“But I’m sick,” I argue, and Dylan mimics a crying baby. He has no idea what kind of hell he’s just opened himself up to. I have a feeling it’d be really easy to get Al involved, and she seems to be an evil mastermind.
I wince, the pressure in my face somehow less than it was earlier, but it still feels like my head has its own heartbeat.
“Guys, I’m bored,” Sara whines from her spot on the floor, and it’s tempting to go upstairs because her worst ideas seem to stem from moments of boredom. With Al here, there’s no telling what kind of unhinged shit she could come up with.
“What do you want us to do about it?” Nate snorts without looking away from the video game he and Dylan are playing.
“Suck a dick, Nate,” Sara says, and I chuckle, pulling more of the blanket I’m sharing with Al, hoping she’ll somehow get the hint to come closer.
It sounds dumb, but everything feels a little better when she’s near.
“What do you want to do?” I ask, and Al doesn’t get the hint, yanking some of the blanket back onto her. “Just move closer, Al, I’m cold,” I grumble, and Alondra sighs, moving closer to me.
It’s not close enough, so I wrap my arm around her shoulders, pulling her into my side. Al tenses for a second, relaxing into me, and I wonder if she’s second guessing whether she’ll end up sick now.
Odds are she’s probably going to end up with whatever plague I have, given how often we’re together—unless, by some miracle, she really does have the world’s best immune system.
Still, I’m grateful Alondra stayed to take care of me. It’s nice to have someonewantto take care of me.
With Alondra tucked against me, it’d be easy to fall asleep again, but as if Sara can tell how peaceful I am at the moment, even sicker than a dog, she has to throw out the most unhinged option.
“Strip poker. First person naked has to run out in the cold,” she suggests, and I have zero desire to see anyone except Alondra naked. But, at the same time, if I’m seeing Al naked during strip poker, then so is everyone else, and that sounds like my version of hell.
Dylan shrugs, and I bet the fucker hasn’t thought it totally through, blinded by the idea of getting to see Ellie naked. “I’m game. You can all help me decide which cheek I’m getting Jack and Coach Brown’s names on.”
“Since when is your name a contender?” Alondra asks, tipping her head up to see me.
“Because I’m his best friend and a hockey god,” I say, winking.
“Literally anything else please,” Nate begs, thankfully being the voice of reason since I’m out of commission, setting his gaming controller down. “I see enough of Dylan’s ass in the locker room.”
“It sounds like more fun than homework, so I’m game,” Ellie says, coming alive, and Coop shakes his head.
“Nope, I’m not playing strip poker with my sister,” he says, and I relax, glad this has been settled.
“What about truth or dare? If you pass on something, you can take a shot or take a piece of clothing off to make it interesting,” Nate suggests, and Sara sighs, nodding her head.
Why does it have to involve taking clothes off at all? If you pass on something, why can’t the other option be presented, and then you pick the lesser of two evils at that point?
“Sounds better than whatever we’re doing now,” Sara says.
Great.
The game starts out innocent enough, everyone taking little jabs at each other. Sara dares Dylan to try and fit his fist in his mouth—it doesn’t work, but I think he deserves an A for effort. Coop spends five minutes trying to lick his elbow while Ellie has to tell us about the time she got caught skinny dipping back home in her neighbor’s pool.
I’ve spent most of the game laughing, having recovered from my heavy dose of embarrassment earlier, but Dylan better watch his back. Al seems to be having a good time, even after Ellie dared her to eat a spoonful of hot sauce.
I didn’t know it was possible for that combination of cuss words to come out of someone’s mouth, and I think Ellie and Alondra are the perfect match for each other.
Dylan decided he’d be the first one to skip a dare tonight, pulling off his shirt instead of licking the inside of a toilet. I’m not sure I can fault him there, but I barely have enough energy to stay awake right now.
“Sara, truth or dare?” I ask, after settling back into my place on the couch while Al puts on the sweatshirt I just took off. I chose to shed an item of clothing to avoid answering Dylan’s truth when he asked who gave me the hickey on Halloween. None of them would understand the significance for Alondra,but I do, and I was happy to be the person she trusted in that moment.
I slide my arm around Alondra’s side after she curls back into me, and damn if it doesn’t make my heart spin around and around in my chest seeing Al in my sweatshirt.
“Dare,” Sara answers without missing a beat.
Al rests her head against my chest, and I’m stupefied by how lucky I am to be trusted by this girl when she has every reason not to trust another guy again. “I dare you to jump in the snow,” I say, and she stands without a single complaint.
