Effortless (Thoughtless #2)(27)
Author: S.C. Stephens

Suddenly remembering that we were not alone and wrapped in each other’s bare arms, I partially stood from the table, cutting him off. "Kellan Kyle! You shut the hell up!"

He laughed and sat back in his chair. Quite a few people in the room laughed with him and I finally felt that blush creeping into my cheeks. He shrugged and shook his head. "Just saying…" As I narrowed my eyes at him, making the room crack up even more, he tilted his head, staring at me in an unmistakably loving way. "You’re such an adorable drunk, Kiera."

Grinning, my mood shifting again, I finished standing up. He watched me curiously as I leaned over the table, completely pausing the drinking game as everyone stared at us. For once I didn’t care if they did. Kellan was my focus and I wanted him to kiss me…even if I had to crawl over the table to get to him.

Smiling at the image in my head, I crooked a finger at him. One edge of a lip curling up in a way that was dangerously attractive, he stood slightly and leaned over the table as well. Our lips met in the middle, my mouth parting as his tongue lightly brushed against me. My sloppy mind heard a few giggles and whistles, but Kellan’s soft skin took up all of my concentration. I nearly wanted him to lay me down on this damaged, beer-stained surface.

As I was considering yanking him over the table so his entire body could be on mine, a particular voice broke through the chaos. "All right! We playing spin the bottle?"

Kellan and I broke apart at the same time and glared over at the annoyance who’d distracted us. As Griffin strode up to the table, I suppressed a sigh. Well, I knew he was here…it was really only a matter of time before he made an appearance. Glancing behind him, I noticed my sister leaning against a wall, a familiar, satisfied expression on her face. I instantly did not want to know where they’d been hiding.

As Griffin stood beside Kellan, clapping a hand on his back, Kellan fully stood and shook his head. "No, we’re not, Griffin."

Ignoring him, Griffin reached down to the table. Finding an empty beer bottle, he laid it on its side and spun it in a circle. The table instantly started laughing at the new aspect being introduced to our game.

With everyone chuckling around us, I sat back down, blushing. I hadn’t played spin the bottle since the eighth grade, and I was pretty sure I didn’t want to ever play it with Griffin. Even my frazzled brain knew that much. The brunette beside me bit her lip as she stared at Kellan; I knew exactly where she was hoping her turn would land her. I had no intention of letting her wish be fulfilled. Breech of party etiquette or not, no one was kissing Kellan tonight but me.

Griffin had an eager look on his face as he watched the brown bottle start to spin slower. As the room quieted in anticipation, I glanced over at Kellan; he was still standing in front of his seat, arms crossed over his chest as he watched Griffin with a smirk on his face. I wondered if Kellan was just as against anyone kissing me as I was about anyone kissing him. I wondered what he’d do if the bottle stopped on me? Oh God, what would I do if the bottle stopped on me? Griffin wouldn’t let it go with a simple refusal. Even if he had to hunt me down, he’d stop at nothing to get his kiss.

Just when I was about to gather all of my slow senses together so I could make a bolt for the back door, the bottle stopped spinning and the room started laughing…hysterically. I couldn’t figure out why until I looked down at the bottle, then I started laughing hysterically too. It had finally stopped moving with the neck pointed perfectly…at Kellan.

Kellan was twisting his lips unhappily as he stared down at it, then he suddenly looked back up at Griffin who was still staring at the bottle, maybe thinking it was going to move again. Griffin looked up at Kellan when Kellan shook his head and said, "Nuh-uh." The table laughed even harder and so did I, my eyes starting to water as I clutched my stomach.

Matt and Evan sauntered up to see what all the fuss was about while Griffin scowled, then shrugged. "Sorry, man. House rules, you play the bottle where it lies."

Kellan shook his head again while Evan and Matt joined in the laughter bouncing off the walls in the room. "Griff, we’re not playing-"

Kellan couldn’t finish his sentence. Griffin reached out and grabbed his head, pulling him in for a kiss…and not a peck. Kellan struggled for a second, then managed to break free. He took a step back with his hand raised at Griffin in warning. Several people around the table had to wipe tears of laughter out of their eyes, me included. I guess I was wrong about no one else kissing Kellan tonight.

"Dude! What the fuck!"

As Kellan glared at Griffin, Griffin took a step back and regarded Kellan with a puzzled expression. "Huh." Cocking his head as he looked Kellan over, he shrugged. "Yeah, I don’t get what all the fuss is about…I’ve had better." He gestured with his hand while Kellan scowled, re-crossing his arms over his chest. "Maybe if you did this thing with your tongue…"

Evan and Matt bent over they were laughing so hard. Jenny and Kate joined them as they peeked their heads into the room. My sister was in hysterics against the wall, and even shy Rachel was quietly laughing. The few people who had dared to take a sip of their drink, were desperately trying not to spew their drink everywhere. I really didn’t want to laugh at a man kissing my boyfriend… and then calling him bad at it, but it was too funny and I was too drunk. I laughed as hard as the rest of them, maybe harder, since I couldn’t imagine anything worse than being Frenched by Griffin.

Kellan backhanded Griffin across the chest for his comment, then let out a small chuckle and shoved his shoulder away from him. "Get the f**k out of here, Griffin."

With an offended look, Griffin backed away from the table. "Whatever, man, it’s just a suggestion. Take it or leave it." Clutching my sister’s waist, he drew her in for a deep kiss. I cringed until they pulled away. Smiling at her breathless face, Griffin smirked. "I’ll just save my skills for people that appreciate them." Anna laughed and brought his lips back to hers while Kellan rolled his eyes.

Matt clapped Griffin on the back and they left the room with Anna and Rachel. Matt was holding his stomach he was laughing so hard. Kellan closed his eyes and slowly shook his head. Opening them, he turned to look at where I was still giggling. He smiled at my enjoyment of his situation and then shook his head at me.

Kellan glanced around the room of people all still laughing at his misfortune. Chuckling himself, he picked up his beer from the table and motioned with it to the now-forgotten game. "Well, needless to say…I’m done."

Chapter 9

A Night to Remember

The dice game resumed as the residual laughter died down with Griffin’s departure. I blinked and watched Kellan’s empty seat quickly become occupied by a fresh-faced boy who looked entirely too young to be here. Walking around to where I was sitting, merrily sipping away on my fruity drink, Kellan extended his hand out to me.

"Dance with me, beautiful girl?" Kellan cocked an eyebrow after he asked, and I swear I heard someone sigh…or maybe I did. My hazed brain couldn’t really tell anymore.

Nodding, I grabbed his hand and let him pull me up. The alcohol already in my system seemed to rush to my head as I changed positions. I’d been feeling pretty buzzed sitting at the table. Suddenly standing, I felt blitzed.

I giggled and stumbled a little as Kellan wrapped his arms around me. Stumbling some himself, he asked, "You all right?"

I laughed and nodded again as he helped me take a few steps away from the loudly cheering table. The poor, fresh-faced boy had rolled the dreaded pair of ones, and was cringing as he stared at the amount left in his plastic cup. I felt instant sympathy for him, since that roll had sort of done me in. Oddly enough, I wanted to give him a big hug and tell him that everything would be fine. I even made a drunken step towards him before Kellan pulled my arm in the other direction.

"This way, sweetheart."

Leaving the youth to his chosen fate, I twisted back to Kellan. Giggling, I tangled my arms around his waist. With stumbling, erratic steps, we both made it to the center of the packed living room. People wished Kellan luck whenever they came upon him, but Kellan’s eyes never left mine as he acknowledged them. It was like we were alone in this house swarming with strangers.

As a heavy beat thumped out a seductive rhythm, Kellan’s hands slid up my back, then down to my hips. My extra-sensitive body felt every section that he touched. It was nearly like he was dragging a mild electric current over me; a tingling sensation lingered long after his fingers passed. When he put one of his legs between mine, forcing our bodies to straddle the other’s, I gasped. The tingle had shifted to a full-on fire.

Our h*ps moved in time to the beat in such an intimate way that I should have been embarrassed-should have been. One of the wonders of mind-altering substances…pesky little things like inhibitions flew out when alcohol flew in. As Kellan’s hands continued to caress my body, his palm even running up the front of my red Pete’s shirt, he rested his forehead against mine. More grinding than dancing, we lightly breathed on each other. It was maddening, and the rest of the world fell away.

When his hand blatantly stopped on my breast, his thumb running back and forth over the dangerously sensitive spot, I whimpered. He smiled at hearing it, even over the music. Feeling numb and incredibly turned on, I reached up and buried my fingers in his thick hair, closing the distance between us and pulling his head down to mine.

Whatever Griffin had been complaining about was beyond me-Kellan was fabulous with his tongue. As his lips melded with mine, our light breaths became nearly frantic pants. He squeezed my nipple between his thumb and finger and I groaned…loudly. He hissed in a breath, his other hand sliding inside my pants to rest over my cotton-covered backside.

I wanted his hand on the other side. I wanted all of his body on the other side. Jerking his head down so I could moan in his ear, I whispered, "I want you…now." Well, I think I whispered it.

Kellan pulled his head away and stared at me. The heat in his eyes was glorious. Those I-want-to-have-sex-with-you eyes had a way of turning my insides into molasses, warm and gooey…delicious. His eyes darted down my body as he adjusted the way our h*ps lined up. He didn’t have to say a word; I could feel the hardening mass in his jeans that was telling me that he wanted me, too…right now.

Licking his lips, he looked up at where we were-surrounded by a bunch of dancing, drunk people in the middle of Matt’s living room. Bringing his eyes back down to mine, he reached up to disentangle my fingers from his hair. Lacing our hands together, he nodded his head towards the hallway.

Leaning into my body, he growled into my ear, "Come with me."

God, I nearly did.

Clutching his hand with both of mine, I bit my lip and eagerly nodded. I had no idea where he intended to take me or even what exactly we were going to do once we got there, but I really didn’t care either. I just wanted to be with him, alone with him.

Giggling, I pressed into his back as he worked us through the throngs of people. Most clapped him on the shoulder as he walked by, some of the girls being brave enough to drag their fingers down his arm suggestively. I glared at those girls but Kellan ignored them, focused on his task of getting us alone. As one trio of women blatantly stared at his ass, I nearly yelled, "Stare all you want, I’m the one he’s about to screw!"