Page 40 of The Pact

His smile widens. “But we can be friends, Smokey. From now on, you’re one of us. One of the guys. Just a zillion times hotter.”

His goofy expression makes me laugh. “Don’t tell Kelley. I think he really considers himself the hottest guy on the planet.” I giggle.

“You noticed? Damn girl, I knew that you were smart, it’s obvious just talking to you for five seconds. But you’re also very observant if you already noticed that Kelley tends to be vain.”

I accept his compliment without telling him that I’ve observed Kelley and the rest of them for four years. You’d be surprised how many things you see when you’re invisible. If people don’t even notice you’re there, they don’t worry about wearing a mask around you.

“All right, then. If you aren’t hungry, we could go swimming or watch a movie or play video games. Ladies choice.”

Coming straight from work, I don’t have a bathing suit but I know better than to tell Shep. I know he’d turn it into another joke or simply tell me to swim naked.

Not that the idea of being naked with him isn’t something that hasn’t crossed my mind, since I just agreed to be their plaything.

But my father says that everything has a time and a place and I think that skinny dipping would be a little much for the first time we hang out. Especially since I’ve never skinny dipped.

“Maybe a movie?” I shrug. “I’ve never played video games.”

“What?” Shep looks shocked, as if I’d just told him that I’ve never drank water. “What kind of planet do you come from? Who hasn’t played video games?”

The comment hurts, he’s basically calling me a freak. But his tone is more shocked than derisive, so I explain. “I’ve played video games on a phone app. But never on a console or a computer. As I said, my parents were strict. So they monitored what was on my laptop and I guess my sister and I never thought about asking for a console.”

Shep rubs his hands together, his green eyes shining with excitement. “Well then, no time like the present to initiate you to the joys of Halo, or even better, we can kill some zombies. I just got a new shooter game. After all if you hang out with us for the summer, you’re bound to get caught up in one of our marathons. Come on, Bode has a big ass screen in his bedroom.”

I can’t help but look around as we step into Bode’s bedroom. For some reason his room is exactly how I’d have imagined it. Airy and masculine, with dark bamboo furniture, cream and sea foam green upholstery. It’s pretty tidy but not obsessively so. A few clothes left on the back of a chair and some video game cases in a precarious balance on one side of the unit where the TV is mounted, make the room look lived in.

“My lady.” Shep shows me to a two seater couch sitting a few feet away from the TV and offers me a controller. “Now,” he says lowering himself by my side. “The aim of the game is to kill all the zombies without being killed. We’re competing for who goes through the level faster. To shoot, you press the X button.”

And so we begin to play. I have to admit that this is really fun.

“Aww, dude!” Shep gripes after I beat him for the fifth time in a row. “I should’ve fucking known that you’d have major beginners luck and I’d look like a total loser! I’ll have to buy your silence somehow, because I guarantee you that if the guys hear that you kicked my ass at this game, they’ll rib me for the next forty years.”

Shep’s good mood is contagious and I like that he isn’t a sore loser. His pride might be a little wounded but he hasn’t lost his smile and his tone is as happy as ever.

I smile back at him. “Buying my silence? I like the sound of that. What are you going to give me to make sure I don’t tell everyone that I kicked your ass?”

And maybe I should’ve seen this coming but I’m surprised when he sets the remote on the floor and takes my hand in his. “How about a kiss?”

Maybe I should’ve known that we’d end up making out, since we’re alone in the house. But perhaps I knew it in the back of my mind and I didn’t mind the idea. I could’ve asked him to take me home and I know he would’ve. The truth is that I really want to kiss him, so I nod, not trusting my voice as my heart begins to hammer furiously against my rib cage.

Shep’s lips are as soft as I remember them from last night and as I feel his tongue demanding entrance, I allow him in.

We kiss long and deep, exploring each other’s mouths unhurriedly. Last night we weren’t alone, there was the bonfire, the music and a lot of other people. So there was a different energy between us. This, now, is all about me and Shep.

One thing that hasn’t changed in the way he kisses is that he’s playful, teasing me a little and giving me space to chase him rather than attacking me full on. And I really like it. I like that it makes me feel like we share control of the kiss.

“Hmm,” he says, smiling as his fingertips trace the line of my jaw with a gentle, barely there touch. “Have I bought your silence?”

I see the desire in the green depths of his eyes and I look down at his lips, realizing that I don’t want to stop kissing him. I shake my head. “No. That was a good start but I think it’s going to cost you a few more kisses. Sheppie.”

He smiles at my use of the nickname the others have for him and his hands fly to my hips lifting me off the couch and placing me onto his lap.

I’m straddling him, each of my knees touch his lean hips as I hold onto his shoulders for balance.

“This is better,” he says, letting his eyes wander from my face to my chest, covered by the thin fabric of my black summer dress.

When his lips find mine again, I lower myself onto him, sitting on his lap and surrounding his neck with my arms.

My fingers play with the dark blond hair at the nape of his neck as I breathe him in, inhaling his clean, fruity scent.

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