19
"So how exactly does this work?" Liam asked.
We'd arrived at the club to find a drinking game already in full swing. The guys, minus Nathan, had secured a private room. Gael and Julian were halfway to being trashed, but Seth was driving us home after this so he was still sober.
Liam and I were in agreement about not telling the guys right away. This was still new to us. We were supposed to be concentrating on the tour. Gael was overprotective and might beat the shit out of Liam for touching his little sister. All were good reasons to keep it to ourselves, at least for now.
As we joined the others sitting around the table in the middle of the lounge, Liam questioned them when they told him what game they were playing.
"I've never heard of a game called Poker Face," he said. "Only the song."
"Don't worry, we're not going to make you sing it," Seth said. "The point of the game is to keep your face as expressionless as possible while each person takes their turn saying something to make you react. Anyone who so much as twitches a muscle has to take a shot."
"That's not too hard," Liam said.
"You think?" I asked, amused. "The drunker you get, the harder it is to keep a straight face."
"And we like to up the ante," Seth continued. "It's too easy if you're just taking a shot of vodka or rum. I like to create my own concoctions."
"Sounds interesting," Liam said.
"You have no idea what kind of shots Seth comes up with," I warned. "It's enough to sear the flesh from your tongue and make you puke all over the floor."
"Are you game?" Gael asked.
"I'm game," Liam replied. "I'm sure I can take whatever Seth throws at me."
"You say that now," I muttered.
"Wait," Gael said. "We can't start without Nate."
"He's probably busy dry-humping some chick on the dance floor," Seth said.
"And miss a chance to see the new guy keel over?" Nathan said as he walked up to us. "Wouldn't miss it for the world."
"So what you mean is, you already got your rocks off in a dark corner somewhere?" Gael asked.
A self-satisfied smirk crept across Nathan's face.
We took our places sitting around the table in a circle. Seth finished setting up dozens of shot glasses filled with whatever disgusting mix he'd instructed the bartenders to come up with this time, along with some non-alcoholic ones for himself since he was DD.
"Alright, let's start," Seth said once everything was ready. "Liam can go last so he can see how the game goes for the first round." He nodded to me. "That means you start and we go in a circle."
I didn't have to think for long. Last time we'd played this game, I'd been completely demolished. I'd spent the last several weeks coming up with some good ones I could use next time. I was determined to stay sober tonight.
"It was kind of hard concentrating on tonight's concert, since I'm on my period and bleeding out of my snatch—"
"Stop!" Nathan cut in as all the guys blanched. "Fuck, why do you always go for the gross female stuff?"
"Take your shot," was all I said in response.
The guys grumbled but each took up a shot glass.
"Here goes," Julian murmured.
They all knocked them back at the same time. Liam immediately started gagging.
"Shit," he choked out. "And you guys play this voluntarily?"
