Page 254 of Releasing 10
“Yeah?”
Liz nodded. “Yeah.”
I exhaled a sigh of relief.
“I know it’s Claire’s birthday, but I’m doing this for you, not her,” she squeezed out and then pushed up on her tiptoes to kiss me hard, while her entire frame trembled violently.
I knew she was, and it meant so damn much to me.
Several hours later, we were all lazing around in our back garden, with a dozen or so school friends and a game of spin the bottle in full swing.
Liz was strewn out on the grass beside me, with her feet crossed at the ankles, and a pair of sunglasses perched on her nose. She had her head perched against my thigh, which caused her blond hair to spill onto my lap and tickle my skin. She was wearing a white vest, a pair of khaki combats, and army boots, and I was having a hard time not staring at the way her nipples were poking out.
Apparently, so were the lads, which pissed me off to the point where I couldn’t hear a word of the conversation happening around me.
Why was Feely staring like that?
What the fuck was Robbie Mac’s issue?
Did Danny Call honestly think he was being discreet?
As for Pierce O’Neill? Well, Pierce was going to get another smack in the mouth if he didn’t stop openly ogling her.
There were plenty of other girls sitting around to gawk at. Christine Grundy from our year was one, and Bernadette Brady was another. Pierce’s twin sisters, Marybeth and Cadence, were another two. Why couldn’t they avert their beady little eyes to any of them?
My only reprieve was the fact that Gibswasn’tstaring at my girlfriend’s tits, but even that was a double-edged sword,because I knew if I followedhisline of sight, it would lead to mysister’stits.
Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted him scampering off with my sister toward the treehouse, and I narrowed my eyes, instantly suspicious.
Jesus Christ.
I couldn’t catch a break.
The fact that Liz hadn’t completely lost her shit when Gibsie arrived earlier and was still here with us without picking fights was reason enough for me to swallow my feelings. Because Iwantedher to spend time with her friends. I wanted her to remember that she wasn’t alone. That she still had us. Even Gibs.
“Ah, unlucky, Biggs,” Pierce snickered when the bottle he was spinning landed on Liz. Meanwhile, I turned to stone. “Don’t worry, lad, it’s only a shift.”
“I’m not playing,” Lizzie replied breezily, plucking at a blade of grass. “Spin again.”
“Bullshit,” Pierce argued, growing red-faced. “You know the rules. If you’re in the circle, and it lands on you, you have to kiss.”
“You heard her,” I cut in, bristling. “Spin again.”
“Fine, it doesn’t have to be a shift,” he conceded with a huff. “A kiss will be grand. No tongue.”
“What part ofI’m not playingdid you not understand?” Liz asked coolly, pulling up on her elbows to glare at him. “Are you so dull of comprehension that I have to repeat myself, or did you catch it this time?”
Her retort caused several of the lads to roll around on the grass, laughing their asses off.
“Ah, she’s got you there, lad.”
“Burn, Piercy boy!”
“Yeah, whatever, at least I’m not a frigid bitch who chickens out,” Pierce muttered, burning with embarrassment, throwing daggers at my girlfriend with his eyes. “I bet you’re a terrible fucking shift anyway, viper.”
“You better watch your fucking mouth, asshole,” I warned, moving to stand, only for Liz to put a swift stop to that when she clambered onto my lap.
“Too bad you’ll never find out, asshole.” Kneeling on either side of my hips, Liz grabbed my face in her hands and forced my chin up to hers. Snaring me with her blue eyes, she lowered her face to mine and purred, “Because I only kissthisboy.”
