"I'm not playing this shit. Truth or dare? What are we 12? Why don't we play spin the bottle?" Jeremy said sarcastically.
"Someone is afraid of ending up naked in the lake." Ellie laughed before taking a drink from a bottle of beer.
"He has reason to be afraid." I raised my shoulder.
"Lexi." He said warningly.
"No. No. No. Don't stop her. I want to hear everything." Ellie nearly climbed over his legs to get closer to me before everyone else burst out laughing.
"So basically..." I started but Jeremy quickly cut me off.
"Alright, let's play. Ellie, truth or dare?"
"I see what you're doing, Merlin." She straightened up. "We will talk later." She winked at me and I just laughed. "Okay, hmm..." She mused, glaring at Jeremy in an attempt to read his thoughts. "I'm not risking it, truth."
"Look who's afraid of ending up naked in the lake now." He laughed.
"Funny." She rolled her eyes, but the smile didn't leave her face. "Your question, we don't have all day."
While Jeremy pondered a question, my gaze drifted to the lake where Stefan was sitting with Adrian. They have been there for a while and we decided to let them have a proper talk. Even Destiny left them to have space.
"What is something I do that you appreciate?" He smiled proudly.
"You really want me to boost your ego, huh?" She snorted.
"Answer or do a dare. It's up to you." He shrugged.
"You notice little things. And someone like me really appreciates that." She replied with a bit of sadness in her voice. I knew what it was about. Ellie has no parents. She was moved from one house to another from a young age and never found a stable place. "Now me." She looked at everyone. "Luca. Truth or dare?"
"Ouch." Jeremy clutched his chest and put on a hurt expression.
"Child." She rolled her eyes.
"Dare." Luca answered and it was obvious since there's a better chance he'll talk less in the process.
"In this circle." She pointed at us. "Give one person a kiss and another one a slap."
"Whoa Ellie, you want one of us to leave with a black eye? Look at his hands." I have to agree with Lincoln on this one. If you want someone to hit you so hard that you'll end up in the hospital, call Luca. But, there is little chance of that happening because Luca avoids fights.
"Then hope he doesn't choose you." She took a sip of her beer.
It was obvious that he was going to choose Zack, who was sitting on his left, for the kiss. However, we didn't expect it to be a kiss kiss.
Luca turned to Zack and grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him close, their lips crashing into each other so hard I was afraid poor Zack's teeth were going to fall out. Overall, I'd say we were as out of breath as Zack was when Luca pulled away from him.
"Well shit." Destiny laughed next to Finn on his left, taking a sip of her beer.
"Now slap." Ellie sounded excited, but her smile quickly faded as Luca stood up and started walking towards her. "This is karma." She closed her eyes when he was in front of her, but we were slightly taken aback when he leaned towards her and whispered something in her ear. "What?" She frowned and then laughed. "Help yourself."
"Thanks." He winked at her before straightening up and looking at Jeremy.
"Oh shit." He said quietly.
"Bend over." Luca smiled.
"Sorry what?" Jeremy's eyes nearly fell out of their sockets.
"It wasn't said where the slap should be. Bend over."
Jeremy looked at Ellie who was trying to hold herself together but I'm not surprised she couldn't. "You heard him, Merlin. Bend over."
"And you're surprised I don't want to play these games." He put his beer down and stood up. "I didn't know I was your type tho." He winked at Luca.
"You're only making it worse, I hope you know that."
"Oh God." He put his hands on his knees and bent down.
"Wooo." Excited shouts rang out all around.
"Does this happen every year?" Finn whispered next to me.
"No." I laughed. "This is more fun than ever."
"Arch that back baby." Lincoln shouted and Jeremy immediately glared at him.
Luca's hand came down on Jeremy's ass with such force that he took a small step forward to keep himself on his feet. Jeremy cursed and straightened up. "You will pay for this." He pointed warningly at Luca, who just laughed and went back to sit down.
"Finn." He said as he sat down.
Finn next to me nearly suffocated on the water. He wiped the water from his chin before looking at Luca. "Me?"
"Truth or Dare?"
"Uhm..." He looked at me, searching for an answer.
"Don't look at me, I won't help you." I raised my hands in a defensive gesture.
"Fine, truth."
"If you could change one thing in your life, what would it be?"
"That was probably the longest sentence you said all weekend." Zack laughed beside him.
"So, Finn?" Jeremy raised an eyebrow in question.
"I..." He thought about the answer for a second. "I probably wouldn't change a thing. Because if I did, I wouldn't be where I am today."
I don't know why his answer meant so much to me.
"That's probably the best answer you could have given." Penny spoke up.
"I want to ask something."
"That's not how it's played, Lincoln. There are rules. If there weren't, I wouldn't get my ass spanked." Jeremy ran his hand over his ass, over ther place Luca hit him.
"Lexi, truth or dare."
"Uhm..." I looked around. Why isn't anyone saying anything? "Dare?"
"Kiss Finn." He said as if it was nothing and everyone was even quieter than before, so much so that I could hear my own heart.
"What?" I laughed. Is he serious now?
I thought it was some kind of joke or something, but Lincoln was looking at me with an approving look. As if to tell me it's okay.
I looked at Finn who was trying not to smile.
"Oh." I smiled. "Truth then." I tried to hold it together, not to laugh even though I saw the confused look on Finn's face. But by Lincoln's expression, I think he knows what I'm doing right now.
"Okay Pierce." He smiled from ear to ear. "Then tell me why you don't want to kiss him."
"Oh you're going to pay for this." I narrowed my eyes and pointed my finger at him.
"I'm waiting." He crossed his arms over his chest.
"Because I'm punishing him."
"For what?" Finn spoke up next to me, clearly touched by my actions and words.
"That's another question. Lincoln, truth or dare." I completely ignored the fact that Finn almost exploded next to me. The poor guy is so confused that he doesn't know what to do with himself.
"Dare."
"Jump naked into the lake." I challenged him.
"Gladly." He stood up and began to undress. When he was only in his boxers, he ran to the lake and took them off along the way. We all saw his bare ass and laughed the whole time he ran away.
Naked, he flew past the twins who looked at us in confusion while Lincoln was already jumping into the lake.
"Oh, I'm joining." Zack took off his t-shirt over his head and within a few minutes everyone started doing the same and running to the lake.
I was about to join in when Finn grabbed my arm and pulled me to him. "You're punishing me?" He raised an eyebrow. "We'll see about that." He started pulling me away from everyone, back to his tent.
"Finn, come on." I laughed. "I was just kidding."
"So you lied." He stopped in front of his tent and turned to me. "That's against the rules." A playful smile appeared on his face.
"Probably yeah." I bit my lip.
"Truth or dare, sunshine."
"Dare."
"Kiss me like the whole world doesn't exist." He placed his hand on my cheek, his gaze darting from my eyes to my lips.
And he got what he wanted.
*****
"I never thought you all were this crazy." Destiny laughed as she towel-dried her hair in the tent.
"Tell me about it." I laughed with her. "So how are Stefan and Adrian doing?"
"Well..." She took a deep breath. "Okay, I guess. I don't know what's going to happen next."
"I don't mean to be pushy, but..."
"Which one do I really like?" She finished for me.
"You don't have to answer if you don't want to, it's your business." But I wouldn't be against an answer.
"Don't get me wrong...I know they're both...they mean a lot to you. But I can't imagine a future with Adrian." She placed the towel beside her and folded her hands in her lap. "Adrian is wonderful in many ways. He's charming and funny, but...he's immature. And Stefan is..." She smiled. "Stefan is someone who is not afraid to show his feelings. He is kind, considerate, understanding, I..." She sighed.
"Do they know how you feel?"
"I told Adrian that he and I..." She shook her head. "And I'm afraid to talk to Stefan. I know he likes me, but I'm only a woman and Adrian is his brother. It would be complicated."
"Adrian may be immature, but he'll understand. He'll move on with his life, trust me, I know him." I put my hand on hers. "Talk to Stefan. You can do that tonight." I shrugged my shoulders.
"Now?" She looked at me scared. "What would I say to him? Hey Stefan, I like you, I'm sorry you fought with your twin because of me. Want to bang?"
"Maybe leave out that last part." I laughed.
"But that was the best." She smiled. "Just kidding. But I can't, I won't throw you out of the tent."
"About that." I laughed nervously. "I'm not going to sleep here today anyway." I said carefully.
"Huh?" She looked at me confused. "And where will you be..." Her face showed as she put it all together. "Lexi." Her face lit up. "Oh my God." Her hands flew to her mouth. "No."
"You can't tell anyone." I pointed at her with my finger. "Not yet."
"Oh no, no, don't worry. I would never do that. But Lexi." She grabbed my hands. "That's amazing. I'm so happy for you."
I didn't even try to hide my smile. "We're kind of...officially together now."
Destiny closed her mouth and squeezed my hands hard. "I really want to scream from joy, but I don't want to wake or call anyone. Congratulations?" She laughed.
"Thanks. Now." I breathed a sigh of relief. "Do you want me to call Stefan?"
"You know what? Yes." She nodded.
"Hopefully everything will be resolved." I stood up and went to the tent door. "Good night."
"Okay. Oh, Lexi wait." She spoke when I was already standing in front of the tent.
"Yes?" I bent down to her.
"Do you need a condom?" She raised her eyebrows a few times
"Oh my god. I shouldn't have told you anything." I left, and even after I walked further away I heard her laugh from the tent.
I bumped into Stefan when he was just going to his tent that he shared with Adrian, and I told him to go see Destiny. He didn't ask questions, which I was grateful for, and just went.
I walked determinedly towards Finn's tent. "You got this." I spoke quietly to myself. "After all, you already slept with him. You didn't sleep with him, but you did sleep next to him. It's going to be okay. Easy peasy."
I mentally encouraged myself with each step, but as I stood in front of the tent, I began to panic slightly. Should I knock or just walk in? And how do I knock on a tent? Should I say something?
What am I doing? Whose idea was this?
Before I could do anything, the zipper on the tent moved and Finn peeked out. "How long are you going to stand there?" He asked with a smirk.
"Until you invite me in?" I blurted out the first thing that came to mind.
He lowered his head with a laugh. "Then come in." He ducked so I could get in.
Okay, I have one question. Did this tent shrink in two days? I swear it was bigger when we built it. After all, we have the same one with Destiny. How can this one be smaller?
"Lexi?"
"Huh?" I stopped looking around and turned my attention to him.
"Why are you nervous?"
"What? I'm not." I frowned.
Liar.
"Really?" He raised one eyebrow.
"Sorry, just..." I shook my head. "I don't know what's happening to me."
"I know." He smiled. "Come on, lie down." I listened and lay on my right side to face him. Finn closed the tent and laid down across from me. "Turn around." I remained silent and just listened to him. I rolled onto my left side and before I could even get comfortable, Finn threw a blanket over us.
His hand stayed with me, draped over my stomach. With the same hand, he also pulled me closer to his chest.
"Sleep." I felt his warm breath on my neck. "Sweet dreams, sunshine."
I don't know if I was disappointed that he didn't try anything or not.
But I know one thing for sure. This is the best sleep I've had in a while. I'm pretty sure it's because he held me in his arms all night. But that's just my guess.
I really don't want to go back to a normal life. I don't want to lose this.
I never want to lose this.