eyes shone just an ounce brighter, his lips curved upward into a lazy smile.
"There was one." He glanced at me. "I couldn't call what we had a relationship, per se, but we did have fun." I saw a glint of roguishness in that infuriating smile. "Apparently, not enough for her. She slept with my dorm-mate."
"Ouch," Rohan murmured. "That's almost as bad as getting run out of the house by her parents."
Augustus chuckled beside me. "Almost."
We decided to wrap up and chat. I sat with Aurora and Lacey on one of the beds, resting my back against the bedframe so that my head could clear.
"Sometimes I hate this academic pressure," Lacey said after grabbing the vodka from Callum and taking a drink of it. "I mean, I know I got myself into this mess, but... sometimes it's just so fucking lonely."
I nodded, trying to hold my tongue, but the alcohol was running wildly through my system by now. "It's the way I cope though," I said. "My life was even lonelier – if you can believe it – before all of this. With textbooks and knowledge, I sort of feel... empowered. Capable. Like I can find a way to make it in this horrid, wretched world."
"I understand that," Lacey said, nodding.
"I grew up with only my mother," Aurora said, pitching in. "It was hard on us, and I had a lot of siblings, but yeah... knowledge rooted me in place. It gave me a reason to keep going."
"Exactly." I took a swig of the bottle that Lacey handed me, and I finally started feeling a little dizzier.
But it almost felt... good. The thoughts inside of my head were quieted by the liquid.
So I took another drink. And another.
I didn't even remember what happened next. It was a blur of deep talks and even deeper swigs of vodka. Before I knew it, strong hands were grabbing me by the waist, pulling me toward the door and to the elevator.
I looked up at the person beside me, squinting my eyes from the ceiling lights. "Casen?" I mumbled.
"You're wasted," he said, revelry on his features.
"I wouldn't say wasted," I replied, but my words were slurred. When the elevator rang, I pushed off from his grip and stumbled into it, nearly collapsing. He caught me before I hit the ground.
"How much did you drink, exactly?" he asked, smirking.
"Shut up."
He was quiet for a moment. Then, "I still can't believe you had sex in a movie theater."
"It wasn't that serious," I muttered. "It was quick."
"Yeah?" A low chuckle.
"Where's the craziest place you've had sex?" I narrowed my eyes him. "I'm sure it's a lot worse than a movie theater."
"It's not, trust me."
"Where was it?" I demanded.
But before he could answer, the elevator rang, and he slid his arm around my waist to help me out. I felt the warmth of his palm on every part of my body.
When we got to our room, he grabbed his key and slid us in. He took me to his bed and I forced myself to lay still, my head pounding in my skull.
"You still haven't answered my question," I pointed out.
He hummed. "Haven't I?"
I was too confused to even process what he said. All I wanted to do was curl in the bed and sleep.
"Can you take my shoes off?" I muttered.
"No way."
"Please."
He stared at me, surrender in his eyes, and he grabbed my Doc Martens and slid them off. Without thinking, I unzipped my jeans and began pulling them down. I saw him look away and walk toward his suitcase, grabbing the same shirt I'd worn last night and throwing it at me. I took my corset off and put on the shirt, then took off my jewelry and took out my hair. When I was finished, I snuggled underneath the sheets and pulled the covers to my chin.
Augustus joined me a few minutes later. When he got into bed, he faced me, and I couldn't help but stare at his features.
"I like your eyes," I whispered, thinking out loud and then cursing myself for it.
"My eyes?" he muttered.
Too late now. "Mm. Sometimes they're gray, sometimes they're blue. They're contradictory. Unpredictable. Ravishing."
"Even drunk, you surprise me with your vocabulary." He smiled.
It was quiet until he muttered, "I like your eyes, too, Laurent."
"You do?"
His lips tilted upward. "They're sage green. Emerald. My favorite color. Sie sind exquisit, genau wie du," he finished in German.
"I don't know what you said," I admitted, a wave of sleep blanketing my mind. I closed my eyes.
And maybe it was a dream, or maybe it was just the alcohol, but I swear I heard him say "good".
hello my beautiful readers <3
this has definitely been one of my favorite chapters so far! i lovee writing about their friend group so much.
also - did you catch the mention of rowen and alaska? ;)
thank you so much for reading and i'll see you in chapter seven!!
✧
translations:
"sie sind exquisit, genau wie du" → "they are exquisite, just like you."