Kiss and Don't Tell(69)

She laughs out loud and shakes her head. “Silas would be my mom’s last choice. She’d give me the troubled, quiet Halsey before she picked Silas.” She rubs her thumb over my knuckles. “I really think she’d have liked Levi.”

“Lev—” I calm myself and give it some thought. “Because he’s just a happy-go-lucky guy, right?”

Winnie nods. “Yeah. He just has that air about him, you know?”

“I get it.” I look toward the ceiling at the strings of bulbs. I’m not entirely convinced that Winnie’s not spinning one of her tales here. After all, I was convinced she knew a lot about Mars just the other day . . . But I still need to know. “I would’ve been her second option, right?”

“Easily,” she answers with humor.

“Then I’ll take it.”





“Who on earth came up with this game?” Winnie asks as Hornsby finishes filling the last of the water balloons.

“Posey. He used to play it when he was a kid, but instead of water balloons, they used eggs. He didn’t think wasting eggs would be appropriate, so we use water balloons.”

After we finished our lunch, Winnie and I lay on our stomachs, on top of beanbag chairs, and stared out at the falling rain until the clouds dried up and parted, allowing the sun to lift the moisture from the grass.

It was calm, serene, nothing compared to what we’re about to do.

Winnie won the next round of rock paper scissors and, oddly, since she stated she had no clue what to do, she said she wanted Posey to decide. Which is why we’re outside, standing in a circle with Taters, Posey, Hornsby, and even Holmes, who Winnie pleaded with to play, hovering over a flat rock with a water bottle on top.

“You promise this isn’t a kissing game?” Winnie asks, looking concerned.

“Do you really think five guys would want to play a kissing game with each other?”

She chuckles. “I guess not.”

Stepping in, Posey says, “Okay, Winnie. The name of the game is spin and peg.”

“That sounds violent.” Winnie moves in close to me.

“It’s not. It’s fun.” Posey picks up the water bottle from the flat rock. “We each are going to take a turn spinning the bottle. When it stops spinning and lands on someone, that person is the chosen pegger.”

“These are technical terms,” I whisper into Winnie’s ear. “Try to keep up.”

She chuckles quietly as Posey continues, “The peggies—”

“See, technical.”

“Dude,” Posey says with annoyance. “You’re ruining this experience for me.”

“Sorry.” I hold up my hand in apology.

“Anyway, the peggies must run in the opposite direction once they’re not chosen. It’s the pegger’s job to run to the water balloon bucket, grab a balloon, and then peg one of the peggies. You get pegged twice and you’re out.”

“I fear I’m at an extreme disadvantage here,” Winnie says.

“Nah, I got you,” I whisper in her ear.

Posey claps his hands together. “Everyone ready?”

“Yup,” we say as we gather around the flat rock. I put Winnie on the side furthest away from the balloons so she can leave the vicinity the quickest.

Posey leans down and spins the bottle. I get into position. It slows to a stop and lands on Hornsby.

“Run,” I shout as I scoop Winnie up and over my shoulder and run with her as fast as I can, her laughing and screaming the whole time.

“He’s coming for us,” she shouts. “Duck.”

As carefully as I can, I hit the ground, making sure to protect her along the way. The balloon breaks just to the right of me.

“What the actual fuck,” Hornsby protests. “They can’t double-team like that.”

Water from the ground seeps into our clothes as I help Winnie up to her feet. “There’s nothing in the rules that states it’s illegal to carry a partner,” I defend.

“It doesn’t state that in the rules, but we all know this is an individual game,” Posey says while jogging back. “Which means, peggies are supposed to use their own two feet.”

In defense, Winnie says, “I had no idea he was going to do that.”

“Throwing me under the bus? I see how it is.”

We all make it back to the flat rock, and this time, Hornsby spins the bottle. It slows and then lands on me.

Winnie screams, I leap over the rock, grab a water balloon, and peg her right in the back, the water exploding all over her.

“Oh my God,” Winnie says while spinning around to look at me, humor in her eyes. “You just hit me.”

“Uh-oh,” Hornsby says. “Looks as though there’s going to be a fight on Lover’s Lane.”

“You threw me under the bus when I was helping you,” I say while she pokes my sides, making me laugh. “I have to show you who’s boss.”

“Is that so?” she asks.

“Don’t worry,” Taters says to Winnie while draping his arm over her shoulder. “We got your six. Lawes is going down.”

Winnie looks positively thrilled that Taters is interacting with her. “Are you telling me Pacey Lawes is enemy target number one?”