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Luke’s brown eyes flickered. He stood up and held out his hand to me. “Come with me for a minute.”
I dropped my hand into his and he hauled me to my feet. He tugged and I followed him to Kota’s bedroom door. He opened it and pulled me up the carpeted stairs. The others trailed behind us.
We clustered together in Kota’s room. Luke went to the closet and then held the door open. “In,” he said, jerking his head toward the dark space.
I blushed. He wanted me to stand in the closet?
“I don’t think so,” North said.
“She said dare,” Luke said. “She gets to sit with me in the closet for two minutes.”
“No way,” Victor said. “That’s too far.”
“You guys don’t trust me,” he said. “I slept in her room all night and you won’t trust me in the closet for a minute. I’m not going to hurt her.”
“No kissing, either,” Nathan warned.
Luke pouted. “You guys ruin everything.” He grabbed at my arm and yanked me into the closet, closing the door.
We stood in the dark.
Luke pressed himself close to me, enough to where I could inhale vanilla. His fingers brushed against my chin.
“Luke,” I whispered. “They said no.”
“I know,” he said. He felt for my cheeks. “Trust me.” He traced his hand over my mouth, his fingers covering my lips. “Now, I’m going to let go for one second, okay? When I do, yell at me about something. Tell me to stop. When they open the door, I’m going to make it look like I am kissing you.”
I smothered a giggle. I should have known. He was trying to prank them all.
Luke uncovered his fingers over my mouth.
In my best distressed voice, I cried out. “Luke! Stop it! No, they said not to!”
Luke’s hand flew back over my mouth. The door was opened quickly and Luke bent his head down and kissed the back of his fingers, tilting his head in a way that made it look like we were making out.
I still felt the warmth of his face so close to mine. His fingers were pressed to my lips. Was this what a kiss felt like? I was too flustered and my heart was thundering from being exposed.
The guys gasped together in surprised. Luke lifted his head away to reveal his hand had been there all along.
“You little shit,” North said. His brown eyes shot bullets at his brother. He reached into the closet and yanked Luke out by the shoulder. “I should take you home right now.”
“I didn’t kiss her,” he cried out. “We were just kidding.”
My face was radiating as I stepped out of the closet. Maybe that was too far. How was I going to lighten the mood again? “North? Want to go next?”
“I don’t want to play,” he said, letting his brother go with a glare.
“You have to,” Gabriel said. “It’s Sang’s game.”
North huffed. “Dare.”
Gabriel stood behind him and tugged at his shirt and tried to mouth something to me but I wasn’t understanding.
“Take off your shirt?” I asked out loud.
Everyone laughed. North shook his head with a smirk but pulled his shirt off of his body, hanging it over his shoulder. His muscles flexed, my eyes lingered for much too long on his abs and the trail of hair below his navel.
Gabriel laughed, shaking his head. “I was trying to tell you to get him to strip.”
“That’s too far, Gabriel,” Kota said.
“It’s truth or dare. It’s what girls do.”
“He knows so well,” Luke said.
“Sang,” North said, looking at me intently.
“Tru...” Nathan tagged me in the ribs. “Ugh, dare,” I said quietly, sighing. Of all the people to dare, North’s was scariest. His eyes were intimidating.
He curled his fingers at me. “Come here. Get on my back.”
I bit my lip, crossing the room. He turned and lowered to the ground so I could wrap my arms around his neck. His hands clutched my thighs to pick me up off the ground. He dug a cell phone from his pocket and flicked the camera on.
“Smile, Sang Baby,” he said. I grinned and he snapped the picture. He kept me on his back as he turned the phone around to look at it. His face was almost grumpy, tough and serious and I had a crazy face while I smiled. Night and day. “Not bad.”
“Kota!” I called.
“Dare,” he said.
North put me down on the floor. My eyes flitted around the room for an idea. I was trying to ignore Gabriel since he picked so many. Luke popped into view. I did my best to mimic what he was trying to pantomime.
“Rub your nose... against mine?”
The others laughed. My heart seemed to stop when I realized how close he’d get if he did that.
“As you wish,” Kota said. He closed the distance between us. His fingers found my shoulders, drawing me closer. His face hovered a breath away from mine. I had to close my eyes as it made me feel cross-eyed. Kota slipped the tip of his nose down to meet mine. He glided his nose back and forth.
Our lips were close enough that he only needed to tilt his head a tiny bit to kiss me.
A shiver, like a whirlwind, danced up my spine. Our noses touching felt like gentle spring breeze against my skin. I secretly wanted it to continue.
He drew away, cheeks red and his lips twisted up. I wondered why I felt odd now. I realized it was because no one was laughing.
“Sang?” Kota asked.
I sighed. “Dare?”
He seemed pleased. “Come with me,” he said.
He padded into his bathroom and flicked the light on. He took my hand and guided me inside.
“Hey now,” Luke said. “You all made a fuss when I did that.”
“You guys can come watch,” Kota said. He pushed the door open wider in invitation.
The others followed us, crowding into the doorway of the bathroom. I smothered my shaking, nervous as to what Kota was coming up with. It was exciting and scary at the same time.
Kota pulled me until I was in front of the sink. “Sit up here,” he said, patting the counter. He put his hands on my waist to assist me so I could hop up and sit on the counter in front of him.
“Close your eyes,” he said.
My heart did flips in my chest, my stomach tightened. I let my eyelids fall. The air shifted in front of me and imagined it was Kota waving his hand at my face to make sure I wasn’t peeking.
I heard the water from the sink behind me turn on for a second and Kota shifting around on the floor. Some of the others started giggling.
“Open your mouth,” Kota said.
I gaped at him. “What are you...”
“You said dare,” he said, the command slipping into his voice but in a happy tone. “Don’t you trust me?”
How much did I trust him? I took a deep breath, letting it out and opened my mouth.
A tender touch brushed up against my tongue and I flinched, pulling back. The object was removed from my mouth.
“Sang,” he said in a sharper tone. “Open your mouth.”
I opened my mouth again and steeled myself. Pressure fell against my teeth as he applied the object again. I tasted mint. I realized it was a toothbrush and he was brushing my teeth. I started giggling as the way he was brushing was ticklish against my gums.
“Don’t laugh,” he said. “I don’t want you to choke.”
I was going to say something, but I mumbled around the toothbrush. He reached up for my jaw, tugging at it with his fingers so I’d open up further. I opened my eyes. He was focused on my mouth, with a determined grin on his face. A flash appeared, causing me to jerk back again in surprise. North had his phone back out and he snapped a picture. I squinted my eyes at him, trying to send him a mean glare but he only grinned.
“The best part is,” Gabriel said, “he could have put that thing in the toilet first and you wouldn’t know.”
>
My eyes widened and I choked a little.
“You know I didn’t do that. Calm down,” Kota said. He pulled the toothbrush from my mouth. “Okay, you’re done. Go ahead and rinse. Let’s get back downstairs. You guys get out.”
There was the resemblance of thunder as the guys ran down the stairs. Kota remained behind with me as I bent over the sink to swish my mouth and spit. I pulled back and he had a towel ready for me.
“Having fun?” he asked, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning back against the sink.
“Yup,” I said, smiling as I wiped my mouth dry with the towel. The toothbrush was beside the sink. “Is this yours?”
“Yeah,” he said.
I pushed the toothbrush under the running water to clean it. “Aren’t you worried about girl cooties?”
“Are you worried about boy cooties?” he asked, smirking.
I didn’t know the right answer for that. Did that mean something?
“I’m glad you’re having fun,” he said, adjusting as he leaned against the sink and watched me. “The guys are doing their best.”
I knocked the toothbrush against the sink. Water droplets flickered back into the basin. “What do you mean?”
“We did this for you,” he said. “It’s been a tough week. A tough several weeks, actually.”
I blushed, dropping the brush back onto the counter and shutting the water off. “You guys didn’t have to go through any trouble.”
“We wanted to,” he said. He turned slightly so he was facing me.
“Why?” I asked, focusing on the basin. I started folding the towel. Did I really want to know this answer?
Kota wrapped his hands around mine holding the towel, forcing me to look up. His green eyes sparkled against the light. “When I first met you, you were this little haunted girl, and I just didn’t know why. Next thing I know, you’re neck deep in trouble, with us at school and at home. Despite all those problems, you’re positive and hopeful. Every time you’ve been knocked down, you’ve gotten right back up. But there was always some ghost hanging over your shoulder. You’d come up for air for a split second and then slip right back into that distant stare. Now look at you.”
I tilted my head at him, confused. Ghosts? Haunted? Is that how he saw me? I wasn’t sure. I just wanted to stop feeling so kept apart from everything. He’d said I’d eventually feel a part of their group, and I wasn’t sure if I felt that way at all, or if it would ever happen. “I haven’t changed,” I said. “I’m still me.”
