“Oh, you fucker. You’re done.” He laughed, climbing on top of me.

He didn’t get very far before I was clawing right back at him. His fingers dug into my sides, making me wince as I tried to find the best angle to get him back. He had me beat as his thighs kept me pinned underneath him. I could barely breathe from laughing so hard.

“Okay, okay. Uncle,” I panted, pushing at his chest.

His hands pushed back, his fingers slipping into mine. I tried to think nothing of it but my stomach twisted seeing our hands interlocked.

Was I the only one feeling this?

He looked down at me with such ease and confidence. So simple. So easy. As though it was just all in my head.

Dammit. It probably was.

I swallowed hard as silence settled between us. He stared at me like he was soaking me in, examining every inch.

I didn’t know what he saw in me—I really didn’t. But I was glad he did.

“Please don’t go,” he finally said.

“I won’t,” I breathed.

I glanced down and noticed our fingers were still interlocked. His hand was warm and just as big as mine. It was strange to admit, but it felt... really fucking good.

Suddenly, we heard the front door unlock, followed by a flood of voices and footsteps echoing through the foyer.

“Shit…” he muttered, still not looking away from me.

“You should…” I started.

“Yeah…” he agreed, letting go to run a hand through his hair.

He shifted off me, and we both took a moment to straighten our clothes.

“You okay with this?” he asked as we headed for the stairs.

I shrugged. “Yeah. It’s cool.” What else was I supposed to say?

The truth? That I would’ve preferred being alone with him tonight? No way.

***

Holy shit. A group of them, maybe ten altogether, filed through the door. I watched awkwardly at the side as they crowded around to shower him with compliments. They had brought a bundle of happy birthday balloons and one of them even carried a vanilla flat sheet cake with sprinkles.

“Caleb, my dude!” Tony yelled, arms spread wide. Caleb’s band buddies came over and patted him on the back.

Caleb glanced back at me from time to time as they all took their turns showering him with love. I could tell he was looking for a way to pull me into the conversation.

“Hey, don’t we need a band logo? Nathaniel over here has mad art skills,” Caleb said, walking over to me and placing his hands on my shoulder.

My cheeks burned at the sudden attention as everyone muttered awkward phrases like “cool,” “that’s so awesome,” and “yeah.”

I scratched the back of my neck, trying to fade into the background, but Caleb wasn’t letting me go.

One of the girls suddenly gasped. Everyone turned to look at her.

“You know what we should do? Spin the bottle!” she cheered.

Everyone nodded in agreement.