"Why don't we play Truth or Dare?" Clayton suggested, clapping his hands together to break the silence. "We can like Google questions so we don't have to come up with any."
"Yeah, alright," Benjamin agreed, shifting on the sofa so he could put his arm around me and so I could scoot closer to his tall frame. The rest of the group all shrugged, so I guess we were playing this kind of childish and annoying game. "I'll go first. I guess I'll pick truth."
Grace took the phone out of Clayton's hands and pressed a button, which must have like shuffled the questions or something. "Okay, this is kind of obvious. But you got: 'If you could make-out with anyone in the room, who would it be?'"
Benjamin chuckled loudly, and I could feel his chest vibrating from behind me. "Annabel," Benjamin stated happily, kissing my cheek in a super cute manner and making me smile, while everyone else groaned simultaneously. "Uh, Stuart, truth or dare?"
"Dare," Stuart responded confidently.
Clayton pressed the button this time, and he sighed as the dare appeared on the screen. "This one is going to be so easy for you, Nude Boy. It says to take off an article of clothing."
Stuart cheered, reaching his hands behind his neck to pull his shirt over his head and throw it onto the floor, revealing his tattoos and perfectly toned body. I had to admit that puberty had worked some nice magic on that boy. "Okay, Bradley truth or dare?"
I zoned out from listening and rested my head against Benjamin's shoulder. I had never really found that this game to be as fun as others, especially when I was still getting to know two of the boys here and I was terrified that I would have to perform some uncomfortable sexual task with them.
Bradley had finished licking the side of Benjamin's face for his dare, resulting in a chorus of laughter from everyone, including me, and a high-pitched squeal from the boy who's lap I was basically sitting on. My name was called next.
"I'll go with dare," I replied with a shrug, then bit down on my lip as I awaited what I had to do. I was regretting not being lame and picking truth already.
Grace glimpsed up from the screen with her eyebrows raised. "Um, you have to kiss the person to your left."
For a second I thought this meant I had to kiss Benjamin, which I would have gladly turned right over and planted one on him right then and there. But after making an L with my fingers to check, I realized that the person to my left was Stuart.
I gulped, glancing over at Benjamin with an uneasy look on my face. He just nodded sheepishly. "A dare's a dare, it's fine," Benjamin told me, but that almost made me more nervous. I know we aren't dating, but we both obviously like each other, and I didn't want him to get the wrong impression.
"You can pass if you want to," Stuart mumbled, finally speaking up. He was stiff and seemed almost as worried as I was.
"I'm not a wimp," I said proudly. But dammit, I was a wimp. I was so worried about what would happen if I had tasted those lips that used to spit out such spiteful words towards me. Those lips that had been pressed against my forehead earlier.
I swallowed as I crawled over towards him, feeling the stares from the rest of our friends on us like an attentive audience. Stuart tilted his body to face mine with caution, his big brown eyes locked on my own as if he was making sure I really wanted to do this again. It had been four years since the last time we kissed, but I didn't want to think about that event again.
I leaned in even closer to him, gently placing one hand on his soft cheek and caressing his sharp cheekbone while his hot breath tickled the area above my lip. I let my eyes close as I slowly removed the gap between us, pressing our lips together. And the way our lips molded together with ease felt really good.
This was what I was scared of. I didn't want to like the way our kisses felt. His lips were still as smooth as I could remember, and the simple touch caused a spark to ignite throughout my body. His palm gripped onto my waist to steady himself as he deepened the kiss for a moment, but I pulled away before I could get too breathless, causing Stuart's eyes to shoot wide open.
"Okay, Grace I think it's your turn," I rambled quickly, eager to get the attention of us and to rid myself of my flushed cheeks. I returned to my position cuddled up against Benjamin's side. "I'm sorry if that was weird," I whispered to him.
Benjamin just smiled down at me, kissing my forehead gingerly. "You're adorable when you're worried."
I grinned back at him, but a part of me still felt guilty. I finally had a guy mutually like me, and I didn't want Stuart to ruin that again. But here I was, beating myself up for enjoying a kiss with the guy I despised just a few days ago. This is so confusing.
"Oh my God!" Bradley gasped, bursting into laughter and interrupting Grace's truth question that she was about to answer. "Annabel, you gave Stu a boner!"
"What?" Benjamin asked instantly, leaning forward to look past me and get a glimpse of my roommate sitting at the opposite side of the couch, who did indeed pitch a tent in his pants. Benjamin subconsciously tightened his grip on me, and my face was growing even hotter with embarrassment.
Stuart rapidly placed a pillow over his lap, muttering profanities under his breath. "It wasn't from Ann, I was just thinking about something."
"Yeah, thinking about what else Annabel could do with her lips," Bradley blurted out, not even slightly concerned about what he had just said. He literally had no filter.
Everyone, besides Stuart, chuckled at his comment and I buried my head into Benjamin's shoulder as I became incredibly uncomfortable. I felt proud that I could give Stuart a boner just by kissing him for like two seconds, but I hated how this was going to put some awkward tension between everyone.
Stuart rolled his eyes before standing up, still letting the pillow hover above him. "I hate all of you," He grumbled. "I'm going to the bathroom."
"Make sure you wash that hand," Clayton called after him, which made Stuart lift his middle finger up into the air at him.
Chapter 16
Stuart
"Goodnight, Benjamin," Annabel giggled, practically pushing him out of the door as he left one final kiss on her lips. The lips that I had also got to kiss tonight.
It was so weird feeling her mouth pressed against mine again for the first time in four years. She had obviously gained some skill and it had caused my heart to pound in a way that I had never felt before. This confused me on so many levels, especially since that just a few days ago we would bicker constantly.
This whole situation was messing with my head. I didn't have any feelings for Annabel, I never have, except for that little phase I went through of having a crush on her. But now I couldn't stop myself from denying how pretty she is, which I used to do, and now I was becoming even more protective over her well-being.
Annabel shut the front door after all of our guests had left. I did have fun hanging out with everyone tonight, but I was relieved to get some alone time. When I'm around lots of people for too long I start to get cranky.
"I'm going to go take this make-up off," Annabel announced, smiling as she walked past me towards the bathroom.
Her statement made me kind of happy. She was a superstar actress now, which kind of made it necessary for her to wear at least some make-up every time she went out in public. So I was the only one who got to see her completely bare face. Not even Benjamin could say he could do that.
I also was glad that Annabel wasn't making this awkward between us. I knew there was some tension, especially since my manhood couldn't control its thoughts and most likely thoroughly embarrassed her. She shouldn't be embarrassed though. That should be an achievement.
I needed to brush my teeth, so I followed her into the sole bathroom. I leaned my body against the door frame with my arms crossed as I waited patiently for the sink to be open, just to make sure that I didn't spit on her neck again.
Annabel used some kind of wipes to scrub her face and eyelids with, then reached for that same green face mask and started to apply it onto her face again. She was so concentrated on not getting
any in her eyes that she didn't even notice my presence or the fact that I had just been watching her with a small smile lying on my lips.
"Oh my God! Stu! You just scared the crap out of me," Ann exclaimed, jumping back as she finally caught the sight of me.
I chuckled, backing away from the wall and approaching the sink. I squirted some toothpaste out of the bottle and began to brush my teeth like I originally intended to do, and the two of us made eye contact through the mirror we both were glancing into.
"Why do ya all sways put that on cha faish," I blubbered in jibberish form as I attempted to talk with my mouth open as my toothbrush swirled around across each tooth. Annabel just looked at me in confusion. I spit out my toothpaste and wiped my mouth. "Why do you always put that on your face?"
"Oh," She replied once she understood what I was trying to say. "It's just one of those weird girly beauty things. It like clears out blackheads and pimples and leaves your skin really soft and minty feeling."
I raised my eyebrows at her in amusement after I finished rinsing off my toothbrush. "You look like Shrek."
Ann slapped my abs gently as she rolled her eyes, and this simple touch made my body tense up. "Oh, shut up. You look like you could use some of this with that zit coming in-"
"Stop," I whined, swatting her hand away before it could point to the incoming blemish that would soon be the size of Mount Everest in a few days. I sighed. "Alright, I want to look like Shrek too."
"Really?" Annabel responded in amusement, an expression of complete surprise take over her face. She smiled at me. "I was just kidding. You don't have to do this."
I shrugged. "But this way we can match."
She grinned at me, an actual grin, while her green eyes glimmered with excitement. Annabel plopped up on the counter so she would be tall enough to reach my face and she pulled on my flannel to get me positioned right in front of her, practically standing right between her legs.
"I can't believe I'm letting you do this." I chuckled, and instantly her small fingers had scooped up some of the green crap and was spreading it out across my cheeks. It felt cold, and I shivered for a second, but her warm palms gliding across my face removed the edge. I placed my hands on her thighs to steady myself as I leaned closer to her, and she didn't seem to react to the action.
"Boop," Annabel said while giggling as she tapped the top of my nose, now covering the surface area of my nose and forehead with the green exfoliation.
I couldn't stop myself from smiling at the adorable motion. She glimpsed up at me for the first time, making our eyes lock on each other. Due to the way we were positioned and the way she was gazing at me through her lashes, my little fella was screaming at me to just cup my hands around her cheeks and kiss her again. But my obnoxious brain insisted that I didn't since we had recently become friends again and that is the most important thing, and we don't need any awkward tension to distance us again.
Annabel cleared her throat, sending me a devilish grin. "You don't make a good Shrek. You would probably be better off as Donkey, but maybe that's because you are an ass."
If she had said that last week I would have become thoroughly irritated and would have replied with something equally insulting. But due to the bright smile on her face and the way she was innocently giggling, I knew it was merely just her joking around with me, and I couldn't stop the chuckles from escaping my mouth.
I broke eye contact so I could stare in the mirror at my reflection, and I nearly pooped my pants at the sight. I looked absolutely ridiculous, and also oddly terrifying. The mask was seeping into my pores and kind of stung a little bit. I laughed loudly. "Okay, no. I'm taking this off."
"Such a baby," She teased again, handing me a towel as she picked up one as well. We both wiped the masks off with some warm water and the washcloths, and soon enough our skin had returned to its natural coloring.
"It does feel soft," I admitted, running my fingertips along the side of my face to feel the smoothness. Ann just smiled. "Are you going to bed?"
Annabel shrugged, leaping off of the counter so her tiny feet could touch the tiled floor again. "I don't know. I'm not tired yet."
"Me either."
She glanced up at me timidly, having to crane her neck upwards to get a full view of me due to our height difference. "Do you want to, um, have one of our old movie nights?"
I nodded quickly. I used to look forward to those every week and I have missed our old hang-out sessions. "I'd love to."
"Okay," Ann mumbled, stepping out of the bathroom and heading to the living room where our friends had previously been sitting on. She must have changed out of her dress in the bathroom and into some pajamas that consisted of booty shorts, that really accentuated that butt, and an oversized t-shirt draped over her body.
I plopped down on to the couch next to her and lifted up the remote. "What do you want to watch?"
"I don't care," She said while yawning, grasping a blanket and placing it across both of our laps.
I scrolled through the options for movies that were on demand, and one of the films was one that Annabel had starred in last year. "Want to watch this one?"
She burst out laughing, elbowing me in the chest gently. "No! That's so weird. I don't want to watch myself! Especially since I'm like half naked in one scene."
I smirked at her. "It's nothing I haven't seen before," I reminded Annabel with a wink. But then my smile kind of faded as I realized that she could take my playful teasing the wrong way.
"Alright, shut up, Stu," Ann replied, shaking her head at me in amusement as she pried the remote control out of my hands. She selected some fairly popular romantic comedy and glanced up at me for approval, which I just shrugged in response.
To be honest, I wasn't too concerned about what movie we would be watching tonight. The only thing that mattered was the fact that I got to spend time with my best friend again, and that Annabel willingly suggested the idea. Nostalgia was running through my veins like a marathon contestant. The way that our bodies were so close that our thighs were barely touching, only the heat from our skin radiating onto each other, reassured me that our friendship would be patched up in no time.
"When you watch movies do you focus on the actors and like critique them or do you just watch it like a normal person?" I asked suddenly, blurting out a question that swirled through my mind when I was in the midst of my late-night, curious and philosophical thinking.
"I don't know. I just watch it, I think?" She replied wearily, as if her answer was wrong and she was waiting for me to slap her desk with a ruler and kick her out of a classroom. "When you listen to music to you critique the artist's singing or do you just enjoy it like a normal person?"
I let my lips curl into a smile again at her ability to rebuttal properly. "Well it depends, Ann. If they are really bad at singing then yeah but if I like the music then I will just listen to it. Maybe dance around a bit."
She peeled her eyes away from the big television screen placed in front of us to look at me. It wasn't just a timid glance. No, Annabel was studying every inch of my face, peering into my eyes as if they truly were the windows to my soul. "I'm really proud of you, Stuart," Ann finally spoke, her volume seeming hushed and quiet, but her tone was laced with pride. "Your dreams had come true. I realized this at the press conference when I saw my old neighbor since birth answering reporter questions. You made it, Stu. Probably with a lot of hard work too. And I'm proud of you."
I couldn't stop my cheeks from burning up. My family told me they were proud of me all the time, but it felt really humbling for the girl who I had spilled all of my big dreams to when we were younger to recognize all of it. I never expected those words to come out of her mouth.
"Thanks, Anna," I said gratefully, then placed my palm onto her blanket-covered thigh. "But you made it too. All of you dreams came true too. And you're really good at acting. It kind of scares me sometimes cause I think that maybe you are just acting about liking me again."
She
slowly placed her hand on top of mine, making an unknown spark travel throughout me. "I'm not acting. I promise. This is really nice."
"Yeah it is," I agreed with honesty. "I'm so glad that you forgave me. I didn't deserve it. But thank you."
Annabel let out another yawn before hesitantly resting her head on my shoulder, making her hair tickle the side of my neck. I leaned my head towards hers, enjoying the comforting touch that I haven't felt in age. "I've missed you," She whispered, letting her eyelids close instead of watching the chick flick.
"I missed you too," I confessed, feeling myself grow tired as well. I wrapped my arm around her waist and pulled Annabel down with me as I reclined so I was laying back on the couch, letting her head rest onto my chest as opposed to my shoulder. I kept one arm wrapped around her back, letting my fingers trace patterns over her t-shirt, and she slipped one of her legs between mine. The contrast of her shaved legs against mine felt nice and soothing.
Annabel sighed in content as she nestled her head into my chest. We used to cuddle all of the time when we were younger, in basically every position. But tonight it was like a cuddle revolution that symbolized a new era of our relationship. This roommate thing may be the best thing to ever happen to me. Because right now, in this very moment, as I clutched onto the beautiful girl I've known since birth, I felt genuinely happy.
I left a chaste kiss onto her forehead. "Goodnight, Ann."
"Goodnight, butthead. You're still the best cuddler I know."
Chapter 17
Annabel
When the sun peeked through the sheer curtains that were dangling from the top of the window and illuminated the room, my eyes quickly shot open. I groaned loudly, moving my hands up to cover my eyes and attempt to fall back asleep. But there was no use. I was officially awake now.
Raunchy Roommate Page 9
