Page 83 of Play Your Part

“This room is full of hockey players,” I said. “The numbers are on your side. Besides, I don’t know if you realized this, but Gemma put us in a room together.”

“What? But there’s only one bed in that room.” Kennedy’s eyes snapped toward the head of the table where Gemma was aggressively kissing Matt. “What afuckingmeddler.”

“Bringing other partners to our room tonight might be crowded.”

She turned her gaze on me, her nose adorably wrinkled on its bridge. “Well, there’s always their rooms.”

“Not a chance,” I said.

“Fine. Let’s see who lasts the longest.”

I nearly spit out my drink. “What?”

“At the party,” she clarified, failing to realize the direction of my thoughts. “Whoever gets tired and wants to go back to the room first, loses.”

I held out my hand to her, which she grabbed. Going back to the room meant Kennedy and I would sleep beside each other. Which meant, by losing this bet, I would also win.

“You’re on.”

Kennedy tried to pull me off the dance floor by one arm. Her blue-black hair fell behind her like a cape as she struggled without success. After dinner and her speech, we spent the next few hours rotating between the dance floor and the bar, which landed us in a perfect state of feeling loose and carefree.

“Come on,” she said. “I want to take some pictures.”

I finally moved with her, shifting my weight forward, slow enough so she didn’t fall on her ass.

“Why is this even here?” I asked, nodding toward an old-school photo booth in the corner of the room.

She shrugged. “Gemma’s nontraditional, or did her scandalously low-cut gold wedding dress not tip you off?” Kennedy covered her mouth. “Shit, pretend you didn’t hear that. Act surprised tomorrow.”

I climbed into the booth behind Kennedy who slid her legs across my lap as soon as I sat down. She inched toward me until her arms wrapped around my neck. “I haven’t been in one of these since I was a kid.”

“I’ve never been in one,” I said.

“No?” Kennedy’s brown eyes grew wider. “I’ll show you the ropes.” She hit the start button. “Smile normally first.” The camera flashed, blinding me. “Okay, now a silly one.” I glanced over at Kennedy who stuck out her tongue and held up a peace sign. The camera flashed again; I assumed I only had a grin on my face.

“Now what?” I asked.

She responded by planting one hand on either side of my face and kissing me.

Her lips landed softly against mine. When the camera flashed again, I expected her to pull away but instead, she opened her mouth wider, inviting me to kiss her back. The camera flashed again as I slid my lips against Kennedy’s, slowly, waiting for her to end it. But she only continued to move against my mouth, pushing closer until my lap bore most of her weight.

One of my hands moved to the small of her back, securing her in place as the other traced patterns on the side of her calf. When Kennedy captured my tongue with her lips, any trace of restraint left me. I pulled her until she straddled me. My lips left hers to kiss down her neck, bringing the soft sound of her pants to my ears. She smelled so good, the maddening scent that always clung to her, to any place she had been, a mixture of vanilla and orange. I could—

“Alexei,” Kennedy said with a sigh before taking my ear lobe into her mouth; my vision temporarily went black. “I want to go upstairs.”

The magic words to end our silly challenge for tonight, which would also conveniently put me out of my misery. I would have stayed here with her, lapping up the torture of having her close without being able to take it farther. But fuck was I glad she wanted to leave. I pulled back, studying her face. “Are you sure?”

She nodded vigorously. “Yes.”

I gripped Kennedy’s hips, lifting her until she stood on her feet, ducking her head to avoid hitting the ceiling. Her dress slid back down her thighs as she ran her fingertips through her hair to straighten her ruffled locks.

“Head to the elevator,” I told her. “I’ll grab your bag.”

35

ALEXEI

MybreathcaughtasI turned the corner and found no one standing in front of the elevator.

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