Blind Ambition | ✓

21 | Doom Days, Part II

If you had told me that a mere four months after whacking my shin with her field hockey stick, Kaia Greene would be standing in my kitchen on Halloween while I practically gawked at her, I would have laughed in your face. Whoever is in charge of destiny or fate or whatever bullshit is definitely laughing now.

"I need a beer pong partner," I said to her with a grin. "Consider this your penance for showing up late."

Before she could protest, I gently took her hand and pulled her into the sticky sanctum of the living room, where most of the partygoers had migrated to.

"You really should be more careful who you boss around. I bite." She bared her fake fangs at me, and warmth rushed through my body.

"I'll sell my soul if it means beating Anthony." I inadvertently brushed off her attempt at flirting, mostly because I had to second guess if it was an actual threat at first.

She scoffed. "I'm a vampire, not Satan."

"Duly noted."

I led her over to the folding card table we'd pulled out specifically for pong, already slick with spilled beer, where Anthony leaned against the edge. He'd recruited Meret as his partner, and as she leaned into him, he snaked an arm around her waist and rested it on her hip. I chewed down on my lip to avoid wondering what it would feel like if I did that to Kaia. I dropped her hand in a rush and absentmindedly fiddled with the cups, even though they were already filled halfway with the standard cheap beer and placed where they needed to be.

"About time," Anthony grumbled. "Stalling doesn't change the outcome."

"No, you're right." I gave him a pinched smile. "But it does give you more time to process and accept your inevitable defeat."

I turned to Kaia and clapped my hands down on her shoulders. "Listen Kaia, this is a game of war and strategy here. I don't fuck around."

She placed her hands on top of mine, and another wave of warmth rolled through me. A smirk twisted up the corners of her lips. "You're not the only competitor around here, you know."

Anthony and I shot against each other simultaneously to see which team would go first, and unfortunately that loosey goosey that Rochelle had instilled in me had dissipated. Football skills didn't always translate to the pong table, despite the fact that Anthony insisted I took a step back further from where everyone else stood to avoid an "unfair advantage."

Anthony and Meret both hit their first shots, and I picked up both cups from the table. "I'll take the first few cups if you want. I'm built for longevity."

"I'm a big girl, I can handle it." When she took the cup from my hands, her fingers brushed against mine, and everything seemed to move in slow motion. Our gazes remained interlocked as we downed our drinks at the same time.

Kaia methodically handed me one of the pong balls, and that same slow motion, gut churning, warm feeling ripped through me when she touched my hand with hers.

"I really hope you're not all talk like you are in class." She grinned.

Kaia and I both hit our shots, but the more cups that were removed from the setup, the harder it got. The living room had already been fairly crowded, but it wasn't long before people gravitated to our table, and it invigorated me. I thrived under watchful eyes, and I think Kaia did too. The more cups we hit, the closer we got. We even high fived.

I sunk an "island" shot, which elicited cheers from the crowded masses. I leaned down closer to Kaia, letting my hand graze the small of her back. "Still think I'm all talk?"