Page 108 of Behind the Bars

“No?”

She smirked and giggled. “Is that a question?” She was a giggly, smiley drunk, and it was the most adorable thing I’d ever seen. Her cheeks were rosy, her eyes doe-wide, and she also became extremely touchy-feely.

I wasn’tcomplaining.

She kept smiling and giggling. “Don’t worry, I’ve never playedeither.”

“Never Have I Ever is a drinking game where someone says, ‘Never have I ever’ then they say a simple statement. Anyone who has done that thing at some point in their life takes a drink. Then we go around and around in a circle until we pass out from drinking,” Kelly explained. “You go first,Jas.”

Jason nodded. “Okay. Never have I ever skippedschool.”

We alldrank.

“Never have I ever cried during a Disney movie,” Jasminesaid.

She, Kelly, and Idrank.

Jason cocked an eyebrow toward me. “Dude.”

“Have you never seen Brother Bear?” I chokedout.

“Oh, shit. Yeah.” Jason took a drink. “You’reright.”

“These questions are too boring. Let’s get real. Never have I ever had a threesome,” Kelly said, raising thebar.

When I turned to Jasmine, her eyes were on me, and when I didn’t drink, her lips curvedup.

Jason jumped in. “My turn—never have I ever lost my virginity on a dude ranch in the back of a shed that had five purple umbrellas hanging from theceiling.”

“That’s awkwardly de-de-” I paused and shut my eyes.Descriptive—say it. Say the word.“De-de—” My blood pressure built, embarrassment from feeling like a damn fool for being a grown man and still being unable to say such words. It felt as if everyone’s eyes were on me, waiting for me to push out the syllables, waiting for me to figure out what I was trying to say. Right as I was about to have a breakdown, I felt a hand find my thigh under the table. I looked up to see Jasmine giving me a gentle smile, and I took a breath. “That’s awkwardly descriptive,” I pushedout.

I placed my hand on top of Jasmine’s and lightly squeezed.Thankyou.

She smiled as if she’d heard me, and replied,You’rewelcome.

Kelly cleared her throat and nonchalantly took a sip of her drink. “It was during Bible camp, and it wasn’t a shed, it was a stable, and there were two horses watching the whole time, thank you verymuch.”

Everyone started laughing, and then the game went on. I noticed Jasmine’s hand still resting against my thigh. Her fingers kept kneading my muscles, moving closer and closer to my inner thigh, and my breaths grewdeeper.

“I have one,” she said, holding her glass up with her free hand. “Never have I ever fallen in love while covered in horseshit.”

I laughed outloud.

Actually laughed outloud.

Jason’s and Kelly’s eyebrows were cocked high and their stares were bewildered, but I ignored them as I lifted my glass, clinked it with Jasmine’s, and we both took asip.

“Um…what the actual heck?” Kelly askedincredulously.

“You two had a really fucked-up friendship, didn’t you?” Jasonremarked.

The night went on with more shots of tequila and more laughter. Jasmine became more and more touchy-feely, and even though I knew I wanted her, I was also fully aware of how intoxicated she hadgotten.

“I think it’s time to call it a night.” I smiled at myfriends.

Jason agreed. “Sounds like a plan. I’ll get us an Uber,” he told Kelly, who was giggling with Jasmine over something only theyunderstood.

When Jason and Kelly headed out, Jasmine turned to me, tripping over her feet a bit, and smiled. I caught her before she tumbled. She blushed and pressed her hands against my chest. “Can I stay thenight?”

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