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Clever.
But what she doesn’t know is that I’ve spent the past five years drinking heavily to escape the feeling of being trapped and suffocated by a future that I can’t choose. I’m not a lightweight by any sort of standards. I could drink her under the table ten times over before I even start to feel intoxicated.
A grin pulls at my mouth as I meet Kayla’s scheming eyes.
“Deal.”
9
KAYLA
This is the perfect plan. Given his sculpted body, Jace must be a health freak who no doubt treats his body like a temple. He probably never drinks alcohol because it would mess up his perfect body. So I will easily be able to drink him under the table. And I don’t even need to make him pass out or anything. Just drunk enough to make it difficult for him to keep track of me. Then I can enjoy the rest of the party without him looming over me like a bloody god of death.
Four people look up from the massive dining room table when we reach it. Three girls and one guy. I’ve never met them before, but Ivy River University is huge, so it’s not really that surprising.
“Alright, everyone, this is Mitch,” Lionel says as he points to the guy.
Mitch tosses his black hair out of his eyes and raises a hand. “What’s up.”
We all give him a nod while we start pulling out chairs.
“And this is Trina,” Lionel motions to one of the blonde girls next to Mitch before pointing to the one with stunning green eyes. “And Felicia.” His hand moves to the brown-haired girl on the other side. “And Rebecca.”
“Hi,” they say in unison and smile at us.
Chairs scrape against the pale wooden floor as we all join them around the table. It’s one of those massive tables with room for ten people, so we all fit comfortably around it. Just like most students at Ivy River, the guy who lives here is rich. Or his parents are, anyway. And they’re out of town, which is why he decided to throw a party.
I glance around the beautiful kitchen and dining room. The marble countertops are now littered with red plastic cups and empty bottles and cans. One of the pale wooden cabinets has been left open after someone no doubt searched for more glasses. Or maybe more alcohol. And the grand painting of a sunlit beach on the white wall opposite me now hangs a little crooked. Cleaning all of this up is going to be a pain. For the guy at least. Or rather, for the people he has no doubt hired to clean for him.
“And this is Kayla,” Lionel says from where he is now sitting next to me. Then he motions to the Carlisle sisters on my other side. “And Jenn and Aurora.” A frown pulls at his brows as he turns to Jace, who is sitting right opposite me. “And, uhm… I’m sorry. What’s your name again?”
Jace just keeps holding my gaze with those penetrating eyes of his for another second. Then he leans back in his seat and draws a hand through his messy brown hair while giving the rest of the table a confident grin.
“Jace,” he says, his warm brown eyes glittering in the light from the ornate lamp above the table. “The name’s Jace.”
Aurora, Trina, and Rebecca all watch the way his muscles shift underneath his white t-shirt when he moves his arm like that. Lust burns in their eyes. I suddenly find myself scowling.
“Are we playing or what?” I demand, my words coming out with a little more bite than I had intended.
Lionel blinks and looks over at me in surprise. I catch myself and make a show of rubbing my hands together instead, as if I’m just excited. Lionel buys it completely and flashes me a smile before reaching for a bottle of vodka from the ones waiting in the middle of the table. Jace, on the other hand, slides his gaze back to me and smirks. I give him a dark look.
“Alright, the game is simple,” Lionel begins while Mitch starts sliding shot glasses across the table. “You say never have I ever and then you finish the sentence with something that you have never done. And then everyone who has done that takes a shot.”
Jace chuckles while he grabs another bottle of vodka and leans over the table to fill my glass first. Once it’s so full that I’ll barely be able to lift it without spilling the alcohol, he winks at me and then starts filling his own glass. To his credit, he pours as much alcohol into his own glass as he did mine.
On my left, Lionel scowls at the way Jace laughed at his instructions. “What?”
“I just love how you felt the need to explain the rules of a drinking game that everyone here has no doubt been playing since high school,” Jace replies, without even looking at Lionel, while filling Felicia’s glass.
Everyone else at the table chuckles softly and nods in confirmation. A hint of red creeps into Lionel’s cheeks. I shoot Jace a glare, which he pretends not to notice.
“Alright, who’s first?” Mitch asks once everyone has a shot ready and waiting on the table.
“Me,” I say quickly. With a wicked smile on my lips, I look straight at Jace as I say, “Never have I ever beaten someone up.”
Jace raises his eyebrows and gives me a flat look that I can only interpret as, seriously?
I just look back at him expectantly.
