She smoothed her borrowed dress over her hips as she lowered herself to her knees beside Bryan, who watched her do so with great interest. She sat back on her heels and took a deep breath, giving Bryan an excited grin. He smiled and leaned in, parting his lips as if to speak.
At that moment, Moquest appeared between them, wielding two red cups brimming with jungle juice. “Refreshment, anyone?”
Kimber plucked a cup from Moquest’s hand and took a sip, more grateful than she wanted to admit for the liquid courage. She had a feeling she was going to need it.
Jay inspected his damp face in the bathroom mirror, cringing at how the sick, weak light intensified the dark circles beneath his eyes. He cupped his hands beneath the running faucet and splashed more cool water over his hot skin. Still, he was unable to wash away his visible unease and the memory of Kimber settling next to some toolbox on the floor, both of them giggly and horny and inevitably bound for the bedroom. Apparently, kissing him at the park was the worst thing Kimber could possibly do, but letting drunk, meaty-pawed strangers feel her up in front of other drunk, meaty-pawed strangers was more than acceptable. Fucking wonderful. If this was what Moquest had in mind when he promised Jay a good time, then Moquest was worse than Judas himself. Jay would almost rather be nailed to a cross than witness Kimber tongue-bang someone else. He even welcomed it at this point.
He opened the door and just avoided being plowed down by an impatient brunette, who gave him the stink eye as she locked herself in the bathroom, clutching the crotch of her jeans like a four-year-old. He negotiated the crowd back to the living room, where he saw Nicole getting cozy on the couch with a guy Jay recognized as one of Airy Peak’s new upstairs bartenders. She’d apparently grown disinterested with Jay’s disinterest and moved on. Good for her; that was what smart people did when the ones they loved didn’t love them back. They shrugged and went about their lives like nothing ever made any difference at all.
Despite this observed wisdom put into effect, Jay’s attention turned to the Spin the Bottle game, looking for Kimber. The aforementioned toolbox who’d been eyeing her like a desert mirage all night remained in the circle, but Kimber was noticeably absent. A moment of relief flickered through him, followed by a need to find her. Maybe she drank too much of that piss Moquest made and needed a ride home. Maybe she came to her senses and decided that making out with strangers during grade-school games was ridiculous. Maybe she was outside on the porch with the smokers, lost in her own thoughts and wondering if she should’ve given him a real chance after all.
A shrill, musical chime pierced the party atmosphere, and Gina, Moquest’s woman of the hour, scooped up her smart phone and let out a hoot. “Time’s up. Come out with your hands where we can see them!”
The game participants cheered as the coat closet swung open and out stumbled Kimber, flushed, jewel-eyed, and tittering. Behind her sauntered a guy who, amazingly, appeared to be an even bigger douche than all the other idiots who had been hovering around her like gnats circling brown bananas. He looked so smug it took everything Jay had not to bury a fist in his face, especially as he milked the moment for his audience, bringing his fingers to his nose and taking an exaggerated sniff.
Kimber moved to rejoin the game but Jay latched onto her upper arm and dragged her into the hallway, ignoring her sputters of protest. He spun her around and clamped his hands on her shoulders. “What the fuck are you doing?”
“Me? What the fuck are you doing?” She batted at his grip.
“I can tell you what I’m not doing, and that’s fucking total strangers in closets for the entertainment of everyone else outside.”
“We didn’t fuck.” Kimber’s expression could’ve frozen Hell twice over. “It’s called Seven Minutes in Heaven. When you spin the bottle and it lands on the same person three times, you have to go in the closet together for seven minutes and make out. So what?”
“Can you hear what you’re saying? What are you, thirteen?”
“What are you, a cop?” Her struggles in his grasp increased in violence. “I want to have some fun for once. Why is that such a crime?” She licked her lips, swollen from kissing, her tone taking a desperate edge. “Why am I not allowed to feel good ever?”
Before Jay could respond, Moquest raced over like he’d been running for hours. “I have the greatest come-on. Ready?” He turned to a nearby waif downing the contents of her red plastic cup in one fluid motion. “If you were a pile of bricks, I’d lay you in a second.”
The waif’s cheeks puffed and she lurched forward, spit the mouthful of whatever concoction she’d just taken on the hardwood floor, and exploded with laughter. Kimber took the distraction as an opportunity to wrench from Jay’s hold and scamper back to the Spin the Bottle game.
“Oh well.” Moquest’s shoulders slumped. “Back to the drawing board.”
Jay sucked in a sharp, shaky gulp as he tore a hand through his messy hair and struggled to regain control. Then again, when it came to Kimber, maybe that was impossible.
Moquest shook off the rejection and looked from Jay to Kimber then back again, his jaw set. “That does it. Time to make things interesting.” He approached the game and grabbed Kimber’s hand, tugging her to her feet. “Everyone, this is Kimber. Kimber, this is everyone.”
“Hi, Kimber!” The majority of the guests raised their drinks in greeting, and she responded with a shy albeit happy wave as she tucked her hair behind her ears.
“She is very interested in making out with a handsome stranger.” Moquest turned to her. “Aren’t you, Kimber?”
Her eyes widened and her cheeks turned pink. She opened her mouth to reply, but Moquest added, “She’s so interested, in fact, she’s agreed to let me blindfold her, send her to my room then pick someone to be her mystery lover. Pretty sweet, right?”
“What! I never-”
Moquest silenced Kimber’s outburst with a finger to her lips as the partygoers let out shouts of bawdy encouragement. Jay surpassed astonishment as Kimber pushed Moquest’s hand away from her mouth and laughed, otherwise not protesting. Was this seriously happening?
“Come on, Kimmy.” Moquest draped an arm around Kimber’s shoulders and directed her toward the staircase. “Let’s get ready for your surprise.” He led her to the second floor, pausing to yell to the other guests, “Y’all fight nice over who gets to rock her world now!”
Jay leaned heavy against the wall, feeling the situation spiral further and further from him. What could he do? There were no options left, except perhaps throttling Moquest the first chance he got.
A few moments later, Moquest materialized in front of him wearing a smile most often reserved only for patron saints. “There you are,” he said with smug benevolence. “In case you haven’t heard, I got something waiting for you upstairs.”
“You’re a real asshole, you know that? Call this off.”
“I’m busy being a good host. You go call it off.” Moquest smirked. “If you’re not back in five minutes, I won’t send help.”
Jay stared daggers at his friend’s back as Moquest loped off, trying more random pick-up lines on passing female guests. He took a few deep breaths before ascending the staircase, formulating the speech he intended to deliver once he saw Kimber. This behavior was insane, dangerous, disgusting. But with every stair came the reminder of Moquest’s obvious intent in arranging this opportunity, and both his knees and resolve weakened.
No! He refused to this of it as an opportunity; it wasn’t, it couldn’t be. It’d be wrong to consider it as such-this was Kimber.