Just a Little Crush(6)

I’d been so distracted it took me a moment to notice that everyone in the circle had shifted and stared at where we sat tucked into a corner.

Two guys craned their heads back and one gestured toward me. “It’s pointing at her.”

“No, he needs a re-spin,” Ava demanded.

“No way. Rules are: Where it lands it stays,” the first guy said.

“If we change the rules for him, we have to change them for everyone,” the other added.

“This is stupid.” Ava crossed her arms and scowled.

“It’s fine,” said Ryder. “It’s where it landed. Whatever.” He shrugged, stood and nodded toward me. “Come on.”

He moved with the kind of confidence I could only dream of having. And it was, hands down, the most attractive and intimidating thing about him. Which said a lot, considering he was crazy good-looking, with every inch of him built to perfection.

He glanced back to see if I’d followed.

“Look at her. She’s too scared to even go,” Ava laughed.

“Shut up, Ava,” Mason barked. He turned to me. “You don’t have to do this.”

Every gaze turned to me and I knew I’d hit a pivotal moment. If I said no, I’d be deemed the girl too scared to kiss the hottest guy in school. If I went, I’d be the girl who kissed the hottest guy in school.

I sucked up a ton of courage, then stood, adjusted my skirt and shrugged. “It’s fine. I just didn’t realize I was playing.” I followed Ryder to the bathroom while Ava shot daggers at me.

Girls like her probably always got chances like this. As Mason had said, she was the trifecta of popular: pretty, blond, cheerleader. But girls like me could only rely on luck, and now that it had struck, I’d be an idiot not to jump on this opportunity.

Once in the bathroom, the door clicked as he locked it. I stared at the tile floor. Trapped in this tiny space with Ryder sent my blood rushing and heart pounding. I took several even breaths, praying I wouldn’t hyperventilate.

He leaned against the sink and said, “We don’t actually have to kiss. It’s a dumb game. So don’t worry, I’m not going to make you do anything you don’t want to.” He put his hand out as if to reassure me.

But I wanted it. Really wanted it.

Though butterflies filled my stomach and I was terrified I’d make some horrible mistake, I wanted to kiss him. Or, more accurately, I wanted him to kiss me.

“We just need to let seven minutes pass and then we can go out. Not a big deal.”

But clearly, that wasn’t what he wanted. All the tingling nervousness settled into a cold lump in the pit of my stomach. “Oh. Okay.”

“So we have Biology together, right?”

I nodded, shocked he knew that, but, of course, I was the only freshman in the class, so maybe that had a little to do with it.

“Mr. B’s a pretty cool teacher, huh?”

“Yeah.”

A few moments of awkward silence passed before he finally asked, “So what should our story be?”

“Huh?”

“When we go out. Do you want me to tell everyone we kissed or we didn’t?”

I briefly met his gaze then stared at the toilet, having the sudden urge to hang my head in it. “Um, I don’t care. Whatever you want to say.”

“It won’t affect me. So it’s your choice.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Well, if I say we did, it could be nothing. They may think nothing of it and drop it, or they may turn it on you and say you kissed a guy you don’t even know in the bathroom. I’ve seen it go both ways.”

What went on at these parties? “Um, and if we say we didn’t?”

“They’ll probably laugh at you, claim you’re scared or say things like I didn’t want to kiss you.”

“So either way you walk out of this on top?” I shook my head, incredulous that no matter what we said, I’d still be the outcast and he’d still be the cool kid.

“I’m sorry. It’s not like that’s what I want.”

“So you knew this, the moment you chose to come in here? You knew that if I followed you through that door, I’d probably come back out worse off than when I went in?”

He looked down. “Had I not come in here with you, it would have been worse. I did it for you. I did it so you wouldn’t be embarrassed out there.”

Sweet and insulting all in one breath. Wow.

“I figured once we came in here we could figure out how you wanted it to go. Look, I’m trying. I’m giving you the choice now. The one you didn’t have when the bottle landed on you.”

There had been one other choice. Never even coming to this party. I didn’t belong. I’d never be accepted as part of this crowd. One way or another, they’d find a way to ostracize me. My eyes stung with impending tears.