Page 24

Chapter 23

Shawn

W e weren’t wrong. We walked into the cottage, and Liam had a red solo cup in hand, and Bouch was pouring shots.

“I ordered pizza that is out by the fire pit. We’re getting drinks and taking a round of shots before we head down.”

“And I got stuff for S’mores!” Millie chimes in, holding up two grocery sacks of supplies.

“Let’s fucking go!” Soph says as she grabs a poured shot glass and eyes all of us to join her.

We all follow her lead and grab a glass. I notice Liam and Lee eyeing Millie as she picks one up.

He clears his throat and speaks up, of course, needing to make some grand speech before the weekend officially kicks off.

“To the Kings of the North and the Queens that can bring us to our knees!” He raises his glass, and we all laugh as we lock eyes, slam the shot glass to the counter, and then toss it back.

Laughs and claps echo around us as we grab our cups and head outside. I turn just in time to see Liam grab that bottle of Jack he said he required.

We all take seats in the wooden chairs surrounding the fire and start passing around pizza. The group talks about the games each of us boys has coming up. While the girls try to figure out how they can get to our first home games. Luckily, none of us have games on the same night. Before we know it, the sun has set, and the golden colors reflect off the lake as Lee gets up from her seat to come sit on the edge of mine. Luna and Blaze have taken a break from running around to come lay behind us, the distinct smell of dog sweat following them. Lee’s hand comes to the nape of my neck, and her fingers scratch the base. I almost let a moan slip, but it gets interrupted by a sweet yelp.

“S’more time!”

Millie calls out with a giant smile on her face. She pulls out a bag of graham crackers, marshmallows, chocolate bars, and Oreos.

“Oreos?” I say, looking up surprised.

“Oh, they’re the best. If you take an Oreo, open it, and put a crispy mallow in the middle. It’s perfection.”

Millie demonstrates, getting a marshmallow warm and carefully assembling it. Lee bends down and whispers in my ear.

“Millie’s family always made S’moreos’ growing up. It was her mom’s thing.” I nod and look at Millie, who is getting everything organized.

“Give me a mallow. I wanna try one.”

I take the marshmallow from her and stick it near the fire with a skewer, letting it get a little warm on all sides before submerging it directly in the flame to catch it on fire.

Lee gasps. “Shut up! You burn your mallows, too?”

“Of course. The blacker the better.” I wink at her, and she laughs.

“Won’t argue with that.”

“Ugh, you both are repulsive.” Liam groans, slapping a hand to his forehead in pain.

“Here, do you want me to make one golden for you?” Millie asks Liam as she picks up another marshmallow out of the bag.

“Yes please! Thanks, Mils.” Smiling gently, he remains cautious and considerate towards her.

I blow out the flame on my marshmallow, and Lee splits an Oreo perfectly. With one side of the cookie in either hand, I place the burnt marshmallow on one side as she presses the other on top, creating a gooey mess. She hands me the S’moreo , her fingers covered in marshmallow fluff.

I grab her hand and bring her fingers to my mouth, sucking them clean. Looking her in the eyes as I pop her fingers out of my mouth one by one, she re-situates herself, rubbing her legs together to calm the ache I know is forming within her. We stare at each other like we both know what those fingers can do and then hear someone clear their throat.

We both snap our heads and see the entire group staring at us. Lee drops her head as she wipes her hand on her denim shorts.

“Sorry people. Just trying to keep clean over here.”

Soph laughs. “Oh bitch, that was the furthest thing from clean I’ve seen in a minute!”

Millie laughs as Liam rolls his eyes.

“So… does anyone want to invite another friend to the party?” Bouch immediately breaks the awkwardness as he stands up and adjusts his pants.

“Hugh, if you’re talking about your dick, keep it in your pants. Always.” Soph chimes in.

“Not my dick, but he is definitely the best party guest. I was talking about my lady, Mary Jane!”

He holds up two bags, one full of a few rolled joints and the other with an assortment of gummies.

Lee lifts her head. “Fuck, yes. Bouchey, I knew I could count on you to keep things chill and fun this weekend.”

She leans over, and they high-five.

I shake my head and smile. “Thank goodness the league doesn’t test for it anymore.” I lean over as he passes me a joint and a lighter.

“Mils, you in?” Lee asks as she looks through the different gummies in the bag.

Millie drops her head, and it turns bright red.

“Um, sure. I’m crashing here this weekend, so I guess I could. I haven’t had any in a long time.”

I watch Liam drop his chin to his chest and smile. The girls all take one large flower gummy as Bouch and I light a joint. I hold the flame up to the edge of the joint and pull in a deep inhale. Then, pass the lighter over to Liam to repeat the process. We are all soaking in the night, the perfect weather, the good vibes, and I look over and see my girl chatting with her friends. I take in a large puff and form an ‘O’ shape with my mouth, flicking my tongue as I release the smoke to create rings of smoke in the air in front of me.

“Nice!” Bouch holds out a fist to me. Lee turns to see my rings and leans down to attempt to bite them. I pound Bouch’s fist as I laugh at Lee.

“Come here, baby.”

I take another long pull and slide her into my lap. I cup her face and she opens as I press my mouth into hers as I blow the smoke from my mouth into hers and she sucks it in. Slowly, she inhales and then brings her lips to mine, and we melt into our kiss.

Loud clapping breaks us from our hazy mouth mashup, and we see Liam standing up.

“Okay, okay, who’s down for some ‘steal the bacon’ in the yard?”

I look up as Lee sits up, a little more excited.

“Steal the bacon?” I question.

“Yeah, I take a towel and set it in the middle of the yard. The guys stand on one side and the girls on the other. We each will take a turn saying something that we have never done, like ‘I have never sky dived’, but those that have done that before have to all run and try to get the towel or ‘bacon’ before anyone else.” Liam explains.

“It’s so fun; you have to play!” Lee says excitedly as she stands and extends her arm to me.

“You want to play a game that is based on how fast you can run with a group of professional athletes?” I raise my eyebrows at her.

“Are you scared you’ll lose?” She widens her eyes as I laugh and take one last pull from my joint before putting it out and standing up.

“Okay. It’s on, Sunshine.” I clap my hands together.

Lee goes over to Soph and Mils as they all start doing lunges in place. The guys all stand a few feet apart from one another. As Liam does a few jumping jacks to warm up, I hear Lee yell.

“Let’s go girls!” And they all start doing high knees and singing Shania.

I’m cackling under my breath and look up to see Liam mouthing the words right along with them.

He puts the towel on the grass and shouts. “Alright, Mils! You first.”

I look over at him and ask. “Wait, why is Millie going first?”

He smiles and whispers to us. “We always let her go first because she hasn’t done a thing that ever makes her run for the bacon.”

Bouch leans over to him. “Oh, the quiet ones always have some hidden, kinky secrets.”

I laugh as Liam winds up and smacks the back of his head.

Soph yells over at us. “Whatever that was for, he deserved it.”

We all laugh and look at Millie as she thinks about what she is going to call out.

She clears her throat as a slow grin spreads across her face, locking eyes with Liam.

“Never have I ever been to a sex club!”

Bouch and I stop and stare at each other with wide eyes and then turn to look at the girls. Liam groans and takes off running, yelling loudly at Millie.

“Low blow Mils! You know that was one fucking time, and I didn’t know it was going to be a sex club!”

He grabs the towel, swirling it over his head. “Winner winner, chicken dinner!”

“Yeah, yeah, big boy! Put it down and get back in line,” Lee says, determination still in her eyes. Her eyes connect with mine and she wiggles her brows before mouthing at me, ‘Let’s fucking go, Books”.

I shake my head and smile. I like this competitive side of Lee.

“Liam, it's your turn!” Millie calls out. He stands next to Bouch, putting a hand on his scruffy chin, and gets back into a running stance.

“Never have I ever flashed a teacher.”

I stand up, looking around, shocked at these statements. What the fuck? I turn to see a swoosh of blonde and brown hair running. Lee and Soph are booking it towards the towel. Lee approaches it first and spins to sit on it before Soph can get a hand on it.

“I win!” Lee claps, and then Blaze runs over to her, licking her face.

“Ains, what did we say about sitting on the bacon so no one else can get it!?” Liam shouts.

“Whatever, I still got it!” Lee stands up and smirks, waving the towel in the air. I’m staring at them with my jaw still on the fucking ground.

I mouth at her…’you flashed a teacher?’ She laughs and mouths back, ‘I’ll tell you later.’ I just shake my head. She clears her throat, giving me a menacing smile. Everyone is getting ready to run. Lee cocks one eyebrow up as her eyes throw daggers into mine. Oh shit. Don’t do it.

Please don’t do it.

She stands up straight, crossing her arms. Throwing her head back as she yells.

“Never have I ever worn a mask while I fucked someone.”

I roll my eyes so freaking hard as I take off towards the towel. Soph and Lee start cheering me on. Millie is silent, and Bouch lets out an ‘Atta Boy’ from behind me.

“That’s it! I don’t know if I can play this game ever again.” Liam throws his hands in the air and turns to walk away. Bouch grabs the back of his shirt and pulls him back in line.

“Come on, man. You went to a sex club. It’s like the same thing.”

Liam groans as he turns back around.

“It is so not the same thing, Bouch.”

“Lache-moi un peu, give me a break!” Bouch mumbles under his breath as he shakes his head.

It’s my turn now. I want them all to run, so I’m going to take a wild guess here. As I lock eyes with Lee, I see that she’s ready to take off. I stand my ground and look at each one of them as I let the anticipation build.

“Never have I ever been to a Blades game!”

I shout quickly, and everyone screams as the rest of the group runs for the towel. Bouch shoves Liam out of the way, and he goes rolling in the grass. Lee moves to sit on the towel, but Soph pulls her arm, holding her back. Giving Millie a chance to sneak past the chaos and grab the towel.

Milie jumps up and down doing a little dance, shaking her ass at us. Clearly, the drinks and gummies are getting to her. They’re all on the ground, laughing at the chaos, as Liam comes up behind Millie, grabs her, and pulls her to the ground. I run over to Lee and Soph and help them stand up.

Lee looks at Soph as we stop, watching Liam and Millie laugh their asses off on the ground.

“I think Mils is starting to feel the gummy, are you?”

“Yes, girl. This grass feels like little baby needles in my feet. I’m about to go to my room and veg out with a bag of All Dressed chips!”

Liam stands up and brings Millie up with him as they situate themselves.

“I’m going to make a few more S’moreos. Mils, you want some?” Liam knowingly entices Millie.

“OMG, yes! I wanna make a double-decker one!” She says like it’s the best idea she has ever had.

We all laugh at Millie’s excitement over a mega S’moreo as they both head to the firepit.

I lean down to the back of Lee’s ear.

“Wanna head back to the guest house and tell me why you flashed a teacher?”

I watch as the hairs on her arms stand up, and she does a little shimmy as my breath covers the back of her neck. Oh, my girl is feeling good as well.

She nods and leans into me. “It was a dare. We didn’t know he was a substitute, a very young-looking substitute. He never came back.” She deadpans.

I laugh as we wave goodnight to the group, and Luna and Blaze follow us.

Time to see if I can get my Sunshine to make it rain.