My body pulls toward him, and I almost feel the graze of his lips as my feet move toward him, meeting him halfway when the music suddenly changes into something with a quicker tempo. The once smokey orange glow of the mood lightening turning to a deep blue.
I pull myself out of that bubble of lust and drop back to my feet, staring up at Rowan. My eyes go straight to his chest, which continues to rise and fall. The adrenaline courses through our bodies. For a moment, we stand in the middle of the dance floor with people still surrounding us, and we keep our eyes on each other.
Neither one of us dares to move.
* * *
Ellie: I’m in deep shit.
Ellie: HELP
Riley: Whoa
Addie: What’s wrong?
Ellie: Pizza, chocolate, movies.
Hailey: Why are you all up so early? Please stop blowing up my phone and let me sleep.
Addie: Emergency movie night? Oh, this is code red.
Riley: I’ll bring the pizza.
Addie: I’ll bring the chocolate.
Hailey: I’ll bring the tequila.
“I’m here,” Riley sings out once she enters the guest house, a pizza box in each hand.
Addie follows from behind, holding two full bags of every type of chocolate you can think of. Then Hailey walks in, two full bottles of tequila in her hands, with a wicked grin.
We’re all in our loungewear, no makeup, no bras, and no boys. I decided to wear an oversized shirt with simple cotton shorts. Riley has on her dinosaur onesie that she bought to wear on one lazy Halloween. Addie has on a dark green pajama set, a buttoned-up shirt, and matching shorts with white trim. Hailey has on a black T-shirt that says, ‘Tattoos Are Stupid,’despite being covered in them, and black leggings.
Emergency movie started the night Riley lost her virginity. It was in the back of a pickup truck after our junior year homecoming dance. Every time something monumental happened (at least to us), we would call for an emergency movie night. This meant whatever plans you originally had, canceled, done, sorry not sorry.
“I have all our movies queued up and ready to go.” I point to the television that hangs above the fireplace, where it’s surrounded by the couch and lounge chairs.
We end up moving everything, including the coffee table, making a large pillow and blanket bed. We all lay together, eating and gossiping while Bridget Jones’s Diary plays.
Five slices of pizza later, I’m ready to spill my guts. But first, I take a shot of tequila.
seventeen
ROWAN
The guys come overto hang out and grill. My kitchen counter is stacked with food for four men who are ready to devour everything in front of them after a grueling workout together. We all went on a ten-mile run when I asked if they would be up for it. Milo wanted to join, but I wouldn’t allow him to run ten miles. That’s animal torture. So, I gifted him with a new chew toy and bone.
“Where the hell is your mustard?” James asks, rifling through the fridge and pulling out all the condiments he can find.
“Bottom shelf inside the door,” I tell him while setting up my plate of food.
After that, we pile on all the food that can fit on our plates: burgers, grilled asparagus, corn on the cob, salad, and grilled potatoes.
“So, what was last night about?” Beau asks before picking up his burger and taking a large bite out of it.
“What happened last night?” I say, trying to sound clueless.
I look up at the guys, breaking my gaze away from my food, and they all have shit-eating grins on their faces. Except for August, who has more of a grimace.
