Page 33 of Edge of Unbroken

“I love how concerned you are for everyone’s safety, baby.” Tori hitches her leg over Shane and sits on his lap before kissing him deeply.

“Jesus guys, are we going to play a game or do you two need to go and take care of business?” Vada huffs when Tori grinds her hips against Shane.

I’ve always noticed how physically affectionate Shane and Tori are. They’re almost as “touchy smoochy”—as Steve called it—as Ronan and me, though not quite as constant in their need for physical contact. Ronan and I always need to touch each other in some way. And, god, how I miss his touch, his warmth, his nearness, the sound of his voice in my ear, his scent…

“Shit, Ran’s right, you really do know how to ruin a moment,” Shane says to Vada with a chuckle.

“Oh, yeah, it’s definitely a skill of mine,” Vada says with a grin. “I think Ran was close to losing his shit on me there for a while. Alright, back to the game,” she says with a glance at me. “Who wants to start?”

“Wait, what are the rules?” Tori asks, still on Shane’s lap, though she’s no longer actively making out with him.

“Oh, well, you either have to tell the truth about something or you do the thing you’re asked to do. If you refuse to tell the truth or do the thing, you have to take a shot of Fireball,” she says, and is met with a collective grunt.

“Fireball? Seriously? That shit’s nasty,” Steve says with a frown.

“Well, yeah, nobody would tell the truth or do the dare if it was something delicious,” she says. “Have to provide an incentive for people to actually play the game, right?”

“I guess,” Steve relents with a sigh.

“Alright, so who wants to go first?” Vada asks again.

“I’ll go,” Summer says, her speech slow and drawn out, her eyes half shut. She’s so tiny that it doesn’t require much for Summer to get completely drunk. “Shane, truth or dare?”

“Truth,” Shane says without hesitation.

“Aww, I had such a good dare in mind,” Summer whines, making us laugh.

Shane chuckles. “Sorry.”

“Okay, fine. Uh…” Summer thinks for a second. “How many girls have you slept with?”

“Two before I met Tori,” Shane says like it’s no big deal.

“Do we know them?” Summer asks.

“You know one of them,” Shane says with a mischievous grin.

“Who?” Summer asks, but Shane just shakes his head.

I look around the group, trying to eliminate suspects. It obviously wasn’t Summer, or she wouldn’t be asking. And I don’t think Vada slept with Shane because I surely would know if she had. It obviously wasn’t me, leaving only Cheyenne, unless Shane is talking about someone I don’t know.

Summer seems to come to the same conclusion. “Wait… did you sleep with Cheyenne?” She looks from Shane to her best friend.

Shane’s lips turn upward into a telling smile.

“Whoa,” Vada shouts. “Wait, so you and Ran both fucked her? Holy shit, is this like a bro thing? You both screw the same girl? Not at the same time, right? I mean, I know you and Ran are close, but…”

“Jesus, babe. You’re so damn crass sometimes,” Steve says, shaking his head.

Cheyenne, too, is displeased. “Shut up, Vada,” she says with a snarl.

Shane chuckles. “If it calms you down a little, Cheyenne and I happened way before she hooked up with Ran,” he says. “Ran wasn’t even back from Montana then.”

Tori seems eager to ease the tension and move the game along. “Okay, babe, why don’t you go next?”

“Alright, Steve: truth or dare, man?”

“Fuck, I don’t know. Dare, I guess,” Steve says, still frowning at Vada’s strong word choice. Steve has been much more on edge since Ronan left for Montana and I’ve noticed he and Vada bicker a lot more.

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