by Callie Rose
“I don’t—” I laughed nervously. “I don’t have any music. There’s hardly enough space.”
“There’s enough.” Cole jumped up suddenly, tugging the coffee table out of the way. Then he crossed to the corner where the stack of guitars rested and picked one up. He handed it to Elijah before he sat back down. “There you go. Music.”
Elijah was looking at the guitar with a mixture of reverence and disgust.
“You play?” I asked, surprised.
“Are you kidding?” Finn grinned. “It used to be all he did. Before…” His faced darkened, and he trailed off. Then he brightened again, nudging Elijah. “But he still fucking knows how, don’t you?”
“Of course I do,” Elijah muttered, already fiddling with the knobs on the neck, plucking strings as he tuned it. “Although this guitar is a piece of shit.”
“Not in your hands, it won’t be.”
Finn leaned back, grinning happily, and I glanced around at the rest of the guys, surprised. This hadn’t come out when we’d spilled our secrets earlier, and it just served to remind me how much I still didn’t know about each of them.
“Elijah hasn’t played in a while, Legs,” Mason said softly, his voice drawing my focus. “But if he’ll play, will you dance?”
It was on the tip of my tongue to say no. I loved dancing, but I hadn’t done it in front of an audience—well, not counting Finn—in a long time. And my body was still so wound up from my dare to Mason that I wasn’t sure I trusted myself to stand.
But then Elijah began to strum the strings of the guitar, and my heart skipped a beat.
It was fucking amazing. Haunting, wistful, and perfect. He sang while he played, not in recognizable words, just sounds. But they were so infused with emotion, with meaning, that I could’ve sworn I knew exactly what he was saying.
The sound filled the large basement room, filled my ears, filled my entire soul, until there wasn’t even a question.
Wordlessly, I stood and walked to the middle of the space. And then I began to move. Just like Elijah, I was making it up as I went along—but he played with me and I danced with him until we synced up perfectly. I didn’t push too hard, just let the simple movements, the arcs and curved lines that had drawn me to ballet in the first place, guide me.
I wasn’t sure how long he played, but unlike the exquisitely torturous ten minutes when Mason had knelt before me, I didn’t ever want this to end.
Finally, Elijah strummed a sequence I recognized from earlier, repeated it twice, and then let the last note fade.
I floated to a stop and dropped my arms, a little breathless. I felt lighter than I had in years, happy and proud.
Mason, Cole, and Finn all stared at the two of us, but I knew they wouldn’t clap. On the lake the other day, my ballet pose had drawn raucous and enthusiastic support from the crowd. But this moment wasn’t like that.
It was bigger than that.
It wasn’t us showing off for each other.
It was us… sharing.
I’d shown a part of myself that not everyone even knew existed. My favorite part of myself, the part I might truly die if I ever lost.
And Elijah had done the same. I couldn’t be sure, but I had a strong suspicion that guitar was to him what dance was to me—what football was to Finn.
His freedom.
I crossed back to the couch and sat down as Finn blew out a breath. “Holy fuck. I really am gonna need that cold shower later.”
“Not so fast!” I poked him in the ribs. “Mason and I both got dared. And Elijah got roped in too. You think you’re getting out of this?”
He groaned, but a grin tipped his lips as he leaned back, spreading his arms wide. “Whatever. I’m un-fucking-touchable.”
Elijah and I shared a smirk. “Yeah, okay. If you say so.”
We ended up daring him to streak through the party, which was actually a pretty lame dare for someone like Finn. With a few more drinks in his system, he probably would’ve done it on his own. And once again, it backfired on me as my cheeks flushed bright red when he sauntered back into the basement, naked from head to toe.
“Well, that was a refreshing jog. Oh and, Legs? My eyes are up here.” He pointed to his amber eyes, sticking his tongue out seductively.
He took his sweet time getting dressed, and I felt like I might fucking implode.
Elijah somehow begged out of the first round, but we made him do the second, and by the third, I was several more drinks in and couldn’t stop laughing.
“Okay,” I panted, scooting to sit up on the couch and straightening my shoulders, trying to look serious. “Dare.”
Mason’s gaze flicked over my shoulder, and I turned to look at the other three. There was a second of silence, and then Cole said, “I dare you to kiss each of us.”
My stomach fluttered wildly. “All of you? Like, right now? In—in a row?”
“Yeah, that’s probably easiest.” His voice was its usual neutral tone, but he was watching me intently. “You can even pick who you want to kiss first.”
I swallowed, my pulse kicking up in my throat as I glanced around the room. Finn hadn’t put his shirt back on when he’d gotten back from streaking, so the only guy who wasn’t bare-chested was Mason.
I didn’t know why, but for some reason it seemed to make the most sense to start with the most clothed man. As if that would make this easier to get through without losing my dignity.
Pulling my lip between my teeth, I crawled across the couch toward Mason. His eyes flickered with surprise, like he hadn’t expected me to pick him first, but he reached for me, helping me onto his lap.
When I was straddling him, I looked down, heart slamming in my chest as I took in his aristocratic brows, strong features, and enigmatic green eyes.
In the secret, private part of my mind where thoughts existed that I’d never tell anyone else, I could admit I’d fantasized about kissing each of these guys.
And now I had a dare to hide behind, an excuse I might never get again.
I wasn’t going to fucking waste it.
Taking charge, I reached up and ran my hands down the sides of his face, cupping it in my palms. I held him in place while I dipped my head, pressing my lips to his. He smelled like cedar and spice, and his mouth tasted like tequila, just like mine. I kissed him long and slow and deep, exploring his mouth with my tongue like I owned it, like I had every right to be doing this.
Like he was mine.
We kissed for a while, and for a long time, he left his hands at his sides. But finally, he seemed to lose some battle with himself, and they moved to my low back, tracing the curve of my spine as he kissed me harder.
I almost lost track of the dare, of the point of all this. It was only the low grunt from Cole that drew me back to my senses.
He was the farthest away from me on the couch, but when I broke away from Mason, he made another sound, like he might come over there and rip me away from his friend, throw me over his shoulder, and drag me back to his cave.
But he didn’t fucking own me. And he was the one who’d dared me to kiss all of them.
So he could wait his damn turn.
I climbed off Mason’s lap, feeling slick wetness gathering in my core, and moved toward Elijah next.
He looked almost… concerned as I approached him, like he wasn’t sure this was a good idea at all.
But it was. It really was. I wasn’t sure anyone had ever had a better idea in all their life.
So to reassure him, I pressed little closed-mouth kisses along his shoulders and neck, flicking my tongue out every once in a while to taste his skin.
His breath picked up, and without warning, he grabbed my head, hauling me up to kiss him on the mouth, moving his lips against mine like he wanted to devour me. It was messy and wild, so unlike his usual put together, polished demeanor that it took me by surprise.
But I liked it. I liked seeing him fray at the edges like this, knowing I’d been the one to make him unravel.
I drew away reluctantly, but any unhappiness I had about ending the kiss was eased by the sight of Finn waiting for me on the next sofa cushion. He’d slouched so far back he was almost horizontal, and I had to drape my body over his to reach his lips.
He was… hard.
I could feel his dick through his shorts, pressing into my stomach, and I moved lightly against him as we kissed, testing his reaction. His arm wrapped around me, a steel band around my waist holding me perfectly still, and he tore his mouth away from mine for a second, gasping.
“Fucking Christ.”
Wriggling against his hold, I tried to move again, but he just added his first arm to the second.
“Hold still, Legs, or I’m not gonna make it.”
“Please?” I murmured, not quite sure what I was even asking for, but knowing I wanted that delicious friction back. “Please, I want…”
“Oh, I know.” His hips ground against me as he gave in for a moment, but then he lowered his lips to mine once more, whispering into my mouth. “But not this time.”
Then he kissed me again, and it was like tasting sunshine. Bright and sweet and so overwhelming it almost burned me.
I heard another sound from Cole, deeper and more threatening, and Finn laughed against my lips. He finally helped me sit up, and I was barely upright again before new hands were on me. Cole stood over us, and he hefted me into his arms like I weighed nothing, palming my ass as I instinctively wrapped my legs around him. I thought he might sit down again, but he seemed perfectly happy where we were.
His tongue swept across the seam of my mouth, demanding entry, and I opened for him, allowing him to taste the tequila—and the three other Princes—on my lips. Low, hungry noises emanated from his throat, and my clit throbbed in time with my hammering heart as I pressed myself flush against him. My fingernails traced the back of his neck, running through his hair, and he made a sound halfway between a purr and a growl.
I didn’t want to stop—wasn’t even sure I could—but after a few minutes, he tipped his head back, stealing his lips from me.
We were both breathing hard, and I could hear the sound of the others breathing too. The air in the room had taken on a heavy quality, thick with unspoken tension.
Slowly, I unwrapped my legs from around Cole’s waist, and he set me on my feet. The crotch of my panties was soaked, and I had a sudden moment of panic that I might’ve left a wet spot on his bare stomach. I moved to reach for him, then stopped, suddenly unsure.
The dare was over. I’d kissed all four of them.
So was I still allowed to touch them?
What had this meant?
Anything?
Nothing?
“Well…” Finn’s voice still sounded ragged as he stood up, adjusting himself a little. “I don’t think anybody’s gonna top that dare. So… more drinks?”
“Fuck yes.” Mason stood too.
The mood in the room broke, and the guys started joking and teasing each other again as we gathered our shit to head upstairs.
Relief mingled with disappointment as I followed Elijah and Finn up the steps, still breathing raggedly and trying not to stare at their asses while they climbed. It was a lot harder to do now that I’d actually touched them.
Mason and Cole followed behind us, talking in low voices as Mason checked the time on his phone and slipped it into his pocket.
He caught me looking back at him, and I had a sudden memory of the first time I’d seen him at school, leaning over the railing of the landing in the stairwell and scowling down at me.
But this time, when our eyes met, he smiled.
Chapter 23
We drove back down the coast the next day, and thanks to Finn making me drink a ton of water, I actually felt pretty decent. That was the most I’d ever drunk in one span of time though, and I felt a twinge of discomfort as I remembered how good my dad had been at that kind of thing. He’d been able to keep a binge going for days, even weeks sometimes, and I didn’t want to follow in his footsteps in any way.
Be smart, Tal.
Maybe next time, I’d offer to be designated driver so I’d have a reason not to drink. Although that wasn’t a very workable excuse at weekend house parties.
I sat up front again, and Mason’s hand rested on my knee as he drove, a comfortable, confident gesture. Nothing else had happened the night before, which was probably for the best. If I’d hooked up with one of them, what would the others have thought? A lot had changed since the day Cole busted into the girls’ locker room and accused me of trying to seduce his friends, but I still hadn’t forgotten his words.
Besides, it wasn’t a good idea to hook up with any of them, truthfully.
What had started on extremely rocky ground was finally turning into what could be a really solid friendship, and despite the way my body reacted to all of them, despite the tingles that raced across my skin from just the feel of Mason’s hand on my knee, I didn’t want to risk that.
When we reached Oak Park, they all walked me to the Wastelands before heading back to their dorm. As far as I knew, they weren’t going anywhere else over the break, but I’d promised Jacqueline I’d go stay with her and Philip until Sunday.
I unpacked and repacked my bag with more conservative, fancier clothes and showered twice to make sure I didn’t smell like weed or alcohol. If I could get through one visit with my grandma without her looking at me like I was a major disappointment, I’d consider it a win.
Is that how she used to look at my mom? Was that what drove her away?
Using a round brush, I dried my hair into soft waves, taking a little extra time with my appearance. Then I headed back out. As I crossed campus, my mind drifted back to the past few days, and I felt a smile spread across my face that I couldn’t contain. I shot a glance over my shoulder toward Clarendon Hall, for once sad to be leaving the Oak Park campus.
Jacqueline and Philip greeted me from their usual stations when I arrived—my grandmother at the door and my grandfather from behind the desk in his office. He was missing his usual glass of whiskey, which I liked. I’d already been feeling weird about having drunk so much at the house party; it helped to see that not every blood relative of mine was a slave to alcohol.
Then again, my dad had managed a few dry spells too.
Jacqueline took me out to the back garden, and we chatted about the coming summer and how classes were going. I hadn’t missed a single class all semester, and she praised me for it with a wide smile.
I spent most of the next three days holed up in my room studying or walking the beach, dipping my feet in the cold water and picking up little shells or stones worn smooth by the waves. I’d started a little collection in a jar I’d asked one of the house staff for, and even though I was pretty sure Jacqueline wouldn’t approve, it was my favorite decoration in my room.
On my last evening at the house, I had dinner at the large dining room table with the two of them, mulling something over in my head. It took me until just before dessert was served to work up the nerve to say anything out loud, but the idea had been growing in my mind ever since the night of all the dares with the guys.
Before the kissing, there had been dancing.
And it’d made me the happiest I’d felt in a long time.
I wanted more of that feeling, wanted it in my life all the time.
“So…” I cleared my throat before taking a dainty sip of water, careful not to gulp it. “I’ve been thinking. Once I finish up at Oak Park, maybe I’ll audition for a few ballet companies. There are some great ones that do apprenticeships, and a lot of the time, it can lead to a position within the company if you do well and work your ass—butt—off, which I would.”
Jacqueline rested her fork gingerly on the table, brows drawing together as she frowned at me. “What about college?”
“Well, that would still be in the plans for sure. But maybe after a few years of dancing? Or maybe I could find a program that would let me do both. I could do
classes online or something.”
She blinked slowly. “You want to graduate Oak Park and attend an online college?”
“Well, that’s just one option.” I looked to Philip for help, but his face was carefully blank. “I haven’t looked into all the details yet. But dance is what I love, what I’ve always loved, and now I finally have an opportunity to do it—”
“No.”
I stopped short, my jaw snapping shut. “What?”
“No.” My grandmother shook her head. She hadn’t raised her voice, hardly even sounded angry. But I wasn’t stupid enough to believe that meant she was still giving one ounce of consideration to my words. “We decided to send you to Oak Park Prep to give you the opportunity to achieve a great future. That means a good education, leveraged into an Ivy League college, where you’ll make the connections you need to secure a good position. There is no future in dance.”
“That’s…” Disappointment soured my stomach, and I set my fork down too. “That’s not true. Yeah, someone might not be a prima ballerina forever, but that doesn’t mean they can’t have a great career.”
“Someone. Not you.”
“But—”
“No, Talia.” Jacqueline’s voice sharpened, and she held up one hand. “This discussion is over. We’re paying for your education. We’ll pay for your college. But I will not pay for you to live the life of a hippie.”
My chair scraped against the floor as I stood abruptly, hot anger filling my chest. “I’m not hungry anymore. I’m done.”
“Then you may go to your room,” she said softly, and before the last word fell from her mouth, I was already moving.
I closed the door to my room much more gently than I wanted to—I was sure Jacqueline had a zero tolerance policy for temper tantrums—and rested my forehead against it, tears burning the backs of my eyes.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
I’d forgotten.
I’d let myself forget, just for a little while, that everything in my life right now had strings attached to it.
All the money, all the stuff, all the privilege. None of it was really mine. It was all a “gift” that came with a set of conditions, and if those conditions weren’t met, the gift could vanish into thin air.