I see Ben in the backyard with Jace and a ginger girl. I make my way to them after releasing Luca's hand so he can talk to a few guys. When I'm close to them, I can tell they're speaking lower than you should at a party. I put one arm on each of their shoulders as they're standing next to each other and the pretty girl in front of them.

"Boys." I say.

Jace clears his throat. "Izzy."

"This party is no fun." I say and remove my hand from around them. Ben looks at me amusingly and I already know what he's going to say. "How about we play never have I ever?" I say the first thing that comes to mind.

"Yes, this game is super fun!" The redhead says and puts her hand on Ben's upper arm.

I see Jace shaking his head and Ben has a horrified expression. "This game is lame." He retorts.

After convincing them we will play the dirtier version, they finally agree. Ben orders the DJ to turn the music down a little so we don't need to shout. I send Sara and Luca, who probably went inside for a drink, a message to come to the garden so we can play. After ten minutes, Ben, Jace, Sara, Alex, Luca, me, the redhead and three other girls are sitting in a circle with our cups full of various types of liquor.

I explain the game to them and start with the first statement, "Never have I ever...faked an orgasm." The redhead named Jackie, and another girl takes a sip. Catching Jace's gaze, he winks at me and he looks pleased with himself as I didn't take a sip.

Sara is next. "Never have I ever said the wrong name during sex." Ben and Luca take a sip.

I look at Ben surprised. "Really? Dude!"

We all take turns and it's now Luca trying to think of a question. "Never have I ever..." He stirs the liquid in his cup and looks up. He meets my gaze and holds eye contact when he asks, "taken a nude or sexy photo of myself."

Sara and Alex both take a sip. Of course. The two girls and Ben lift their cup to their mouth as well. The girls are giggling and I hear one of them suggesting to show Ben an example.

I slowly lift the cup and take a big sip while keeping eye contact with Luca. I know he asked this question so he can learn my answer to it. He bites his lip softly and wiggles in his seat. I smirk.

It's now Ben's turn. He is taking this game way too seriously, he's been trying to come up with a question for almost five minutes.

"Just say anything, man." Alex tells him.

He looks down at his cup, but I don't miss the wicked grin that forms on his face. "Never have I ever slept with someone from this circle." I still. I try not to glance at Jace to not expose myself.

Of course, Sara and her boyfriend take a sip and she giggles. Redhead and the girl next to her hesitantly both take a sip. I glance at Jace, he looks amused at the girls because it's clear they slept together. He doesn't seem like he is going to drink, though.

If we both take a sip, it'll become clear we slept together.

I feel Sara's eyes on my profile, but I ignore her. She knows I'm sleeping with Jace, but she also knows I don't want Ben knowing about it. Not that he's gonna yell and be mad at me, but he thinks it will affect his relationship with Jace. It hasn't so far.

And I definitely don't need Luca to know when he's just had his tongue in my mouth. I'm sure he knows I'm nowhere near a virgin but I've seen him talk a lot to Jace in these parties so I don't want him to get awkward around him.

Ben cocks an eyebrow at me. "Really Bells, you've never?" He says accusingly. I shake my head. I catch his eyes flick to Luca, a couple of seats to his left. And now I understand he asked this question talking about me and Luca, not Jace. As Jace is sitting on the right to him.

We play a couple more rounds and each time the questions became even dirtier. Like never have I ever had phone sex, been handcuffed during sex, slept with two different people in the same night, done it in the college library, tried anal...and similar questions.

Ben and Jackie, the redhead, are the most drunk because they drank the most.

Each time someone asks a question, my gaze unconsciously goes to Luca to see his answers. But I always look away quickly before he looks in my direction to know my answers.

Jackie has been all but subtly making moves on Ben, but he dismisses her each time. First, he would change his seating position so her hand would fall from his chest but as the night progressed, and she became a full on giggly and flirty drunk, Ben would purposely remove her hands from around him.

Normally he would have already gone to his room with her. He hasn't spared her a glance the whole night.

Hmm, I have to ask what this is about.

I get my phone out and let out an audible gasp when I notice the time. Every head in the circle, minus the two girls, turn to me with questioning looks.

"What's wrong?" Sara asks in a slurring voice.

"Nothing, it's just that I didn't notice it was so late." I say, giving them a sheepish smile at my dramatic reaction.

"What time is it?" Luca asks.

"Past three."

The music stopped playing a long time ago and almost everyone has gone home except for a pair of guys sprawled on the couches in the living room.

I stand up and I get dizzy from all the alcohol I've consumed. I giggle softly at myself when I almost trip over a can of beer. "It's time for me to go home."

"Sara is sleeping over." Alex tells me. His voice is less slurred than mine because he stopped playing after the first round, said he had an appointment tomorrow morning. I mean today, since it's already morning.

I nod and walk to Ben to give him a goodnight kiss. He is standing with his eyes closed, leaning on the door leading into the kitchen. I walk to him and I have to put my hands on his shoulder to keep my balance.

Why do I even bother wearing heels?

Because I look sexy as hell in them, that's why.

He flashes his eyes open, probably thinking I'm the redhead, but he exhales and gives me a sloppy hug. "You should sleep over. You're too drunk to go home. And it's late."

We release each other, and I fumble back a little. "I'll walk with Sara and Alex."

Even drunk, he looks hesitant to accept. But when he glances at Alex, who is supporting Sara by the waist, he nods.

"We'll wait for you at the front door." Alex says to me. They don't wait for an answer, and he walks inside with Sara by his side. Luca is watching, and he looks like he wants to wait for me, but I smile assuringly at him and he steps inside.

Jace is still sitting in his lounge chair and I think he already fell asleep. I tug softly on a blond strand of hair and he groans. He flutters his eyelids open and grins when he sees it's me standing in front of him. I lean closer and put my hands on his thighs.

"Goodnight, Jacey." His hands trail from my bare thighs and come to rest on my butt.

"Do I get a goodnight kiss?" He asks. I bite my lip seductively and shake my head. His eyes flick to my lips and his pupils darken and I want to pat myself on the back because even when I'm drunk I still have this effect on him.

He begins to lean into my mouth but I move back quickly, which I shouldn't have done as my head is pounding and my sudden movement made it worse.

I walk in the kitchen's direction and I see Ben, probably already fast asleep, on a lounge chair. I totally forgot about him while I was talking to Jace.

When I enter the kitchen, I halt when I see Luca leaning, arms crossed, on the island. I walk past him and motion for him to follow me.

After walking only like three feet, Sara whines that her feet are hurting her and now Alex is giving her a piggyback ride. They are leading with a good distance between them and us. My heels slowing me down.

At the end of the street we turn left and when I see a bench, I sit on it and remove my heels. When I feel the cool asphalt on my feet, I let out a soft moan. Luca chuckles and I give him a sheepish smile.

"I can give you a piggy ride as well if your feet are bothering you." He says

"No, it's okay." I stand up and we continue walking, setting a slow pace.

"So..." I hear Luca say after some silent moments. Alex and Sara are out of sight. They're probably already home with the long strides of Alex.

I look sideways at Luca. He shakes his head.

"What?" I probe.

"Um... you and that guy, Jace, seem close." I have to strain my ears to hear what he said.

"He is Ben's best friend, so he became one of my close friends as well."

He hums, and after a couple of seconds I hear him mumble some words under his breath. I think I heard something along the lines of 'close friends don't touch each other's ass like that'.

I shake my head—again, I shouldn't have done that—to try to not think back to how Luca's hands roamed my body and his hips ground against mine.

I wonder how far we would've gone if Ben didn't walk in on us. He was kissing me like a starved man. My lips were becoming kind of tired, keeping up with his pace.

I look down at the top I'm wearing and make a mental note to never wear it again.

He was ready to tear it off if I didn't start laughing my ass off at the situation. It wasn't that funny, I just remembered how he avoided me the past week and suddenly he wanted to ravish me.

"Where are you going?" Luca asks in an amused tone.

Turning my face to the side to look at him I don't see him beside me. I turn around and I see him standing at the start of the road to my building complex. My thoughts made me walk without concentrating on where I was going.

I turn my body fully to where he is standing. Damn, I really should stop moving so fast, I'm giving myself whiplash.

I let out a giggle and stumble to where Luca is. He holds his arms in front of him in case I fall and he has to hold me. Luckily, I don't smash my face on the ground.

Opening my purse to get my keys out, with the heels still in my clutch, my hands fumble with them and the purse falls to the ground. A couple of things escaping it.

"Fuck! Just awesome." I exclaim.

I crouch down and so does Luca. His hand comes out, and he helps me gather the Chapstick that has rolled a bit farther. He hands it to me and when I lift my face up to meet his gaze and thank him, his jaw is clenched and his eyes flick up from my...stomach?

I try to follow his gaze and when I figure out where he is looking, I'm slightly mortified to learn that in this position my tight skirt had ridden up quite a lot and that he can practically see my thong.

He stands up quickly when he notices that I know where he was looking and gives me an apologetic look.

He was groping me earlier, so whatever.

I close my purse and sit forward on my knees, my face in level with his impressive bulge. I peek at his groin area, bite my lips and look up to his face. His eyes widen and his lips part. I put one hand on his upper thigh and when his mouth opens to say something; I use his leg as leverage to pull myself up and walk past him.

When I don't hear his footsteps, I stop and turn around to see him still standing like a statue, eyes wide and mouth ajar.

"What are you doing there? Come on."