I Spun the Bottle

I Spun the Bottle: Chapter Twenty-Two

Song for this chapter: “Ships in the Night” by Matt Kearney

My fingers were still pressed lightly against my lips. My non-virgin lips. I didn’t know why I was taking this in as such a shock. Maybe it was because I didn’t think I would kiss Jace. Or maybe it was because I thought I’d have my first kiss with…the guy in front of me. Whatever the reason, I was still stunned.

My face felt hot. And I still had the lingering sparks from our kiss tingling all over my body. If David hadn’t spoken up, I would have completely forgotten he was here.

“You what?” he inquired. The look on his face was hard and unreadable.

With some effort, I was able to clear my mind from the earlier incident enough to pay attention to him. “I…it’s nothing,” I lied, terribly. It was definitely something. It was quiet for what seemed like forever, but finally I broke the silence. “I better get going. I have a lot of homework to do…and stuff.”
Just as I passed David, I let out a small sigh, and then I felt a hand clasp around my wrist, holding me back.

“Wait,” David said, but it almost sounded like he was begging me.

I turned back around, staring at him questioningly. Maybe I should’ve been embarrassed that he was touching me, but I honestly thought my emotions were running a little haywire. I watched him curiously. His eyes were clouded like he was thinking…or maybe he was feeling something. I couldn’t quite tell.

The grip he had around my wrist was strong, but at the same time soft, almost fragile. “What do you want?” I asked. My tone sounded snappier than I ever meant to be.

It almost seemed like his eyes were searching mine, looking for a sign. Maybe he wanted to believe what I said wasn’t true. I didn’t know. And honestly…my words were absolutely true.

He sighed, retracting his hand from my wrist. “Nothing…I just wanted to know if you needed a ride home.”

I began to shake my head, but stopped myself. I didn’t know why I said what I said, but I did. “Yeah, a ride would be nice.”

David looked at me with surprise. “I thought you’d shoot me down…like you usually do.”

“I don’t always shoot you down.” I defended myself, giving him a look.

“Yeah you do.”

“No I don’t.”

“Oh yeah?” he challenged, raising a brow at me. “Name one time when you didn’t shoot me down.”

“Errmm…” I trailed off, thinking of a time. “Oh! I got one. When you took me home from Taylor’s
party.”

He responded to my answer with a frown. “You sprained your ankle, remember? And then you complained endlessly when I wanted you to spend the night at my apartment.”

“Yeah, but I still went to your apartment,” I answered, weakly.

“That’s because you had no other way of getting home…”

I puffed my cheeks out at him. He was deflecting every defense I had. “Fine! Maybe I do shoot you down all the time, but right now I’m not, okay? What, do you not want to take me home or something?”

A smirk found its way easily to his lips. When he smirked, I still couldn’t stop the strange beat my heart made. “No, I’ll take you home, c’mon.”

I nodded my head, clipping our argument short. I let David pass me, before I followed closely behind him. As we walked down the paved sidewalk, I noticed that I was inspecting David from behind. My eyes trailed up and down his figure. His shoulders were broad and muscular, but not bulky. From his shoulders to his waist, it became leaner, shaping into a very noticeable V. I always found the body structure of David to be attractive, and his height added in as a bonus.

Honestly there was only really one small thing that I didn’t like about David, and that was his personality. Too bad that ruined just about everything about him.

Stuck in my thoughts, I didn’t realize that David had stopped, and I walked directly into his back.

“Sorry!” I apologized, quickly jumping back a couple of feet.

This earned me a quiet chuckle from David. “Too busy checking me out?” he teased, the corners on the lips tilting upwards.

“N-no...” I lied, feeling my cheeks burn just the slightest.

“Your eyebrow twitched, liar,” he said, teasingly.

I ignored his comment, and huffed quietly under my breath.

David then clicked a button on his car keys, causing the car to beep and unlock its doors. He held open my door, gesturing for me to go in.

Giving him a sarcastic smile, I muttered, “Such a gentleman.”

“I know, I try.”

I slid into the tan, leather seat, and watched as he closed the door after me. As he walked around to the other side of the car, I briefly wondered why he was suddenly being so…nice. He did after all have that picture in his hands. He could order me to do anything…and yet, so far he hadn’t demanded a thing. And now…he was taking me home.

It just wasn’t adding up.

David entered the car from the driver’s side, and noticed the look on my face. “What’s wrong?”

“I-it’s nothing,” I stated, turning my eyes towards the front window, suddenly becoming interested in a black mailbox.

“Seriously, what’s wrong?”

I opened my mouth to let another lie leak out, but was able to stop it. “I-I just don’t understand you. One moment you’re blackmailing me about that picture, and the next moment, you’re driving me home, like nothing happened. Why’re you doing this?” I glanced back at him, watching his reaction.

He simply shrugged. “Is there something wrong with driving a friend home?” he inquired innocently before starting the car.

He considered us friends? Did I even consider us friends?

“Yes, when one of the friends is blackmailing the other,” I remarked flatly.

Within a couple of seconds, we were heading down the street, and I began to doubt if David was going to answer me or not. Jace’s house was only about a ten to fifteen minute ride from my house, so it wasn’t long, but being in small space with David felt like forever.

David’s grip seemed to tighten around the steering wheel, a look crossing over his face. He seemed like he wanted to say something, maybe to defend himself, but I wasn’t quite sure. His mouth opened slightly, but then he quickly shut it.

An awkward silence settled in on us. I wanted to start a conversation…just to keep the car from being too quiet, but I didn’t have the courage to do it; instead, I twiddled with my thumbs.

As we rounded a corner, David said suddenly. “So…how was it?”

“How was what?”

“You know…” He cleared his throat, looking a little uncomfortable. “The kiss…”

Instantaneously I could feel my cheeks burning. “Wha—w-why would you ask that!?” I sputtered, placing my hands over my beet red face.

In response, David glanced at me, giving me another glimpse of his famous smirk. “Just wanted to see your reaction.”

“That’s not very nice,” I muttered, trying to compose my face.

“How many times do I have to tell you that I’m not a nice person?”

“Apparently a lot,” I answered. “Hey…wait weren’t you going to see Jace?”

“Yeah, why?” he questioned, looking at me from the corner of his eyes.

I shrugged. “Well you’re taking me home now…so…you’re not seeing Jace?”

He returned my shrug with another one. “I can see him later.” David’s eyes dimmed and his lips were pressed firmly into a straight line as he said those words.

Once again, the conversation died down, and within minutes I could see my house at the end of the cul-de-sac. It was then that I realized that I was really tired, and I hadn’t even started my homework yet. Letting my eyes drift to the small digital clock in David’s car, I noticed that it was already well past six o’ clock.

David’s car rolled to a gentle stop in front of my house, and I unbuckled my seatbelt. Turning to him, I smiled politely. “Than—“

“Do you like him?” David cut me off, staring at me with such sudden intensity. “I mean Jace,” he added after I just stared at him.

I didn’t know what to say, or even know where to start. The way he looked at me felt like he was burning into me. He wanted me to say something. But I didn’t know what. Or maybe I did, but I just pretended I didn’t.

“Why do you care?” I was not expecting that to come out of my mouth, but I sort of just blurted it out in a wave of panic.

“I don’t,” he lied, and this time I could see through his façade.

I shifted in my seat. “If you didn’t care you wouldn’t have asked.”

“It’s just a question, Lyn. People ask questions.”

“Not questions like those,” I countered.

“I just want to know. You know, just in case Jace asks or something.”

Now I knew why David hated it when I lied to him. When I knew he was lying it was irritating. It was like you just wanted him to spit out whatever he wanted to say instead of sidestepping every question or response aimed at him.

Something inside me snapped. “I don’t understand you. You’re always avoiding my questions. And I never know what you’re thinking. Why do you care if I do or don’t like Jace? Shouldn’t you just be worried about your own girlfriend, rather than sticking your nose where it’s not wanted?” I had pulled that card before. The-worry-about-your-own-girlfriend one, but he didn’t answer it completely back then either.

For what seemed like forever, it was quiet, and then he finally spoke. “Jace is just one of my best friends…that’s all. I don’t want him to feel like he’s being led on.”

This time I didn’t know if he was telling the truth or not. It seemed like a valid excuse, but I wasn’t exactly the best at reading David’s responses or actions.

“Well do you?”

I took a calming breath, trying to actually think through the question this time. Did I like Jace? Did I have feelings for him? Feelings greater than just friends? “I don’t know,” I answered truthfully.

“You don’t know?” he echoed.

“Yeah,” I nodded. “I-I don’t know how I feel about Jace. He’s kind and funny, and I definitely see him as a friend, but I just don’t know if I feel for him more than just a friend.”

“Then why would you kiss him if you don’t know?” He pressed on, catching a hold of my wandering eyes.

I tried to shrug nonchalantly, but I was pretty sure I epically failed. “I-I guess I was just sort of caught up in the moment.”

“Caught up in the moment? Isn’t that like what the girls say in crappy movies?”

I could feel that sentence strike a nerve. “Don’t compare my life to a dumb movie, David. You asked me a question, and I answered.”

“Alright, alright, calm down,” he breathed, pulling the keys out of the ignition. “I was just voicing my opinion.”

“Whatever,” I sighed, feeling another wave of weariness gliding over me. “I answered your question, now I’m gonna go.”

“Okay, I’ll walk you to your door.”

“No, you can stay in here,” I ordered him, just as I cracked the passenger door open.

Ignoring my order, David opened his door and walked around his car, meeting me on the other side. I stared at him flatly. Does he ever listen to anything I say? I knew the answer without even having to think.

Of course not, he’s David.

I sighed again in defeat. Once I stepped out of the car, I shut the door gently behind me. We began walking towards my front door, when I suddenly noticed a figure walking straight towards us from the corner of my eye.

Turning my head, my eyes focused in on the figure. It was none other than Taylor.

Instinctively, I felt myself cringe at the sight of her. She walked at us at a fast pace. Her expression clearly stated that she was beyond pissed. And I knew why. I was here with David—the person I was supposed to be avoiding.

Crap.

“Hey, Taylor, I was just walking Lyn home,” David told her innocently. He didn’t know that she had warned me to stay away from him.

“Move it,” she ordered, brushing passed him.

“Look, I’m so—“ I started, but I wasn’t able to finish my sentence.

Taylor raised her right hand, and slapped me across the face. Hard.