Flirting with Danger Bk 1

“Yeah. It was so big, we had to do it in sections.” said Dale.
“I think the hair took the most icing.” Jack added, Dale, Jason, Chase, and Louis nodding.
“But if you measured it, you could see that she’s life size.” Louis said, gesturing to the fake, cooked me.
“It’s a cake?” I said, covering my mouth and laughing.
“Yeah, you like it?” he asked, laughing as he came over to me and hung his arm around my shoulders.
“It’s hilarious.” I said, still laughing badly.
“Would you like us to cut it now?” asked one of the bartenders behind the counter. He raised a large long knife and looked at us questioningly.
“Not yet. We have to get a picture first.” said Louis and looked down at me.
“What?” I asked, looking up at him.
“Lay on the bar stools in front of the cake.” he said, smiling at me.
“I, um,” I said, blushing deeply. He took his arm off me and took a step back, pointing to the stools, Dale handing him a camera.
By this time a huge crowd had formed as I climbed and then posed while lying on the stools in front of the cake. “Kota look at me.” Louis said and I looked away from the crowd of strangers to him. He smiled sweetly and put the camera up to his face and saying, “Smile!” Click.
“Now,” he said, handing the camera back to Dale and walking over to me, “Which piece would you like?” He smiled at me as I looked over my cake body.
“I’m at a loss.” I said, looking up at him. “How’re we going to eat all this cake? I’m not taking any piece of me back home you know.” I said and he laughed.
“No, we’ve made a little deal with the club. They’re small pieces so it’ll be enough for everyone in the club.” he said as we watched the bartender with the scary knife cut me up into little pieces.
The guys and I each got one big piece, me because it was my birthday and the guys because it was their creation, so to speak. We all made our way through the now growing crowd around the cake and over to the tables, picking one of the big ones in a corner.
“Which piece did you pick Kota?” asked Dale, who was sitting on the other side of Louis from me.
“My eye.” I said, smiling as I ate a piece of my cornea.
“That’s got a lot of icing on it.” said Louis. “We’ll have to do a lot of dancing to get rid of that sugar rush.” He smiled and winked as he put his arm on the back of my chair.
“What piece do you have?” I asked, looking at him.
“I’ve got your nose.” said Dale, smiling at his own clever joke, but I was still looking at Louis, waiting for his answer.
“Hip.” Jack said instead, looking down at his cake and taking a bite.
“Belly button.” Sue said with a smile. This made me look away from Louis and over at Sue, who was on my other side. We both shared a weird look and then laughed.
“I’ve got a piece of your stomach.” said Jason and Chase nodded in agreement.
I looked back at Louis and smiled, having a feeling he was trying to avoid the question. “How about you?” I asked, but he cut me off.
“Hey, how do you like the cake?” he asked, looking around the table. “I added a little cinnamon to it.” He subtly and quickly glanced in my direction, sending the message that he didn’t want to talk about it in front of everyone.
“Yeah, it’s great.” said Sue.
“You know it took us forever to get your shape right? We probably wasted tons of samples and not to mention money on that. But I gotta tell you, it was totally worth it.” said Jason, nodding and smiling as he ate his last bite of cake.
I looked around and saw that everyone was on their last piece of cake. “Hey, who’s up for some dancing?” I asked and they all whooped in agreement.
“Come on Kota, I wanna have the first dance.” said Dale, holding a hand out to me.
“We’ll catch up with you.” said Louis, looking over at Dale.
“Okay.” said Dale, but he shot Louis a warning look before leaving.
Louis looked back at me and I wore a sharp expression. I’d looked at his plate while his back was turned and saw my lips on a piece of cake. “Why? Why did you do this?” I asked, kind of ticked off and kind of amused at the same time. The fact that he would take my lips, even the icing ones, was sweet, irritating, and hilarious.
“I had to.” he said seriously.
“No you didn’t.” I said.
“Yes I did, because your lips, no matter what form they’re in, belong to me.” he said, locking eyes with me.
“Do you have to bring this up every time? Can’t you just accept the fact that I’m with Connelly?” I asked, confused and angry.
“No I can’t and yes I do. I love you, and I know that what you have with Connelly won’t last. I’m just trying to save you the heartbreak.” he said.
“You know what? I don’t want to deal with this right now. Can you stop just for tonight?” I asked, looking at him sharply.
“Sure,” he said, relaxing and returning to his old self again. He grabbed his plate and fork, smiling. “But you should know that the buildup will make it worse tomorrow.”
“Fine, just so long as you stop tonight.” I said and he held out his hand.
“Deal?” he said.
“Deal.” I said and we shook on it. I knew I’d probably regret this tomorrow, but I didn’t want anything to ruin the rest of tonight.
“Good, good.” he said, picking up his fork again and the look on his face told me he was probably thinking of what he could to do me tomorrow.
“Well, do you want to dance now?” I asked, leaning back in my chair now.
“Do I get a kiss for all my hard work for tonight?” he asked, smiling and puckering his lips.
I smiled and leaned forward, seeing the excitement in his eyes grow and then diminish when I kissed him on the cheek. I kept my smile as I saw his disappointed face and said, “Thank you for tonight.”
“You’re welcome.” he said, his goofy happy face showing.
“Can we dance now?” I asked, standing up.
“Can I have another kiss?” he asked, pointing to his other cheek.
“No. Kiss the cake if you really want one.” I said, shaking my head.
“Fine.” he sighed and stood up, looking like a pouting puppy. I laughed and took his arm, leading him out onto the dance floor.
“You know, I’m really glad you didn’t do this in front of my parents.” I said as we danced.
“Come on, I don’t have a death wish.” he said and we laughed.
***
I got home just in time for my Christmas and birthday curfew, twelve o’clock. I felt drunk with late night energy, but tired at the same time, and was happy when I got home. I walked through the door, sweating in my big coat and beanie while I held my boarding outfit, my goggles, gloves, board, and purse.
“Hi honey, did you have a good time?” mom asked, and I saw her, dad, and Kati on the couch watching a movie as I passed the doorway to put up my coat in the closet under the stairs.
“The best. I don’t think I’ll ever forget today.” I said, coming into the living room still holding all my stuff, minus the coat, and sat on the couch arm.
“What’d you guys do?” asked Kati, looking up at me.
“We hit the slopes, and the board Dale got me was perfect, we ate at Hardy’s, and then went dancing at the club.” I said, meeting Kati’s eye and slyly showing her the picture I got Sue to take on my cell phone of me and the cake.