Page 89 of A Little Complicated

“Ew!” A wave of groans echoes from the girls.

Dylan gives Archer a pointed look. “And you?”

“I may have hooked up with one of my teacher’s assistants.”

“Day-um,” Finley says. “No wonder you have straight A’s. Okay, Mav. It’s your turn. Truth or dare?”

“I just went,” I point out.

“Come on, just answer the question.”

“Fine,” I mutter. “Truth.”

Sitting up a little straighter, Finley asks, “Do you now, or have you ever, had a crush on anyone here? And remember, this is for both you and Archer.”

“Two for one,” I grunt. “Yeah, you’ve made the rules clear. Arch, you go first.”

His eyes find Ophelia sitting cross-legged on the cool autumn pavement, then he turns back to Dylan. “Maybe.”

Finley argues, “You have to say yes or no.”

“Fine,” Archer grumbles. “Yes.”

“Oo, who is it?” Dylan asks.

“Can’t ask two questions for one truth,” Finley reminds everyone, eating up her position as Truth or Dare commissioner like a crack addict. When she turns to me, she asks, “Mav? What’s your answer?”

“Now or ever?” I clarify.

“Ever,” Finley replies.

Squeezing the back of my neck, I avoid the opposite side of the circle and shift on the pavement. “Then yeah,” I answer. “I think we all have, right?”

Finley rolls her eyes but doesn’t deny it.

Everett calls, “Ophelia, it’s your turn. Truth or dare?”

Ophelia looks up from the pavement. She’s been drawing pictures on the concrete with her finger, using the puddle of pool water as her paint. Honestly, she’s been so focused on it I’m surprised she’s still paying attention. Wiping her finger on her jeans, she answers, “Dare.”

Finley slaps her brother’s chest again and says, “I dare you to kiss one of the twins.”

“We have names,” I remind Finley.

Finley waves me off. “She knows what I mean.”

“Yeah, I know what she means.” Ophelia licks her lips, her attention shifting from Archer to me and back again with those damn caramel eyes. Her strawberry blonde curls have fallen around her face despite the majority of it being pulled up in a ponytail. She’s changed over the past few months since I’ve been away.

Grown up, though she’d smack me for thinking it.

I’m not the only one who’s noticed.

Archer’s had a thing for Ophelia for a while now. We both have, but I’m more subtle about it. It doesn’t help how our families like to joke about them ending up together, acting like they’re a match made in heaven or some shit without even giving me a chance to shoot my shot.. To be fair, they’ve always been pretty close. He’s the soft one. The patient one. The nice one.

Me? Yeah, I’m kind of an ass. Have been since we were little. But I think it’s why I’ve been so interested in her. Because no matter what I throw at Ophelia, she still puts up with my shit and isn’t afraid to push back. To tell me like it is. To step up and keep me in check.

“Either of them?” Opie’s attention bounces between me and my brother by my side as she chews her bottom lip.

With a grin, Finley leans back on her hands and confirms, “Yup. You pick.”

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