Secrets Abound (Supernaturally Bound Book 1) (3 page)

“Yes it is; next question.” He smiled. His words ripped me from my thoughts.

“Hold on, that was
not
one of my five questions. It was an extension question. I only asked because you gave me a nondescript answer.” I objected, entirely forgetting his expensive outfit.

“A question is a question.” He insisted with a smirk.

“Fine.” I gave him a mischievous smile. “Question three: How many people have you slept with?”

His eyebrows rose in surprise. “Ah, vengeful are we?”

“Yes, I am. Now, you said you’d answer my five questions honestly.” I reminded him.

“You’re right. I did say that. Okay, then, zero-.” He began.

“Bullshit.” I interjected.

“Zero guys.” He finished with a knowing smile. “And four girls.” He seemed more amused than embarrassed by the question.

“What is that mathematical equation used to figure out how many girls a guy has
actually
slept with? Don’t answer that. That was not directed at you.” I asserted making him laugh. “It’s three times whatever number they give you. Therefore, you’ve actually slept with twelve girls.”

“First of all, you have it backwards. It’s women that lie about how many people they’ve slept with. Second of all, I told you I would be honest and I was.” He smiled.

“Okay, I guess I believe you. Moving on. Question four: Do you have any siblings?”

“Yes, an older brother and an older sister. I haven’t seen my sister in over a year, though.” He answered.

“I’m curious about your sister, but I won’t ask since you’re so technical with the rules of this game.” I jested.

He let out a laugh. “I’ll give you a freebie. My sister’s been working in Ireland, so she hasn’t been around much. What’s your next question?” He switched subjects before I could comment.

“Okay, question five: What’s your biggest secret?” I asked him, lowering my voice for dramatic effect. A mysterious expression I could not pinpoint passed Eli’s face briefly. It was barely a millisecond before his normal nonchalance was back.

“If I told you, then it wouldn’t be a secret.” He pointed out.

“Elijah! Would you get your ass back over here?” We heard someone yell before I could argue with him. We both twisted around to see who it was. It was one of the guys Eli had been sitting with before he came to talk to me.

“Come sit with us.” Eli offered as he rose off the ground.             

“Okay.” I agreed.

We gradually made our way over to the group. Three guys and two girls lounged out on the ground in a circle. The guys scooted over and made room for me and Eli. We slid down on a blanket they had spread out.

Then, Eli began introducing everyone to me. “Bridget, this is Grey.” He said pointing at the guy who had summoned Eli back to the group. He had spiky, blond hair with blue tips. “This is Hail.” He gestured toward the guy who had been talking to Eli right before he came to sit with me. He had shaggy reddish blond hair. “This is Jordan.” He said pointing to the last guy whose hair was almost as dark as Aiden’s. “And this is Tiffany, Hail’s girlfriend, and Nicole, Grey’s girlfriend.” Tiffany had long brown hair a few shades lighter than mine and Nicole had shoulder length, blonde hair.

“Hi.” I gave a general wave to everyone.

“Aren’t you freezing in that skirt?” Tiffany asked me.

I envied the jeans and sweaters she and Nicole wore. I silently cursed Cassie for the skimpy outfit. It was the last time I’d relinquish wardrobe control over to her.

“Yes, I am.” I told her.

She tossed me a blanket. “Here, it’s our last one so you and Eli will have to share.”

“I’m not cold.” He told me, but it would have been more convincing if his arms weren’t covered in goosebumps.

“Well, either we share or you’re taking your coat back.” I insisted with a smile.

He moved closer to me. As he covered us up, his hand brushed across my leg and lingered for a moment sending tingles through my numb legs. Now, we were close enough that I could feel the heat from his body. I resisted the urge to press myself closer against him, but I was extremely aware of his body’s movements. After a few minutes, the warmth brought feeling back into my legs.

“What happened to that hot blonde you were with?” Jordan asked me.

“She left.” I answered.

“How are you getting home?” Grey asked me.

“Oh, I thought I’d do some camping tonight. You know, pitch a tent, roast marshmallows, sing Kumbaya, that sort of thing.” I said jokingly.

“But it’s freezing out!” Nicole exclaimed with wide eyes.

Either she was too drunk to realize I was kidding or her personality matched her blonde hair perfectly. Nicole was as skinny as Cassie but not quite as tall from what I could tell while she was sitting. She wore her hair down in curls that seemed unaffected by the moist air. In fact, not a hair appeared out of place on her head.

“She was joking Nicole. I’m going to take her home.” Eli laughed.

“Oh, okay, good.” She said, appearing happy, again.

“You guys are all from Lincoln?” I asked the group.

“Yeah.” Grey said. “Jordan, Hail, and I go to school with Eli.”

“Nicole and I go to an all-girls prep school in Lincoln.” Tiffany said.

"Have you ever been to Lincoln before?" Eli asked me in a low tone.

"I went once with Cassie on one of her shopping sprees, but I didn’t see much of anything outside the mall.”

“Well there’s definitely more exciting things to do in Lincoln other than going to the mall. We hit all the clubs on the weekends. You should join us sometime.” Eli’s voice was smoky, causing shivers to race down my spine.

“Yeah, that’d be fun.” I breathed.

“So, can I get your number? Or would you rather I just stalk you online?” Eli asked.

“Well, I don’t have a phone, so I guess you’ll have to stalk me.”

“I’m into role-playing. Have any other fantasies I need to know about?” He said as he rubbed the outside of my thigh.

“That’s privileged information.” I responded flirtatiously.

Eli leaned within inches of my ear and whispered, “I have ways of making you talk.” With Eli so close, our bodies were pressed together making it hard to ignore the hormones that were ignited. My body felt on fire. A peal of shrill laughter cut through the moment and the spell was broken. Eli leaned back, breaking the intimate proximity between us with a disappointed expression.

“Or I could give you Cassie’s number and she could give me your messages.” I suggested, my tone mirroring his expression. He handed me his phone in agreement.

"Did anyone catch that Huskers game last night?" Grey asked while I was putting Cassie’s number into Eli’s phone.

"Yeah, that ref was a total douche." Hail growled.

I wasn't into sports, so I didn't know if they were talking about football or baseball. I didn't even know what was in season, right now. Obviously, Tiffany felt the same way because she turned to me and gave an extremely puzzled look. However, the guys were getting into their discussion, including Eli.

"I think we lost them." Tiffany said to Nicole and me.

"Oh yeah, they are lost in boy world, now." Nicole giggled.

“So, Eli’s taking you home, huh?” Tiffany asked, wiggling her eyebrows.

“Well, I have another friend who might be coming later, but if he doesn’t show up then Eli said he’d take me home.” I told them.

“Another friend who’s a guy?” Tiffany asked.

“Yeah.” I answered.

“Are you guys together? Is he cute?” Nicole asked. I felt awkward at being put on the spot.

“It’s not like that, we’re just friends.” I insisted.

“Well,
do
you have a boyfriend?” Nicole glanced back and forth between me and Eli, whose attention was suddenly on our conversation. He had never gotten confirmation from me that I was indeed single.

"Nope." I answered. The guys seemed to be done with their sports talk.

“Let’s play Never Have I Ever.” Tiffany suggested.

“Yes! I’ll go get us more drinks.” Nicole shot up and darted for the drink table, Grey following behind her.

“How do you play?” Jordan asked.

“Well, basically you say ‘never have I ever’ and then you say something you’ve never done before, and anyone who
has
done that has to take a drink.” Tiffany explained. “And no lying.”

Nicole and Grey came back with both arms full of liquor and beer bottles. She handed a cup of vodka to me and Eli and then passed out drinks to everyone.

“Okay, I’ll start.” Tiffany said. “Never have I ever gone skinny dipping.” Nicole, Grey, and I all took a drink. Wow, first one and I already had to drink. This was going to be an interesting game.

“Never have I ever played strip poker.” Nicole said, giving a knowing look to Tiffany who rolled her eyes. I guess Nicole was the only one who hadn’t because everyone except her took a drink, including me.

“Never have I ever had sex in the back of a pickup truck.” Jordan said. Nobody took a drink. Obviously, these people were
not
from Waverly.

“Never have I ever been arrested for kidnapping a pig.” Grey gave Hail and Eli a pointed look. They both took a drink.

“And
why
did you kidnap a pig?” I asked them.

“It was another school’s mascot. Any other animal and we would have gotten away with it. You may not be aware of this, but pigs are not the most cooperative creatures.” Eli explained.

“Sure, blame the pig.” I laughed.

“Never have I ever smoked cigarettes in the school bathroom.” Hail said, continuing the game. Nicole, Tiffany, Grey, Eli, and I all took a drink.

“Never have I ever been arrested more than twice.” Eli said. His expression changed to surprised when I took a drink. “Wow, from narc to criminal in under an hour.” He gave me an amused smile. I gave a slight shrug but remained silent.

“Never have I ever hooked up with a girl.” I said quickly, trying to change the subject. All the guys took a drink and then so did Tiffany and Nicole.

“With each other?” Grey asked them.

They gave each other a look and then shrugged their shoulders. They weren’t going to give away any details. However, that didn’t stop Jordan, Grey, and Hail from harassing them over it. The game seemed to have come to an end since the guys were completely wrapped up in this new revelation.

“Do you want to go for a walk?” Eli asked me.

“Sure.”

We told the group we were leaving, not that they were paying us any attention. We moved past the tree line further into the woods until the party noises were merely background noise. Eli pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket.

“Do you want one?” He asked.

“No, I’ve mostly quit.” I told him.

“What does that mean, you mostly quit?” He laughed.

“It means that when my friends ask if I quit, I say yes but every once in a while I sneak one when nobody’s around.” I explained.

“I’m the only one here, now.” He pointed out.

“Well, when you put it that way.” I said, taking a cigarette from him. He lit mine and then his.

Aiden detested it when I smoked. He was the main reason I quit. It was a never ending nagging that I couldn’t take anymore. Of course, it was a daily struggle not to smoke one. If someone offered me one, it was next to impossible for me to refuse.

We both only smoked half a cigarette and put them out. “I had fun tonight.” I commented.

“Yeah, me too.” Eli said, coming to a stop next to a tree. He whirled around to face me. “I met this great girl with an amazing smile.”

“Cassie does have an amazing smile.” I teased, stopping right next to him.

He remained silent as he continued to smile down at me. Then, to my surprise, he bent down, gently grabbing my face, and kissed me. It was soft as his lips moved across mine almost as if he was asking for my permission. My lips tingled as he moved his face away from mine.

My body ignited with a fierce need that I had never felt before. It was as if all my senses were kicked into overdrive, and I never felt more alive. I connected with an unknown energy that seemed to surround us. My body seized control spurred on by that very energy as it coursed through my veins.

With a sense of empowerment, I gripped his shoulders as I twisted us so that his back was pressed into the tree. At his shocked expression, I closed the space between our bodies, and I moved my lips to meet his. His arms circled around my waist as I pushed my body flush with his. Taking control of the situation, I thrust my tongue into Eli’s mouth where I began to rhythmically massage his tongue with mine.

Overcome by my instincts, I didn’t feel like it was enough and had a craving for more. I began to rub him through his shirt. His chest was solid and I could feel the rippling of his form. I needed to be closer, so I raised the edge of his shirt, tracing my fingertips over his abs and on up.

Eli sucked in a surprised breath as I found the raised buds of his nipples. Inspired by his response, I moved their tips around between my fingers as I kissed down the side of his jaw in anticipation of moving lower. As things began heating up, an icy wind bit through my clothes, and my body shuddered. The moment was broken as I regained control over my body, and I pulled back.