His Secret [Completed]

Chapter Twenty-Six

A couple of hours later, her head felt hazy and she found herself sitting with her back against pressed a man's chest amongst a circle of young adults, an even split between males and females. An empty glass bottle had been placed in the centre on the hardwood floor, a game of spin the bottle in full swing.

A friend of Kelly's walked over and joined the game in the same way Sophia had been forced to. She was minding her own business, sipping on the same beer she'd had in hand for a good hour which was warm by that time until an acquaintance of the twins' gripped onto her hand and dragged her towards the game. As the strong man sat with his legs crossed on the rug he pulled Sophia's body down and into his, circled his arms around her waist, trapping her in place. Her heart began to beat quickly in her chest at the memories of nights spent with Brad. In an attempt to push aside the feeling of entrapment Sophia downed the rest of her bottle and reached for another that was on the table to the side. As she reached, she hoped his grip would loosen and it did for a split second, before he pulled her back in.

The game of spin the bottle continued. Kelly's friend Patsy had to kiss Mason, which turned Kelly's mood sour, but it shortly returned as Mason dodged the kiss and placed a chaste one onto her cheek. It was then Jackson's turn and he gripped the green bottle and twisted it fast. Sophia's eyes were glued to the bottle so she didn't have to think of anything else, like the wandering hands on her stomach she repeatedly swatted away. When the bottle began to slow a few people away from her, she silently prayed it wouldn't land in her direction.

She stared down the neck of the bottle, her eyes falling upon the drop of beer left inside. Sophia then fixed her gaze upon the man opposite her in the circle. Jackson's cheeks flushed as he looked down at the bottle again as if checking it had landed where he thought it had. Realising it did he stood and walked across the circle with an outstretched hand held out towards Sophia, which she took gratefully. The slight buzz she had was enough to make her feel sick to her stomach but she was thankful she was given a reason to get up from the stranger's lap and walked further into the circle with Jackson

"You sure you want to do this?" He asked in a caring voice.

Sophia shrugged, which was then followed by a nod. The encouragement came in the form of cheers and whistling from the other players, who were impatiently awaiting their turns. Jackson leaned in slowly, his eyes drifting closed and during the short second before their lips touched, the living room door flung open and smashed into the wall on the other side, leaving a dent from the handle. Jackson's eyes flew open as he searched the room, yet for Sophia, her eyes had already located those of the culprit and was staring into his with frustrating anger, the same anger that radiated from his deep blue orbs.

Sophia noticed the sleeves of his dark green sweater were rolled up as she trailed her gaze to his clenched fist. He was the first to break eye contact as he stormed over and gripped her hand. He demanded they talk and before she could see sense, she tugged her hand out of his, saying she needed to finish the game. Two steps were all that she took before she was face to face with Jackson again, and a look of pure confusion spread across his face as she went up on her tiptoes and placed a long kiss onto his lips. Then she turned on her heel. "You wanna talk. Let's talk." Sophia stormed past the man who'd haunted her every thought for the past two months and out into the garden. Sweaty bodies danced around them as they strode down the granite pathway towards the locked boathouse.

In her drunken state, any sense of reason was completely forgotten as she pulled the key from her pocket and unlocked the building. She stumbled inside and almost tripped up the stairs, but his strong hands steadied her.

"Don't touch me!" She pulled away from him. "Why are you here?" she scoffed.

He ignored her question and went into the small refrigerator on the other side of the boathouse. He removed a bottle of water and passed it to her, saying, "you're going to have one hell of a hangover in the morning."