Page 29 of Vicious Desire (Fallen Royals 4)

First time for everything. I try again, a bigger gulp. A few seconds after I swallow, a dull heat picks up in my stomach.

Our conversation shifts yet again with the appearance of a boy. I scan him up and down—he wasn’t with Eli and his friends—and squint.

I think I’ve fallen into an alternate universe where girls don’t have spines. They gravitate toward him like he’s the sun.

Skylar just rolls her eyes and leans in. At least it’s easier to hear her whisper out here. “Ian. Sophomore. Definitely a douchebag.”

Amelie, too, appears unaffected. “Stay away from that one, Riley.”

The breaking point seems to be when Jackie reaches out and runs her hand down Ian’s arm. Amelie claps suddenly, drawing all of our attention.

“A game?” she asks. “Spin the bottle.”

The girls nod. Ian smirks.

And, damn it, my gaze goes across the fire to Eli.

He’s watching me.

I shiver.

He and his three friends trail us back into the house, into the front living room. There’s space to sit here, couches and armchairs positioned in a rough circle with a coffee table in the center. Jackie clears it off while the rest of us sit.

“Are we really doing this?” I ask Skylar. A knot in my belly twists. Now would not be the best time to admit I’ve never been kissed before.

She shrugs. “What a way to kick off high school, right?”

Yeah, sure.

I take another sip of beer, but by now it’s room temperature. It seems to cling to my throat on the way down.

Amelie takes charge, and I don’t think this is unusual for her. She grabs Skylar and moves her to the end of the couch, seating a boy I don’t know between us. I face forward and try not to panic. Once the whole room is rearranged, she claps.

“Rules are simple, obviously. Kiss the person it lands on. If they don’t kiss you…” Her grin is wicked. “Then the group will pair you with someone else for seven minutes in heaven.”

My stomach flips, and I try to grasp my emotions. They’re all over the place: anxious, relieved. What a blessing it’ll be to have a first kiss not mean anything. It gets it out of the way.

Otherwise, I’d probably not be kissed forever, and what kind of girl wants that hanging over her head?

Someone spins, and it lands on the boy to my left. He smirks and rises, meeting the girl in the middle. He cups her cheek and plants a solid, close-mouthed kiss on her lips. She leans back, wide-eyed.

One of Eli’s friends claps. “Attaboy, Matt.”

Matt bows to more applause and falls into his seat beside me.

More go, girls and boys, and no one refuses.

And then it’s my turn.

I swallow. Butterflies are running rampant in my chest. The bottle is cool under my touch, and I give it a hard spin. It goes around and around.

Please, not Eli.

It slows. One more pass, crawling now. I can’t stand it—I would rather rush away or close my eyes, but a part of me deep down is eager for what’s about to happen.

It wobbles in Eli’s direction, then passes. And stops on his friend.

Liam, I think. The one who talked to Skylar in the kitchen.

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