Secrets

by Shannon Pemrick

  I sipped on my drink, preparing for another round of truth or dare, but we didn’t go back. Seda, Shva’sika, and Raikidan were busy watching Ryoko, and Genesis was struggling to stay awake, overcome by all the alcohol in her system.

  Rylan came back out of the bathroom, but Ryoko didn’t look at him. She wasn’t expecting him to do anything, but I noticed water still dripped from his hands. What’s he up to? It wasn’t like him at all to not dry his hands. Instead of heading down the hall, he came back into the living room—his eyes fixed on Ryoko.

  “The mongrel I call a brother has no tact,” he murmured. “None at all…”

  He came up behind Ryoko and she lifted her head. With his right arm, he reached around and clasped his hand around her neck and chin, and with his left arm, he reached under her left breast—lifting it up—and squeezed her right. The water on his hands dripped down her skin and soaked her bikini.

  “The stray has no idea how to handle you.”

  Ryoko froze, and her face flushed several shades, though she wasn’t the only one to freeze. Everyone in the room stared at the pair, taken completely by surprise, even myself. I really thought he wasn’t going to go through with the dare. Rylan grinned when Ryoko’s ears began twitching and then pulled away. When the shock wore off, I couldn’t stop the laughter. Shva’sika and Seda also found it impossible not to giggle. The others remained quiet, unable to comprehend what had just happened. Ryoko’s cheeks flushed even more, and she ducked her head as her ears continued to twitch.

  My laughter became so strong, I fell off the couch. The others gasped, and Raikidan even yelled out my name, but I continued to laugh. I couldn’t stop it. That had been too perfect.

  “I–I can’t believe you told him to d–do that,” Ryoko managed to say.

  I shook my head. “I didn’t! He told me he wasn’t going to accept the dare.”

  Her face reddened more, and Genesis and Raikidan joined in on the laughing. I couldn’t believe Rylan actually did that. I knew daring him would have been a long shot, unlike Raid, but how he pulled it off… I had no idea he had that in him.

  The front door opened, and Zane and the boys came inside.

  “Why is my niece laughing on the floor?” Zane asked.

  “She laughed so hard she fell,” Shva’sika said through her giggling.

  “How does someone as coordinated as her manage that?” Blaze asked.

  “By the looks of all the empty bottles on the table, she’s more than just a little tipsy,” Argus said. “Though I’m curious what got her to laugh that hard.”

  “I managed to successfully dare Raid and Rylan to grab Ryoko’s boobs,” I said. I looked up when none of them responded, and I laughed at their shocked faces.

  “Why is it I always miss out on the fun?” Blaze asked.

  Argus punched him in the arm. “Because you make it go from fun to creepy.”

  “I do not,” Blaze said.

  Shva’sika snickered and looked at Seda. “Seda, I have a dare for you, if you’re up for it.”

  The two looked at each other and silence fell over the room. I guessed they were speaking telepathically, and it intrigued me. Why the secrecy? When Seda’s cheeks flushed I started to get it.

  “All right then, I’ll give it a shot,” she said out loud.

  Everyone in the room watched as she walked around the couch and headed straight for Argus. I pulled myself up so I could rest my arms on the seat of the couch and watch. What is she up to?

  “Seda, what are y—” She grabbed his face with both her hands and pulled him in for a deep, and passionate, kiss. Zane and Raikidan took a step back in shock, and Blaze stood there with a surprised, but very interested gaze.

  When she pulled away, Argus was left with flushed cheeks and a confused look in his eyes. Seda sashayed her way back to her seat while I continued to look at Argus. Something told me Seda had done more than just kiss him. She wouldn’t have been so unsure if it were that. Sure, kissing someone could make things awkward, but I could tell her unsureness wasn’t because of that potential. I fell back on the floor, laughing, when I realized what she had managed to do.

  “Did the alcohol finally mess up her brain?” Blaze asked.

  “I can’t take it. Seda, tell them,” I begged. “That was too perfect!”

  Everyone looked at her, and she smiled before taking something small out of her mouth. She opened her hand, revealing a curved labret stud.

  Shva’sika, Ryoko, and Zane cracked up and Genesis gasped. “You didn’t…”

  Argus grabbed his lower lip to be sure it wasn’t a trick, and Blaze ran his hand through his hair. “That’s some impressive tongue control.”

  Seda levitated the piercing, and then sent over to Argus, who took it, though still a bit dazed. “I didn’t even notice it was gone…”

  Zane chuckled as he patted Argus on the shoulder and walked off. I sat up and drank some more. As Zane passed the couch, Shva’sika stood up and dashed toward him before he could disappear down the hall.

  “Whoa!” he yelled when she slapped him on the ass.

  “Counter dare complete!” she announced.

  I choked on my liquor and then started laughing. Ryoko and Genesis also laughed, along with Blaze and Argus, and Zane looked at Shva’sika, and then Seda, who merely smiled.

  “You ladies are something else when you drink,” he said.

  We continued to laugh more, and he left. Argus was soon to follow, still wrapping his head around what Seda did to him.

  Once I finally got myself under control, I looked around at the others. Genesis looked ready to fall asleep, and Shva’sika looked like if she drank three more glasses, she’d be down for the count. Seda, of course, looked ready to go for another round of the game, since she couldn’t drink. I felt like I could drink, but not play any games anymore. Ryoko, on the other hand, she looked ready for both.

  “So, what now?” I asked.

  Shva’sika looked at Genesis. “I think the birthday girl is going to bail on us soon.”

  Genesis yawned. “Sorry. I guess this stuff makes me sleepy.”

  Seda chuckled. “You’re not the only one that happens to.”

  “I think I might call it soon too,” Shva’sika admitted. “I’ve never drank this much myself.”

  Ryoko pouted. “But I want to keep playing.”

  Blaze walked over to the couch. “I’ll play with you, Ryoko.”

  She stuck her tongue out at him. “Not a chance.”

  “It just went to creepy again,” Raikidan said.

  Blaze sighed and hung his head. I snickered and held up my glass. “Why not just end the game now when we’re all in good spirits and just drink until we drop.”

  “If you do, I want in,” Blaze said.

  “Well, if people are going to bail, why not,” Ryoko said.

  I grinned and looked back at Raikidan. “You want in?”

  He held up a hand. “I’m just going to continue to watch all of you make fools of yourself. It’s been entertaining.”

  Ryoko giggled. “You just don’t want Laz kissing anyone else in her drunken state.”

  He glared at her and I thought I could see his cheeks reddening a bit. My tipsy mind is playing tricks on me. “Don’t you start with that, Ryoko.”

  “Wait, Eira kissed someone?” Blaze asked as he sat down on the couch.

  I grinned. “Yeah, I kissed Ryoko.”

  His eyes widened and Ryoko giggled. “It was so good, it almost turned into a fantastic make-out session.”

  Color drained from his face at the thought of his hormonally-driven brain missing something like that, and then shook his head. “You two are just trying to mess with me.”

  I grinned. “Maybe we are, maybe we aren’t. You’ll never know.”r />
  He looked at the two of us, and then the other ladies. When they didn’t reveal the truth, he looked at Raikidan, who only chuckled. Blaze frowned. “Let’s just start drinking.”

  Seda and I started pouring, and the group of us hammered out the drinks. Unsurprisingly, Genesis was the first to fall after one drink. Shva’sika was next, but lasted longer than I expected, with four drinks. We forced Blaze to drink faster than us, since he was behind, and only managed to down nine before he was on the floor. We’d be sure to make fun of him tomorrow.

  This left Ryoko and me, and I knew I wouldn’t last as long as her. She was one hell of a heavy-weight when it came to drinking. I didn’t know anyone who could drink her under the table.

  I downed my eighth glass, while Ryoko outpaced me and downed her twelfth. When I finished my drink, I decided to haul my intoxicated self onto the couch, only to fall over and face plant into the cushion. The room spun a little, and my hearing had been muffled. “I think… I’ve reached my limit.”

  Ryoko started clapping. “Oh yeah! Still undefeated!” She stood up, but immediately fell back down. “Oh, I shouldn’t have done that.”

  Those of us who were still conscious laughed at her.

  “I think this means it’s time to get everyone to bed,” Seda said.

  “I’ll clean up,” Ryoko slurred.

  Seda held up her hand. “I’ll do it. You two can’t even stand properly. You’ll only break something, hurt yourselves, or both.”

  “I’ll help them get to bed,” Raikidan offered.

  “I can get to my room on my own,” I objected.

  He chuckled and walked over to Ryoko. “No you can’t, and you know it. I’ll help you first, Ryoko.”

  “Aw, you’re so sweet,” Ryoko said.

  He lifted her off the couch and cradled her in his arms. While he carried her to her room, Seda used her telekinesis to help Shva’sika stand, and lifted Genesis’ sleeping form. The three of them left the room. I looked over at Blaze as he stirred and looked around. “What happened?”

  “You’re a lightweight, that’s what,” I slurred.

  He grinned at me. “Maybe. But I make up for it in other areas. Why don’t you crawl over here and I can show you?”

  Creepy again. I grimaced. “You’ll never get me drunk enough to do something that dumb.”

  He pouted. “Why are you so mean?”

  Raikidan’s voice came from behind me. “Because you deserve it.” He lifted me up in his arms and carried me to my room, but didn’t refrain from looking back and shooting a very unhappy look off at Blaze.

  “Great,” Blaze muttered. “No way I can compete with him.”

  “Raikidan, I may be drunk, but I can walk,” I said. “You don’t have to carry me.”

  “You’re funny,” Raikidan teased. “You can’t even stand up on your own.”

  “Can too…”

  He chuckled and carried me into my room, placing me down on the bed. “Lie down and sleep.”

  “I need to change into new clothes.”

  Raikidan rummaged around in my drawers and pulled out a shirt and shorts that would work well for sleeping. He held them out to me and grinned. “You think you can dress yourself, or do you need help?”

  My cheeks burned. “Get out.”

  He chuckled and left, but didn’t refrain from looking back briefly. Why is he acting so weird? I went about getting dressed instead of worrying about it. Or tried to. My intoxicated state was far worse than I predicted and I found myself struggling to get my new shirt on. I abandoned the effort and tried to work with my shorts, but only wound up falling off the bed. “Ow…”

  My bedroom door flew open and Raikidan ran in. “Are you—”

  He stopped and stared at me as I lay awkwardly on the floor, half naked. My cheeks flushed. “I need help…”

  “You sure you want me to help? I don’t need you freaking out at me.”

  I pouted, and he chuckled. He shut the door and made his way over to me. “You’re so different when you’re drunk.”

  “Yeah… whatever…”

  He helped me get to my knees, and I covered my bare chest with my arms. Raikidan grabbed my shirt and kneeled behind, helping me get my shirt on.

  “We’ll ixnay the shorts and get you into bed,” Raikidan said. “It’s warm enough out that you don’t need pants anyway.”

  “I’d rather wear more than just panties…”

  “You’re fine.”

  I sighed and did my best to get up, with his help of course. The room spun and it made my stomach queasy. I’m going to have a horrible hangover tomorrow. When standing proved to be too big a task for me, Raikidan picked me up and set me down on my bed. He sat down next to me and I remained sitting up until the room stopped spinning.

  “How do you feel?” Raikidan asked.

  “Like I’m drunk.”

  He chuckled. “I don’t know what that feels like.”

  “Well, if you drank with us, you would.”

  Raikidan shook his head and then pressed on my shoulder. “You should lie down.”

  I shook my head. “Not just yet. My head is still spinning.”

  He smiled. “All right then. I’ll let you do that on your own terms.”

  My eyes widened when Raikidan cupped my chin. He leaned in and our lips touched. My heart stopped and my drunken brain couldn’t process anything. A warm sensation flooded through my body that encouraged me to lean in and close my eyes, and in my intoxicated state, I struggled to fight that urge.

  Raikidan pulled away, taking my breath with him, and my eyes fluttered. “Good night.”

  “Wait,” I managed to say through my confusion fog. “Why did you do that? Did Ryoko do one last dare?”

  Raikidan chuckled and then shifted to his dragon shape. Jerk… Why wouldn’t he tell me? “Seda, what just happened?”

  “Sorry, Laz, but I can’t tell you.”

  I lay down and stared up at the ceiling. That confirmed it. Ryoko had to have dared Raikidan and convinced both him and Seda not to tell. Why else would he have done that? It’s not like he would have done it on his own. That kiss also had enough passion for it to be a dare from Ryoko. I closed my eyes. I wanted to be convinced of this, but my intoxicated brain couldn’t be coerced into agreeing.

  Chapter 27

  (Ryoko)

  Ichewed on my lower lip as I looked over the two photographs on my bed. One pictured Rylan and me, and the other Raid and me. I groaned and fell on my back. I’m so pathetic. Even after everything that had happened over the past few days, I couldn’t make up my mind. I thought I could give Rylan up and try to see if something could become of Raid and me. But when Rylan got upset, I stopped spending so much time with him, and I thought maybe I was wrong to give up so soon.

  And after what happened last night with Laz’s dare… My heart thumped in my chest at the memory. Who am I fooling? I was just seeing what I wanted to see. I know Laz insisted he did care, but it was hard to see it beyond hopeful wishing.

  I looked at the photograph of Raid and me. Raid paid a lot of attention to me, and he had for a long time. Like Rylan, he also had a lot of things in common with me, but when I hung out with just him, it wasn’t like when Rylan and I hung out. It was almost like he didn’t understand me on the same level Rylan did.

  I buried my face in my hands. What is wrong with me? Just pick one! I knew I struggled with this because I couldn’t trust myself with this choice. I’d waited like an idiot for decades for one of these guys to see how I felt about him. It wasn’t like that kind of wait was uncommon for us nu-humans. Our perception of time was different than the lesser-lived races.

  But Rylan showed no obvious sign of seeing me the same way. It didn’t help that I wasn’t treated well by a large percenta
ge of the men I’d met. He and… Zeek… were the first to treat me like a real person. Raid came into the picture later, but by that point, I had latched onto Rylan.

  I reached for a framed picture on my nightstand and looked it over. In it, was me with a bronze-skinned, muscular man with amber eyes and dark brown hair. I slid my thumb over his face, trying desperately trying to remember what it felt like to be near him. Zeek, I’d give anything to have you back… What did I do wrong to be cursed with this pain? Why can’t I have what I want?

  I placed the picture back down on my nightstand and sat up. I needed to talk to Laz. I know she wasn’t the best choice to talk about these things, but even if she couldn’t give me any advice, maybe just talking out loud would help me. Slipping off the bed, I looked for her in her room, only to find Raikidan to be the only one in there.

  “If you’re looking for Eira, she’s up on the roof,” he said. “After she recovered from that miserable condition you call a hangover, she wanted some fresh air.”

  I smiled. “Thanks for the heads up.”

  I left and headed up the stairs for the roof. Why she liked it up here, I’d never understand. My pace slowed as I neared the roof door when I heard two people talking. My nosey side kept me quiet, and my ears picked up Rylan and Laz’s voices.

  “Don’t go jumping to the same wild conclusions Ryoko has,” she said.

  Rylan chuckled. “Don’t worry about that. Your and his relationship may be different, but I’m not about to instantly think the way Ryoko does.”

  Well maybe you should. I hated feeling like I was the only one in this house who could see the truth behind everything going on.

  “Speaking of Ryoko…” she said. “When are you going to tell her how you feel?”

  I perked up and listened intently.

  “W–what?”

  “Oh don’t be like this, Ry,” she complained. “Just be honest with me.”

  He sighed. “It’s… complicated…”

  “No it’s not. You’re just afraid. You know how she feels about you, Rylan. You overheard that conversation because I didn’t shut down the communicator properly. And yet you still dance around her.”