I DON'T KNOW how we've gone an entire half-hour without the bottle landing on me, but somehow we have. I've gotten lucky every time, and Joy got exactly what she wished. She's kissed about five different guys, and with each one, she added tongue.

The bottle spins again, and I hold my breath, freezing when it lands on River. Across from him is a girl I've never seen before. I don't pay attention to anyone who goes to our school, but she's really pretty and seems eager to kiss River. She crawls over to him on hands and knees, and River hesitates at first but eventually leans in and presses his lips to hers. I didn't expect to get as pissed as I am, but I'm furious. The same furious I felt when I thought he was going on that date with Joy.

Yet another emotion to check off the list.

She runs her hands through his hair and adds tongue. She adds tongue, and the alcohol hits me at once. I can feel it swishing around in my stomach, threatening to get thrown up all over this carpet. I swallow it down, though, and stare into my lap, twirling my fingertips around and around until it's over.

"Damn, he's a good kisser," the girl tries to whisper to her friends, but everyone hears it. I want to tackle her right on the floor.

The loafer-wearing guy spins the bottle again, and it lands on me this time. It's the fucking loafer guy that undressed me in his mind from earlier, and there's no way in hell he'll be my first kiss. River grows rigid beside me, the loafer guy wiggling his eyebrows disgustingly.

"I've been waiting for this one," he says, and when he gets on his knees to come over to me, I suddenly feel another pair of lips meet mine.

It's River, and his lips are soft and plump, my hands clutching onto the sides of his face to tug him closer. Everyone around us erupts into ooos as he does it, and I don't know if he's just doing this to be nice, but the girl wasn't lying when she said he was a good kisser.

He tastes like mint and liquor, and I'm grateful my first kiss is with him and not loafer guy. I'm assuming that's why he kissed me, but I'm not complaining.

I expect it to stop, but River doesn't want it to. His hands run down my waist, twisting the fabric of my sweatshirt up into one hand to tug me closer. Then I feel his tongue, and my god, nothing feels better. In seconds I practically pant as my tongue circles with his, and if it weren't for someone shouting, "Get a room!" I probably would have crawled right into his damn lap.

We both break away, and River is staring at me so intensely that I get even shorter of breath. I'm dizzy as hell, and I don't know if it's from the liquor or the kiss.

"Fuck," River breathes onto my lips, but he's interrupted when loafer boy shoves him backward onto the ground. River bounces back almost instantly, standing to his feet to get in his face. "Are you serious, man? It's a fucking game. Chill out."

"She owes me a damn kiss," he states. "The bottle was on me."

"She owes you nothing. Now get the fuck out of my face. Trust me when I say it'd be in your best interest."

This is the first time I've seen this side of River. He may not be built or muscular like some jocks, but his height makes up for it. He's towering over him, his brown eyes almost black from his anger. His chest is heaving up and down, fists clenched at his sides, and before it turns ugly, I stand beside him and grab onto his hand. "River," I say, and at the sound of my voice, he turns to look at me, sensing how scared I am.

His demeanor shifts, and in seconds, he relaxes. Joy doesn't know what's happening, staring at the two boys with wide eyes.

"You're not fucking worth it," he sneers to loafer boy. "I'm leaving."

Without another word, he storms outside, throwing the door open. I'm still trying to figure out what the actual hell just happened.

"I'll find him," I tell Joy. "Are you coming?"

"Um... Do you need me to? I'm drunk, and I don't think I can chase after him right now."

I won't argue with her and waste time, so I leave her and loafer boy behind, throwing the door open again to find River. The alcohol has hit me now that I stood up, so I grip the porch railing to stabilize myself.

My lips remain numb from the kiss, and my body feels on fire.

"River?" I call out.

A crunch of leaves is coming from beside the house, so I round the corner and see him pacing back and forth, his hands behind his head.

His eyes meet mine, and instant regret floods into them. "I'm so sorry," he says. "I shouldn't have gotten that upset. I've been trying so hard to--" He heaves a sigh, shaking his head in disbelief. "I'm just so sorry, Hazel."

"River, it's fine. He was being a dick. Hey, are you okay?"

I grasp onto his arms to get him to look at me, and he's breathing heavily in and out of his nose, seeming to blink away tears.

"I-I'm fine," he mutters, still angry. It's written all over his face, so I do the only thing I can think of and pull him into my arms. I hug him tightly, and his arms come around to hold me, his head hanging down to bury between my neck and shoulder.

"It's okay," I tell him, but I'm asking many questions inside. Why is he freaking out like this? Why did he kiss me? Did he do that to be nice? Is he angry because he kissed me?

We stay like this in each other's arms for another minute until he takes a step back and shoves his hands into the pocket of his jeans. "You know, for someone who says they're emotionless, you sure know how to console people."

There are few people I'd waste time doing this for, and that's what he doesn't get. I think he's the only person besides my mom I'd console, but rather than say that, I tug on his elbow and start walking back to the driveway.

It's cold out, but not as cold as it has been. Instead of it being downright freezing, there's just a slight breeze, and the liquor made me more than hot anyway, so I don't mind the twenty-minute walk it will take to go home. We're both in no state to drive.

"Wait here," I tell him. "I'm going to get Joy."

He nods and watches as I go back inside the house. Joy is in the same spot on the carpet where I left her, a liquor bottle beside her. I tilt her chin up to look at me, and there's mascara streaming down her cheeks. "I-I miss him so much," she sobs. "I shouldn't have kissed those guys. I fucking love Jared."

Literally, kill me now.

Dragging her up to her feet, I slip her arm around my shoulder and head back outside, thankfully steering clear of loafer boy.

"Holy fuck," River says, coming to Joy's other side to grab her arm. River is so tall that we shuffle awkwardly, collapsing onto the grass beside the driveway. We can't walk to Joy's house and back, especially if we don't know where she lives. We should have thought this through.

"I'm calling an Uber," River mutters and slips his phone out of his pocket. Joy mutters something incoherently, resting her head on my shoulder.

"You have money for that?"

He laughs. "Well, considering I have a job, yes. Don't worry. It's fine. How else are we going to get home?"

He has a point.

"Thank you," I tell him. "I'll just have Joy stay the night at my place, and then we'll walk to the theatre tomorrow to get our cars. I guess we'll drive Joy back here to grab hers too. We really should have been smarter about transportation."

"Probably. On a more positive note, are you excited about your first sleepover? Looking forward to the gossiping and pillow fights?"

"I hate you," I mutter, but a part of me is excited. I just had a night out with my friends. Not just one friend, but two. I went to a high school party for crying out loud! I'm proud of myself.

"No, you don't." He smiles, and then his gaze softens on me. "You wouldn't have kissed me like that if you hated me."

My heart is racing, but instead of making it obvious that I'm attracted to him, I say, "I had to kiss you back to make it believable, right? You didn't have to kiss me, to begin with. I didn't ask you to."

"Oh, and have your first kiss been with Mr. Loafers? You and I both know you'd rather drink bleach."

This causes me to laugh. "Yeah, you're right. I suppose I should thank you."

"Exactly. I don't just use my fantastic kissing skills on anyone."

"I don't know about fantastic..." I trail off, another laugh escaping my mouth as his jaw drops in shock.

"Do not even lie! That kiss was fucking incredible."

My eyes pop up to his, and once he realizes what he just said, he shrugs instead of trying to take it back. "It was," he says bluntly. "I'm being honest."

It was incredible. As soon as the memory floods back in, I get hot all over, my skin prickling with desire. His lips were so soft, that fucking mint mixed with liquor, the way he grabbed me as if he needed me at that moment.

But he was doing it to be nice. He gave me my first kiss, and I'm thankful. He's a good friend. 

"You know, Hazel..." He starts. "If you ever want to-"

"Oh my god, I'm going to puke." Joy sits up and crawls up onto her knees, hurling right in front of us onto the driveway. I'm trying not to gag, and River holds her hair back until she's finished.

"God, I just want this night to be over with," I groan, but secretly, deep down inside this dark, dark soul of mine, I hope it never ends.

A/N:

Hmmmmmm.....

What is River hiding?

Any ideas?

Did you guys enjoy this chapter?!

IT FINALLY HAPPENED!

Ahhh I'm so excited to release the rest of this :)

As this is a new story, PLEASE comment & vote!!! Every single one counts <3

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