Castle in the City

42

"I don't know about this," I whispered in Sky's ear. Sky was one of the few I considered as my friends and was always trying to convince me to go to parties with her. Tonight, she had succeeded, but that wasn't the problem. The party was over and the few kids remaining were either playing spin the bottle or watching because they were already cuffed. Sky had suggested we both played since we were single, but I wasn't sure that was a good idea.

Blake spotted me and yelled, "Yo, Sky, Sagacity, Ashton, Martin, and Jules, y'all the only single people not playing."

Everyone sitting in the Circle began staring at the people Blake called out, and before I knew it, we were all peer pressured into playing the game. I only hoped that my bottle would land on Ashton because I was uncomfortable being locked in a closet with anyone else playing.

"Sky, you go first," Blake encouraged, and she eagerly smiled while grabbing the bottle. She gave it a quick spin, and when the bottle slowed down, it landed on Justin.

Sky looked to me as if asking my permission, and I chuckled while nodding. She and Justin then got up and went into the closet for the two minutes that they had to spend in there. They luckily didn't get a wild card drawn, so they didn't have to do anything in there unless they wanted to.

"What do you think they're doing?" Madison asked.

"Justin's probably tonguing her down," Aria chuckled from outside the circle.

Timely, the door opened, and the two walked out with smiles on their faces. I too wondered what happened in there, and I was bound to find out later. I knew Sky would blab to me about it, and if she wouldn't, I'd just ask either her or Justin myself.

"Your turn," Blake said while smiling at me, and I inhaled and exhaled a shaky breath as my fingers touched the bottle. I closed my eyes and spun it and didn't open them until I heard the bottle stop turning and people cheering. "Lucky you," Blake smiled at Ashton. "Pick a card, Ash."

Ashton closed his eyes as Blake spread the cards out on the floor. He then fanned his hands over about three wild cards that were lined up next to each other,and I felt my breath hutch in my throat.

Don't pick it! I found myself begging in my head. Ashton reached for a wild card and grabbed it before opening his eyes, and the group cheered again.

"What does it say?" Natalie eagerly asked from outside the circle.

"Kiss for a minute," Ashton answered as he shyly looked at me, and I immediately grew shy as well. We stood up together and entered the closet. Once the door closed behind me, I felt my heart beat rapidly increasing. "Um...we don't have to if you're uncomfortable. We can just talk for a minute, and they'll never know."

I thought about his idea and then about what my cousins and the rest of the gang had said about me needing to be happy and possibly move on from Damien, and I was left a bit conflicted. I thought Ashton was very attractive, as was Damien, and they were both very kind and sweet. At the same time, they were different. They shared a few similar interests, but in some ways, they were polar opposites of each other. What was weird about the situation was that I was attracted to both of their personalities.

When I first kissed Damien, I had felt sparks between us that never left, and I wondered if that was something I would only share with Damien or could find in someone else too. I wanted to know if I'd feel anything for Ashton or if the kiss would even give me any clarification about what to do with my feelings for Damien.

"No, it's okay," I shook my head. "I'm fine with it. I'm just a bit nervous."

Ashton kindly smiled, "Yeah, I'm a bit nervous too."

I blushed while shyly smiling, and I stood closer to him. Ashton gently cupped my chin and tilted my head upwards while lowering his neck so that I wouldn't have to stretch too much to meet his lips.

My eyes fluttered close as the feel of his soft, plump lips melted into mine. A bubbly feeling occurred in my stomach that sent me smiling from ear to ear as I slowly pulled away from the kiss. I was surprised to see Ashton widely smiling as well, and it made me wonder if he felt what I had felt.

"May I...kiss you again?" Ashton blushed, and I blushed while nodding. I wrapped my arms around his neck as I went on my tippy toes and connected our lips, and he wrapped his arms around my waist as he gently pressed me into the wall. I felt his tongue nudge my bottom lip, and I parted my lips so that he could slip his tongue in. The feel of his tongue in mine sent sparks shooting through my body as tingle ran down my spine, and it was fucking refreshing. I hadn't felt this way in months. A kiss alone woke my sleeping body, activating feelings in me that I thought would be buried forever.

A knock sounded on the door, and Ashton and I broke the kiss before the door opened.

"It's been two minutes," Justin chuckled. "Did you two want to go for five or something?"

Ashton and I blushed while shaking our heads and walking out of the closet. We were immediately met by teasing noises all over the room.