Page 11 of Falling Double: The Mating Grounds

“I’ll go!” Fiona—the girl from Ektos—says, jumping up and grabbing the bottle.

Oh, bless her. Sweet, sweet summer child.

She spins the bottle, and it lands on Eli, the tall, gangly kid from Primus that info dumps all the time in an effort to connect with people. He’s shy, with a dry sense of humor, and he is always hiding in the library.

He leans back, a bit shocked, but his eyes are sparkling with something that seems like happiness. She walks over to him on her knees and straddles his lap, not putting her weight down on him, but hovering. She gathers her long, curly red hair over one shoulder and out of her way and then leans in and gives him the softest, sweetest kiss.

Precious, those two.

Once she crawls back over to her spot, she hands the bottle to her left. To Reid.

My back stiffens, and I consider getting up. I don’t know why, but I just don’t want to see him kiss anybody. I shift my weight to one side, prepared to heave myself off the floor, when the bottle stops spinning and lands on me.

Reid’s blue eyes find mine, locking in and sparkling mischievously. What a brat. He cheated and did that on purpose.

“Sorry, hun. You’re going to have to come to me if you’re going to play dirty like that,” I tease.

Boy, does he deliver.

He crawls to me on his hands and knees, his movement smooth like a predator stalking his prey, never letting up on our eye contact. And right before he gets to me, his tongue flicks out to graze his lower lip, wetting it ever so slightly. I stare at his mouth, those lips, and lose my breath for a moment.

How does he do that? How did he just make crawling across the floor look sexy?

He keeps moving toward me, making me shift back to avoid him. We play this little game of cat and mouse until I end up trapped, leaning against the backside of the couch. His eyes heat, and I regret my decisions—avoiding him obviously didn’t work. Or did he manage to communicate this position to me nonverbally? Almost like slow dancing, just forcing me to anticipate his moves?

Either way, I find myself backed away from the group, Reid on his hands and knees over me. His long blond hair hangs around our faces like a curtain, blocking everyone out but us, and I can’t look away.

He looks down at my mouth and then back up to my eyes, sultry as hell, and I feel my whole body getting warmer under the heat of his gaze. We stay like that for a moment, just staring at each other, breathing the same air, locked together in this small moment of our own making before I hear someone whisper, “get a room!”

He chuckles and leans down, kissing me at long last, and I can’t bring myself to pull away.

Enzo lets out a wolf whistle, and we finally break apart. I touch my hand to my mouth and then quickly pull it away, hoping nobody saw the small gesture.

Imani catches my eye, and we share a moment, communicating without words like we’ve done all our life, and I know she’s not mad. Just confused and surprised like I am.

Chapter 9

3 Months After The Choosing

Imani

My hair is officially out of control. I’ve been keeping it natural and loose since everyone kept mixing Dominique and me up the first few weeks, but I really need to put it in some sort of protective style so I can keep growing it out and minimize the daily upkeep. If the housemates haven’t figured out our personalities by now, they really are blinded by all the hormones running rampant around here.

Back home, Mom does our braids. Dominique can never be bothered to sit still long enough to do a full set on someone else. I giggle to myself, thinking about how she falls asleep getting her own braids done and marvel at the amount of desensitizing our scalps have gone through over the years.

I wonder if one of the other girls wouldn’t mind doing mine? Quinn wears French braids fairly often… Ugh, no. I don’t want to inconvenience her. Besides, mine will take significantly longer than the few minutes her simple braids must take her.

I shuffle around the room, idly stretching my lengthening hair around a finger and consider attempting them myself when suddenly Parker walks in with a pair of scissors and a razor.

“I can’t take it anymore! I need this taken care of once and for all!” He gestures to his, also admittedly neglected, head of slightly looser curls. “Will you help me shave this off?” he asks frantically.

I laugh. Of course we would be on similar hair care cycles. We had basically the same cut when we arrived; though he’s never favored braids and usually visits a barber every few weeks to maintain it.

“Of course I will. But only if you help me do some braids. I don’t think anyone else here would get natural hair, other than Dominique and Eli, but goodness knows I wouldn’t ask either of them for help unless forced.” I try to make my request seem joking and casual. That way he can blow me off without feeling bad. I know it’s a decent time commitment and not an equivalent favor.

"Imani, I would be honored to help braid your hair," he says solemnly as he reaches out and smooths it back from my face. Then, he glances around the room for a suitable spot to sit.

“Do you think we could get comfy and do it in here?”

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