"THANK YOU FOR driving me," I smile, grabbing Sam's hands and tugging him towards me.
He looks a little hesitant since we're standing right outside my house and he knows the boys, and Roman, are inside.
"Don't worry about it." He smiles, making sure to hold my hands but keep us a respectable distance apart.
I stand up on my tiptoes but he dodges my lips and moves to hug me instead, totally rejecting my kiss.
"Samuel Everette, did you just reject me?" I pull back to look at him, an amused smirk on my face.
"Okay, babes, hear me out. I would love for your family to like me and I don't think I'd have the biggest fan club if your brothers saw us making out in your driveway. Especially when we're not dating." He shrugs, carefully untangling our limbs and putting his hands in his pockets.
I huff out a breath, my arms dropping at my sides. "Fine, babes, but who's fault is that?" I ask, laughing.
He won't even kiss me goodbye?
"Fair enough." He shrugs and nods, leaning back against his car.
I walk over to him, wrapping my arms around his waist and making him let out a small sigh.
"Darling," he mumbles softly, taking his hands out of his pockets and resting them on my upper arms to hold me still.
"I'm gonna give you a choice," I grin when he laughs, shaking his head.
"I don't want a choice."
"Sucks to suck," I start, shrugging.
"You kiss me goodbye, and not like some shitty little peck on the lips, I mean an actual, make my damn toes curl kiss. Or, or, you can come inside and have dinner with us. I'm making enchiladas." I smirk when I finish, his face set in an adorable pout.
"Make your decision, pretty boy, because we got here ten minutes ago and I'm pretty sure they're expecting me to be inside any second now." I smile widely, putting my chin on his chest and look up at him.
"You're a horrible person, Madeline Jane. Absolutely horrid."
"It's one of my shining qualities." I mumble, biting my bottom lip.
When he doesn't say anything, I stand up on my tiptoes. "Decision time, kid."
He playfully rolls his eyes and smiles, holding my face in his hands and leaning down. He fits his mouth to mine, his lip ring cold against me but I've started to get used to it.
He kisses me softly, tilting his head and sliding his hands down to cup the sides of my neck. My eyes closed tightly, I reach my hands up to run over and down his shoulders, before resting on his elbows.
Good choice, Sammy.
This goes on for a few seconds, my heart racing wildly in my chest and my fingers shaking a little. I've been kissed, not that my brothers know that of course, and it's never felt like this. It's always felt better with Sam, like he's taking his time and savoring it, like he's savoring me. It makes me feel dumb and fluttery inside.
Right when I know he's about to pull away cause he's slowed down and gotten softer, I hear someone yell, "Samuel, lovely to see you'll be joining us for dinner."
I jump back from him, my mouth tingling, and turn around to see Leo standing in the doorway. Parker is scowling behind her.
"Cleo Sage, go inside!" I snap, rolling my eyes.
"Actually, Madeline Jane, you and your man are coming inside for dinner. And guess what? Ricky, Maya, and Ollie are here! Yay Sam, you get to meet to siblings slash parents!" She grins, bouncing on her feet.
I groan loudly, turning around to see Sam standing there and looking a little flustered. His lips are red from the kissing and kind of shimmery because of my lipgloss, his cheeks are flushed, and his eyes are wide. He looks over at me, mouthing, 'Help'.
"Sam has to go home and babysit." I lie, shrugging as I turn back to them.
"That is a lie, Sam would kill Rory if he was left alone with him for too long." Leo laughs loudly, tugging on my brother's hoodie sleeve. Even though he's still glaring at Sam, he leans down enough that she can climb on his back.
Despite the fact I'm suppose to be mad, little Leo grinning and getting a piggy back ride from pissed off Parker is kind of hilarious.
"Fine, but you're busy right?" I ask, looking at Sammy.
He sighs, tilting his head back before meeting my eyes again. "I want you to know that you look absolutely breathtaking in black." He tells me, holding my head between his hands and kissing my forehead.
"What?"
"It's a shame I won't get to see you at my funeral." He nods, releasing my face and waking towards the house.
I let out a loud sigh, following close behind. When we get up to the door, Parker says, "I think it's best you keep your hands to yourself tonight, Olson."
Leo messes up his hair, saying, "Knock it off, Parker Jay."
He rolls his eyes like the immature baby he is, then turns and walks away with Leo on his back.
When Sam tries to walk through the door, I grab his sleeve and tug him back. "Hold on, dummy, you still have lipgloss on your mouth." I mutter, standing on my tiptoes and trying to wipe his lips with my thumb.
He sits there for a second, his lips getting progressively redder from the rubbing, but nothing's happening.
"MJ, call me crazy, but I don't think this is working."
I punch his arm with my free hand, eventually giving up and licking my thumb. When he sees this he jumps back before I can get anywhere near his mouth.
"Ew, no!" He says, scrunching his nose up in disgust.
"You literally spent the last few minutes kissing me, my spit was in your mouth, and my spit getting on your lips is the problem? Dude, I'm struggling to keep up." I sigh, wiping my thumb off and pulling him back over to me.
A second later, after I've wiped and tried to make his lips less red, I give up.
"Whatever, you can go in with lipgloss. Peach cream is your shade anyways,"
Grabbing Sam, I pull him through the doorway. "Let's get this over with,"
I look in the living room to see Ricky and Maya snuggling on the couch, Lia fighting Roman on the floor for some reason, Ollie chatting with Emmett, and Winn clearly trying to have a pleasant conversation with a cute blonde at the table.
"Oh, the whole gang's here." Sam whispers, his hand sliding down the inside of my arm and lacing our fingers. I try to ignore the goosebumps that spread over my skin and just squeeze his hand.
"Hey, guys!"
They all turn and look at us, Ricky instantly scanning over the boy who I'm holding hands with. The girl who's sitting next to Winn sends me a smile.
I force one back, before cleaning my throat and looking at Ricky. He gives me a questioning look, and Maya smirks, resting her palms on her belly.
"I'm Sam, nice to meet you guys." He gives everyone a little wave, smiling nervously.
"So, yeah, this is Sam. He's uh, he's Leo's friend and my boyfriend, um, that's it." I stammer, finishing in a whisper.
Amelia, who finally stopped fighting her boyfriend and is now using him as a pillow, grins wildly.
Ricky's mouth is hanging open a little, looking confused and like he's ready to start a lecture, but Maya quickly covers it.
"It's lovely to meet you, Sam, and before he can get to it, I'd like to give you a brief summary of what my husband was about to say. You look like a great young man and we're thrilled that Maddie is happy with you. But, if you happen to hurt her, physically or emotionally, you will be fucked up. Majorly. By everyone in this room." She says, still smiling sweetly.
I look up at Sam to see him staring at her wide-eyed. He swallows hard, mumbling, "Yes, ma'am."
Ricky is still glaring at him, looking beyond confused and pretty pissed.
"I mean, I knew there was a boy but I didn't realize that they were dating." Ricky shakes his head, looking at me then him again.
Sam looks down at me, murmuring, "Yeah, neither did I."
"You sure as hell didn't initiate anything and I think they'd hate you a little less if we were dating when they found us kissing in the driveway." I whisper back, elbowing him.
"Yeah, but you made me choose," he puts a hand to his side and frowns.
"Okay, whatever, this isn't the place we should be talking about this." I sigh, turning back to my family.
"I'm sorry, I'm still so confused." Ricky stands up, walking towards us. Sam squeezes my hand before letting go, reaching to shake my brother's hand.
"We're gonna talk outside for a second." Ricky announces, and I shake my head, my face paling.
"You will literally take him outside and murder him. You can't murder him." I shake my head, grabbing Sam's arm and tugging him towards me.
"I'm not gonna murder him! We're going to talk, you can have him back in a second." Ricky replies, rolling his eyes.
"Mads, I'm fine. I'll be back in a second." Sam gives me a small smile, prying my slender fingers off his arm.
I nod, huffing out a breath, looking between my brother and my almost-boyfriend. "Five minutes." I say firmly, glaring at Ricky.
"Five minute, sure," he just opens the door, walking out with Sam following behind.
I cover my face, walking over to the couch and plopping down beside Maya.
"So, boyfriend, huh?" She asks, elbowing me and laughing.
I take my hands off my face, sighing heavily.
"Yeah, I never got the memo on the whole boyfriend thing." Lia chimes in, her head laying on Roman's stomach.
"He won't man up and ask," I mumble, avoiding all their eyes.
"You're telling me that you two aren't dating?" Roman demands, sitting up so quickly that Amelia falls over.
She punches his gut, hard, and he just sends her a quick apologetic look, not even fazed.
"Okay, guys, he will. I know he's going to in the very near future he just- he hasn't yet."
When Roman opens his mouth to say something, I snap, "That doesn't mean never, Roman Lyle. It just means that at this time, right now, he hasn't."
He rolls his eyes, laying back down on the ground.
"I let him be all huggy today cause I thought you were dating! If you two are 'just friends' then I'm allowed to get out there and kick his ass for kissing you." Parker announces, going to stand up but Leo punching his arm makes him stop for a second.
"You sit your ass back down, Parker Jay. You're gonna sit here and stop being so hypocritical." She rolls her eyes, and Amelia laughs hard when he does as he's told.
"Parker, you're whipped!" She cackles, and even Roman laughs at that.
"Am not,"
"Are too!"
"No I'm not." He says firmly, and Leo just smirks.
"Yes you are, dummy." She says, flicking his cheek. He just rolls his eyes, pouting like a baby.
Why does she even like him? I mean, honestly.
"Hey, Ricky's not gonna do anything. He'll lecture him, that's it. He's just worried about you, Mads." Maya says, wrapping her arm around me. I lean into her side, my hand going to her belly.
"When is she finally gonna be born? I've been waiting forever, the amount of shit I've bought is insane." I say, making her smile.
"They say twenty-nine days, but it might be a little later than that. They're leaning more towards January first or second, which kind of sucks, but I want her to be healthy so I guess I'll have to wait." She explains, laughing.
We talk for a few minutes, mostly about how they decorated her nursery, and I can't wait to see it. The color scheme is pine green and cream, with gold accents. She said they're thinking about getting her name put on a sign and up on the wall, but they're still going between two and they can't decide which one.
I have a feeling that there isn't going to be enough time to pick a name and get the sign done before she's born.
"What're the two names you're going between?" I ask, keeping my hand on one spot where the baby was kicking earlier.
I love this kid so much.
"I want to tell you but Ricky wants it to stay a surprise. If we choose one of the two names, which I'm pretty sure we're going to, then it won't be a surprise. Sorry, Maddie." She smiles, and I nod, pouting a little.
"I will give you a little hint though, one of the names start with E and the other starts with M."
"Oh! Wait, wait, is the E Elise? Or what about Emma? Ella? Ellie?" I start rattling off names, and she laughs, sitting back and watching me.
"Madison? Marie? Mia? Makayla?"
"Okay, none of those, but they are pretty. You just need to wait a few weeks and we'll tell you." She smiles widely, and I nod.
"Fine, but that doesn't mean I'm happy about it." I laugh, and she rolls her eyes, still grinning.
The front door opens, Ricky and Sam walking in. Sam looks uninjured, which is always a good sign, and Ricky doesn't seem completely pissed.
This is good.
I quickly jump up off the couch, walking over to them. I grab Sam's arm, saying, "We're gonna go grab something to eat."
I pull him into the kitchen, and as soon as I door shuts I whisper, "What happened?"
He shrugs, sitting down on one of the barstools. I walk around to the other side of the island, putting my hands down on the counter.
"He asked me about myself. My age, if I had a job, how long we've been dating, what my end goal was with you. Job interview, but like romantic stylez." He answers, making me laugh and roll my eyes.
"I should've never made you watch Brooklyn Nine-Nine with me." I snort, rolling my eyes.
"So, how did you answer the questions?" I turn around, opening the fridge and looking for something to eat.
"Well, obviously I told him I was sixteen, that's clear."
"You look older. More eighteen." I comment, turning around with sandwich supplies and some fruit in my hands.
He nods, tilting his head and smiling.
Holy shit he's attractive.
"The rest?" I question, grabbing the bread from the pantry and brushing the thought aside for another time.
"Well, our family friend, Robert, is a mechanic and he let's me work at his shop on the weekends. It's usually only two weekends a month but I'm looking into a more serious job."
I frown, pulling a few slices of bread out of the bag. "Sammy, don't let him bully you into getting a job if you don't want to."
He grins. "MJ, are you worried about me?"
"Of course I'm worried about you, idiot, I do have a heart. Underneath my sexy badass persona, I'm a slightly empathetic sexy badass." I say, smirking.
"Is that the Maddie I met last night?" He asks, raising his eyebrows.
"You need to watch your wording, Samuel, or someone's gonna hear something and get the wrong idea."
"Samuel? Wow, okay, that's kinda hot." He smirks when I blush bright red, throwing a grape at him.
"You think your own name is hot? That's a little conceited, don't you think?"
"No, I've never really thought my name was hot until you said it, then it became pretty hot." He replies, eating the grape and grinning.
"You're impossible."
"You love it."
I huff out a breath, a little smile on my face. As I assemble the sandwiches, I say, "So, finish with how the interrogation went."
"He asked me how long we'd been dating and we haven't actually started dating, but I told him very recently. Very recently as in, so recent it hasn't even happened yet."
I nod, my eyes focused on the sandwich I'm making.
"Ems, something's bothering you, tell me what's up." He says instantly, his voice soft but still slightly teasing.
I shrug, still keeping my gaze down on what I'm doing.
"Ems, babes," he insists, still in his soft voice that honestly melts me a little.
"Okay, fine, I overheard you talking with my brothers the other day and I know you asked for their permission to date me. I also know that they okayed it but you still haven't asked."
I don't look up at him, pretending what I'm making is so much more important.
"Yeah, I know you heard it too. Not only did you suddenly let me kiss and hug you, you aren't that sly." He replies, a smile in his voice.
"Then why haven't you asked me? Are you second guessing having an actual relationship with me, and are instead just sticking with the breezy, casual, non-committed relationship? You know, the one that consists of kissing and physical affection but with no labels?" I shoot off, unable to stop myself once I start.
"Mads, you're overthinking things, you do that too much. Just because I haven't asked you yet doesn't mean I've lost interest, it means I'm planning. You're one of the best things that've ever happened to me, I don't want to screw it up."
I finally look up at him, seeing a smile etched onto his handsome face.
"You really mean that?" I ask quietly, biting my bottom lip.
"Of course I mean that, dummy. Now sit down, I'm finishing the sandwiches." He announces, standing up and walking around the island.
"It's really okay-" my protest is cut off by him pressing a quick kiss to my lips, his hands on my upper arms.
"I like doing things for you. Go sit down and let me do this." He instructs, but it honestly sounds less like a command and more like a request. Like it would genuinely make him happy if I let him make us sandwiches.
"You're a weird dude, Samuel Everette." I walk around the island, plopping down on the same barstool where he was sitting.
"Why thank you, Madeline Jane." He smiles and squints obnoxiously, showing off his perfectly straight and pearly white teeth.
I watch him while he does his thing, mostly focusing on the small details about him that I find weirdly attractive.
Like the little bit of his collarbone sticking out of his shirt, the few strands of hair that never go the way they're suppose to and always fall over and onto his forehead, or the plain silver ring he always wears on his right hand, ring finger.
Have you ever met a person and they don't even have to try, but you find the most random things about them that are cute? And sometimes it's almost infuriating because, dammit, they're just sitting there and not even trying but they're so freaking perfect?
I wonder if he thinks that about me?
When I catch myself thinking about it, another round of butterflies erupt in my stomach but I quickly push it down.
"What're you blushing about, goofy?" Sam snorts, pushing a sandwich on a plate over to me.
I roll my eyes, grabbing one half of my sandwich.
Yes, he cut it into triangles for me, and yes, I am living for it.
He plops down next to me, still giving me a dumb smug look.
"What?" I ask around a mouthful of food, which is gross and unladylike, but if he's bothered by it he doesn't say anything.
"You were staring at me, then you were staring at nothing and doing your thinking face, and now you're blushing. What's got you all hot and bothered, beautiful?" He uses his thumb to smooth the wrinkles between my eyebrows where I was furrowing them.
Of course his words and actions just make me blush all over again.
After I swallow thickly, almost choking on my food, I chide, "I am not all hot and bothered."
"Sure thing," he nods, popping a grape into his mouth and smirking.
Before he gets the chance to pester me anymore, Emmett walks into the kitchen.
"What's up, Emmett?" Sam says, casually fist bumping my brother like they've been friends for years.
"Nothing much. I took your advice and signed up for that U.S. history class, and even though I'm horrendous at history I seem to be doing pretty okay. And my professor thinks that it'll look good on my résumé, especially if I want to transfer to Oregon Law next semester." He replies, and Sam nods.
"That's great, man." Sam smiles, still popping grapes into his mouth.
"What? I didn't know you two were discussing college classes together." I laugh, taking some grapes from Sam's plate since he literally took them all.
"Yeah, I've looked into going to law school when I finish high school, so I'm familiar with the classes you need to take." he shrugs, flicking my fingers away.
"I didn't peg you as a lawyer kinda guy." I grin, resting my chin on my hands.
"Well, I'm kind of torn. I was talking with my dad because he's a cop and I've wanted to be a cop since I was like three, but now I'm considering Law School and I don't know what route I want to take." he replies, taking a bite of his sandwich.
"I didn't know your dad is a cop."
"Yeah, he started when he was twenty and I was two. He stopped actually going out on the field a couple years ago cause he messed up his back and Mom was worried it would get worse, but he's the captain now and he mostly just does paperwork at the precinct." He explains, and I raise my eyebrows and nod.
"I didn't know that, that's cool." I say, and he laughs.
"Yeah, I have the coolest dad." He says sarcastically, poking my ribs and grinning.
Emmy smiles at us and rolls his eyes playfully, waltzing out of the room.
A minute later I hear the kitchen door open again, but this time Parker walks in.
He walks around the island, leaning forward and resting on his forearms. He glares right at Sam, and he just stares back.
"Whatcha doing, Parker?" He finally asks my brother, resting his chin on his hand.
"Trying to figure out why the hell you decided it was okay to kiss my baby sister when you two aren't even in a relationship."
I roll my eyes and open my mouth to say something, but Sam sends me a quick smile and I let him talk.
"We are in a relationship." He replies, giving him a smile.
"I heard, less than twenty minutes ago, that you haven't manned up and asked yet. So what relationship are you referring to?" Parker asks, narrowing his eyes at him.
"She's one of my best friends, that's a relationship. And as for me not 'manning up', I'm planning. I think you'll agree when I say Madeline deserves the best, and the best doesn't come easy."
Parker raises his eyebrows, his eyes going a little wider.
"Parky, please stop meddling. I'm a big girl, I've got it covered, I promise." I say, reaching across the island to grab his arm.
He huffs, nodding.
"Now, go get laid or something, you've been stuck up and it's annoying me." I instruct, patting his forearm and sitting back.
"Maddie," he scolds, glaring at me.
"What? You know it's the truth, so go and get some attention from Leo, you've been extra desperate recently."
He rolls his eyes and walks away, muttering, "Pot, meet kettle."
I glare at the back of his head as he walks from the kitchen, and soon Sam's laugher fills the room.
"What?"
"You two are so petty, it's hilarious." He snorts, releasing my hand and reaching up to pinch my cheek.
I swat his hands away, shooting him daggers.
He just leans down, capturing my lips in a short kiss.
"Hey, we got into all this because you wouldn't give me a tiny, little kiss, but now you're handing them out like they're free. What's with that?" I mumble, pulling back enough that I can just meet his eyes.
He laughs, sitting back and munching on more grapes.
"Yeah, well, apparently I'm your boyfriend now so I figured I'd better start acting like it."
"No, no sir. I expect a cute as shit, vsco worthy, date night. We're gonna have dinner, we're gonna go for a walk in the park, then when you drop me off at my house you're going to kiss me and ask me to be your girlfriend. And then I'm gonna kiss you again, knock your goddamn socks off, and tell you I'd love that." I reply adamantly, pointing at him.
He grins, raising his eyebrows at me.
"You've got this all planned out, haven't you, sweetheart?" He asks, twisting his fingers together and resting his chin on his hands.
"Absolutely I've planned this, Olson. And when did you start calling me sweetheart?"
He shrugs, his eyes flitting over my face with a satisfied little smile on his face.
"I figured I'd give it a go. Not a hit?" He mumbles, still staring at me with these soft, doughy eyes that I don't know what to do with.
"No, it could be a hit, I just need to get used to it." I watch him, that idiotic smile plastered to his idiotic face.
"Stop staring at me."
"But you're just so nice to look at." He shrugs again, pulling his bottom lip between his teeth.
"Stop," I murmur, squinting at him.
"Stop what?"
"Stop doing those dumb lovey-dovey eyes at me and telling me I'm pretty, it does things to my hormones and you know it, bastard." I answer, a huge grins coming over his face.
"You don't like when I tell you that I think you're beautiful? Or that my favorite part of the day is seeing you smile because you're genuinely excited to see me? Oh, how about the fact that I'm absolutely in love with how much you care about my little brother, even though you only met him a matter of months ago?" He says, making me flush deeply and my stomach explode in butterflies.
"If you keep going I will kiss the shit out of you in this kitchen and I can't because my brothers are right outside the door." I whisper, pressing my palms to my hot cheeks.
He bites the inside of his cheek, a smile on his face.
"I could keep going. I have a lot of things I like about you, I actually have a list in my phone of things to remember. Like your coffee order, your birthday, your favorite color, your favorite restaurant, all that jazz."
I groan, covering my face with my hands.
"You wanna see the list?" He asks, and when I peek at him through my fingers he's already scrolling through his phone.
He sets it down on the countertop, right in front of me.
Quickly scanning over it, I just about melt right there.
"You dumbass, why do you have to be so sweet?" I say, throwing my head back and looking up at him.
"I'm just good like that," he replies, nonchalantly.
"If you were my boyfriend, I would probably kiss you, but you're not." I pretend to pout, jutting my bottom lip out.
"You didn't have an issue with it earlier." He raises his eyebrows, tugging on my ponytail.
I stand up from my chair, walking so I'm stood between his legs and set my hands on his shoulders.
"Sorry, but from this point on I'll be saving my kisses for my boyfriend." I say, tilting my head at him.
"I'll give you a day for that to last. You were good at pretending to be coldhearted for a little while, but I know you won't last without some form of affection. You're too huggy for that." He smirks, resting his hands on my lower back and pulling me closer.
"Uh-huh?"
He nods firmly, saying, "Uh-huh."
"Alright, sure, I'll take you up on that. Ten bucks says I make it until our date." I reply, bringing my hands up to run through his hair, just because I know he loves it.
He nods, his eyes drifting closed and his face relaxing.
He looks so peaceful. Cutie.
I slap his cheek lightly, stepping back from his hold.
His eyes snap open and he gapes at me, asking, "What the hell, Maddie?"
"You looked cute and relaxed, I had to." I reply, stepping back and walking to the door.
"You're a stone cold bitch." He whispers, narrowing his eyes at me but I know he's not mad.
"You love it."
"It's only slightly hot." He nods, making me snort out a laugh.
"It's entirely hot and you know it." I say, grinning.
He finally lets up, a smirk coming over his lips. "Yeah you're right, it's hot as shit."
I laugh again, pushing the door open and walking into the living room.
I plop down on the floor next to Amelia, crossing my legs and asking, "What're you hoes up to?"
Lia grins. "I should be asking you. What were you and Mr. American Eagle Model Lookin' Ass doing in there?"
Roman scowls and flicks her forehead making her look up from where her head is resting on his stomach. She flicks his cheek, way harder than he did, and glares at him.
"Don't touch my face with your nasty unwashed hands, I don't want no damn pink eye." She snaps, and he just rolls his eyes.
"I wash my hands, dumbass."
"Yeah, sure you do." She sighs, before looking back at me.
"What's up, sis? Tell me what went down in that kitchen, you're glowing."
"I'm not glowing, that's for pregnant people, and nothing. I made a sandwich because I'm starving," I reply, making sure to look at Emmett when I say that.
"What?" He asks around a mouthful of what I think is pop tarts.
"Go make your legendary chocolate chip pancakes, Emmy, this is your time to shine."
"No, Ollie ordered Chinese food." He says, waving me off.
I just fist pump the air, getting way too excited.
I don't have to make dinner!
"Ollie!" I call, turning to him quickly.
Either he doesn't hear me or he's ignoring me cause he doesn't look up from his phone, but that doesn't stop me.
"Ollie!"
"Oliver Jarred!"
His head snaps up to me, his eyes wide.
I give him the sweetest smile I can muster up and ask, "You get me Crab Rangoons?"
He laughs, chucking a pillow at me. "Course I did, you dummy."
"This is why you're my favorite brother." I grin, laughing hard when all my other brothers, Roman included, yell in protest.
"Okay, fine, you guys can all be my favorite brothers. You too, Lia." I tease, and she holds a hand to her heart.
"Aw, babe," she says, leaning over to hug me.
"Update, Lia is my one and only favorite brother!"
~•~•~
"Okay, okay, Katie, truth or dare?" I say, looking at my brother's girlfriend.
Over dinner I learnt that the blonde at our table was the famous Katie, and honestly she's a treasure.
With her strawberry blonde hair, light brown eyes, and a sprinkling of freckles over her cheeks, she's really pretty too.
And Winn was right, she's so quiet. She's stayed relatively quiet the whole night, but not the rude kind, just reserved.
"Oh, um, dare." She shrugs, smiling.
"I dare you to rate Winnie on a scale of one to ten, ten being damn Liam Hemsworth level hotness." I reply, grinning when Winn sighs and throws his head back.
She blushes bright red, her eyes widening.
"You don't have to, Katie, it's really okay." He says to her, but she shakes her head, a tiny smile coming over her face.
"No, I want to play. Besides, this is an interesting question."
She thinks for a second, still blushing furiously, before quietly muttering, "Probably ten."
At this Winn's eyes go huge, a light pink hue coming over his cheeks as he looks down at her in surprise.
When I bark out a laugh, she giggles and tells him, "You have really pretty eyes, I don't know."
We laugh harder, Katie joining in with us.
"My turn!" Leo announces, smiling broadly.
"Maddie, truth or dare?"
"Truth." I reply, crossing my legs and bumping my knee into Sam's. He just smiles down at me, winking.
Idiot.
"Okay, totally like a middle school question, but how many people have you ever kissed?" She asks, giggling when Parker snorts out a laugh.
I chuckle nervously, bringing my hand up to run it through my messy hair.
"Dare?" I try, and Leo shakes her head adamantly, grinning widely.
"You have a secret, spill!"
"It's not that bad,"
"Then tell us." Sam says, poking my ribs.
"Yeah, Mads, now I'm invested." Ollie pipes up from the couch, peering over at us where we're in a circle on the floor in the middle of the living room.
"Fine!" I laugh, rolling my eyes.
"So uh, I kissed Brooks Kazinsky when I was thirteen, Marcus Howison when I was fifteen, and the one and only Samuel Olson when I was sixteen." I admit as I motion to him, then fall on my back laughing when I see the looks on my brother's faces.
"I never knew you kissed anybody besides this bastard!" Parker busts out, pointing at Sam.
"I knew!" Lia grins, putting her face into Roman's shoulder and laughing hard.
He just smiles down at her, wrapping his arm around her waist and kissing her forehead.
Even though those two idiots have petty little disagreements all the time, you can tell they're best friends and it's adorable.
I want that.
"Listen, it's in the past! And you know the truth or dare rules, you're not allowed to get mad at me for answering honestly." I say proudly, sitting up on my elbows and smiling widely at them.
"Those rules are dumb." Parker defends.
"You came up with them after we found out you were the one eating all my Halloween candy, Einstein."
He rolls his eyes and nods once, mumbling, "Fair enough." But I know he's fighting a smile.
"Parker, truth or dare?" Lia asks, looking at him.
"Dare."
"Alright then, you seem awfully confident. But I have a good one." She smiles evilly and I know I already like what she's planning.
"You have to swap some sort of clothes with the person to your right, which just happens to be your lovely Cleo Sage."
"I'm like the size of a large twelve year old, what will he fit into to of mine?" Leo asks, already laughing her ass off.
"I don't know, go figure it out. And the rules are it can't be socks, hats, or shoes. Something like a tee shirt or pants. Now go!" She explains, shooing them.
The rest of the game is spent with Leo swimming in one of Parker's shirts and him trying his best not to stretch her hoodie.
I'm in the middle of taking a picture of Parker trying to pull himself out of her hoodie without ruining it, when I feel someone rest their hand on my hip.
I quickly snap one more picture and turn to look at Sam, who's grinning as he looks over my shoulder at the photos.
"Honestly some quality shit." He laughs and I nod in agreement.
"Well, unfortunately one got to head home but I expect some after pictures." He tells me, and I frown but nod again.
"I'll walk you out,"
Once we're stood on the front porch, I ask, "Hey, have we started our bet yet?"
He shrugs. "I mean, we didn't really announce it-"
But I cut him off by grabbing the back of his neck and pulling him down, arching my back to meet his lips halfway.
He's clearly surprised by my sudden outburst, but it only takes him a second to recover and kiss me back.
His hands snake around my waist, and I stumble on my tiptoes a little as he pulls me flush to him.
I move my mouth against his, sliding my hands down to cup his jaw and pull him tighter to me.
A second passes before I force myself to break the freaking fantastic kiss. One, because I know everyone is going to start to wonder what's taking me so long. And two, because even though I can't exactly feel it right now, I know it's cold.
After pressing three or four shorter kisses to his slightly swollen lips, I pull back and look at his face. His eyes are half shut, long dark lashes casting shadows on his cheekbones from the yellow light of the front porch.
Both of our breathing is a little irregular, his warm breath fanning my face.
"That was to tide you over until our date. Don't be expecting anything else from me, Olson." I whisper, my voice a raspier than usual.
He smiles dreamily, leaning down and kissing me once, this one slower and sweeter. I'm once again reminded of him savoring the kiss and the mere thought just makes my heart rate faster than it already is.
He pulls his lips away but keeps his forehead pressed to mine, never opening his eyes.
"Friday night, I'll be over to pick you up at seven. How does that work for you?" He whispers, finally opening his gorgeous mossy green eyes again.
I smile, keeping my hand on his jaw but running my thumb over his bottom lip and lip ring that I'm absolutely in love with.
"I might have to move some things around but I think I can make it work," I tease, laughing breathily.
****
GUYS AWW
(is it conceited to aw at your own writing? i hope now because if so i'm the most self centered-chick around.)
i'm sorry this took my literally forever to upload, but hopefully it's worth your while. i feel awful about making you guys wait then giving you these crappy little chapters that i'm not crazy proud of, but i promise there should be some quality content coming soon.
or at least i hope so 😳
thank you for reading! please comment and vote! love youuuuuuuuuu
- f a i t h y
p.s. do we like the lil pic at the top? should i do that to the rest and make that a new norm?? idk, i'm bored and experimenting guys! 😂