The Sleeping Moon

A hand moves my hair to one shoulder before circling around my waist and resting a chin on my newly freed shoulder. “What’s romantic?” Locke’s breath smells like the inside of a brewery and that makes me laugh.

I shrug at his question, glancing at Cardan who’s now leaned against the island counter, watching me with pretty lips tilted down. I don’t get to verbally tell Locke I have no idea what’s going on because Liliver is tugging a very tipsy Van and a mostly annoyed Nicasia towards us. It’s not weird to see the three of them together, our circles have intermingled quite a lot over the past few semesters, but it’s definitely a sight to see a very small girl pulling a big guy and an Amazonian supermodel by their hands – and while they have the strength to stop her, they both let her tug them, although seemingly begrudgingly.

“Nicasia says she can drink Van under the table, so I'm calling bets right now,” Liliver announces. “Also I would like a jell-o shot from the fridge.”

I perk up immediately at this. “I want one!” My sister and I say at once, then laugh and say, “Jinx!” we laugh harder, “Twinsies!”

“My bet’s on the big guy,” Locke says. “Can I get a cherry one,” he adds.

Larkin sways from side to side like he’s dancing, taking my sister with him, “Hmm,” he says thoughtfully, “I say a hundred on Nicasia.”

“Noted,” Liliver hands us each a red jello shot then grabs a few of beers from the cooler and lines them up besides Cardan. Nicasia rolls her eyes and takes a seat by the island, Van following her, keeping Cardan between them, still leaned back. They take their first beer on Liliver’s mark and we watch with bated breaths.

“Help me up,” I say to Locke, nodding my head to the kitchen counter on a spot right beside the sink. He does, then leans an elbow on the spot next to me while I take my shot. A piece of jello sticks to my finger. I giggle a little and suck the mess off, crossing my legs at the ankles, swinging them lightly from my new perch.

Everyone’s watching, cheers from the group surrounding us, chanting for one or the other, but my skin prickles with heat as I find Cardan’s eyes again. He’s directly in front of me with my new arrangement, a conflicted emotion crosses his face when his gaze flick between Locke and I.

His stare seems to run bone deep because suddenly, I’m squirming in my spot, tugging at my too tight shirt and the lazy smile that slowly grows on his face seems to tell me he knows exactly what kind of effect he’s got on me. I glare at him – how could I forget the reason I had not wanted to come to the first party of the semester? First party is always held in the biggest house – belonging to the frat that for the past two years after the departure of his older brother Dain, has been run by Cardan and his clique – the clique who just so happen to each be in the circle we’ve unconsciously formed away from the rest of the party and yet still at the center of it.

Van finally breaks our intense stare off, and I hate to say this, but I think this round, Cardan had been winning. Relieved, I turn to Van who’s shaking his head and shoving the five empty beer bottles away from him. Nicasia calmly finishes her sixth. “No more,” he groans.

“Damn,” Locke says the same time Larkin hoots, “I won!”

“No baby,” Taryn slurs, “we won.” I turn to her to see her eyes getting a glazed over look. She places a hand to her chest, “In Greek mythology the Titans were greater even than the gods. They ruled their universe with absolute power. Well… that football field out there tonight, that's our uni –”

“Babe,” Larkin says, more awed and stunned than anything, “Are you quoting a football movie right now? That doesn’t even make sense in context but holy shit…that’s incredible.”

Nicasia says, “Are you crying?” And it takes me a few seconds to realize she’s talking to me.

I wipe at my face, startled. “That was beautiful.”

“Jesus,” Cardan mutters from across the room. When I look at him, I see he’s fighting a grin. He catches my eyes and winks at me. I tell myself it’s the copious amount of alcohol in my system that has me feeling warm on the inside.

“It really was,” Liliver says, quietly.

Locke laughs, “Anyone gonna point out that none of us play football here?”

Taryn scowls, “What kind of jocks are you?”

“Babe, you know we play lacrosse here.”

My sister perks up with a smile, “God, I love Lacrosse. Number 32 is so dreamy.”

Larkin laughs, “Thank you.”

“Well,” Liliver says as she reaches for my half drunken bottled water and tosses it to Van, “now we have all these empty bottles…” she grins all Cheshire, too big for her small body, “Let’s play!”

The group of us and the group around us – because now we’re in a bubble and somehow we’ve made ourselves the main attraction that everyone wants to see how it all plays out – begin calling out games to play and a weird moment of clarity has me wary over the fact that this group we’ve been integrated in, either because of dating or friends of people dating, they’re always being watched. It almost rubs me wrong that these other peers of ours think they have a say. For a moment, I can see why sometimes the guys seem jaded around newcomers.

My face must say a lot of what’s on my mind because Cardan tilts his head in question and I have to shake my head to clear it. I smile at him, forgetting my disdain for a while.

“Truth or dare isn’t as fun when half of us already did something stupid an hour ago,” Valerian arrives, late to the powwow as usual, hotdog in hand and points this out when someone had shouted the suggestion upon his arrival – rather, he absently points a finger at my general direction. He stands besides Nicasia, wrapping an arm around her shoulder which she very quickly shoves off.

I blush and Locke laughs beside me, “This is true,” he turns slightly and pokes at my rib where I had stupidly gotten a stick n poke done just past my third drink that seems like quite sometime ago.

“That’s going to get infected,” I frown, batting his hand away.

Taryn gasps, “Does that mean I’m going to get infected, too?”

“I don’t think,” Valerian says dryly, “that’s how twin telepathy works.”

“No, dummy,” Taryn rolls her eyes, “Because we shared the needle,” she tells him exasperated.

“Oh my god,” Cardan groans, “Who invited the wonder twins again?”

Liliver reaches over to pinch his arm. She really only gets away with it because everyone’s got a soft spot for her. That and her boyfriend is massive. Cardan laughs and moves his arm away from her. How can he be so easy with her but with me it’s like burning napalms? Even if his bites are at Taryn, it’s only ever in regard to me, and then most of the time, he’s generally nice to her. She swore up and down he helped fix her flat tire just the other day. If it were me, I’m sure he would have pulled over, but just to watch me struggle.

I glare at him now, silently telling him I know damn well how to change a flat, thank you very much. He raises his brows.

“Don’t be a dick,” Van tells him, holding his hand out for his girlfriend and Liliver goes to settle between his legs, reaching up to caress the side of his face as if consoling him for his loss.

“Spin the bottle,” someone else shouts.

“That’s cute and all,” Locke says with an eye roll, “But how about Seven Minutes?” He shoots a wink to Nicasia, then says, “Or less.”

“That quick, huh,” she says dryly.

Locke splutters, “I meant I could get you off – not me!”

Valerian rolls his eyes and grabs one of the empty bottles, setting it on the floor. “Me first,” he says before they can further take this argument. He twists his wrist and the bottle spins until the nozzle halts and lands surprisingly on Nicasia. He grins and she scowls. Still, she gets up and grabs his arm, ushering him into the closest closet, the pantry on the other side of the kitchen.

“Ten bucks,” Locke says, turning to me, lips close to my ears as he addresses the room, “He comes out with a black eye.”

I glance in front of me, only to see Cardan’s gaze hard and on Locke for a moment then he shifts just slightly to gaze at me. I bring the plastic shot cup to my lips only to scowl when I find it empty. Damnit, I forgot I had taken the shot already. Is this why I still taste cherry flavoring in my mouth? I hand the empty cup to Locke who looks at me confused. I shrug, eyes never leaving Cardan. His lips tilt up and his brows shoot up just the slightest. He mouths the word, “Cute,” almost to himself and it does something weird to the pit of my stomach.

The group breaks off among each other until seven minutes are up and a grumpy looking Valerian walks out with a smug Nicasia. “Does this mean you owe each of us ten dollars,” I ask, “Or do we have to split it between the five of us?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Jude,” Locke says, head falling against my shoulder as if to hide from the rest of our friends. I pat his head.

“No way,” Larkin says, “I want my two dollars at the least. Pay up, I know you have the money.”

It goes on like this: Taryn and Van, Larkin and Locke, Cardan and Liliver, Nicasia and I, then Cardan spins the bottle once more and we all hold our breaths until it lands... on me. And not just off to the side where I could have easily disputed that it landed on my sister or Locke, but directly to the center of me. I think I stare at it for too long because Locke shoves at my shoulders to get me to move. Cardan pushes off the island and holds a hand out to me. I frown, but still, I take it, surprised to find it warm in my grasp. He leads us to the closet, holding the door for me. Just before he closes it, I hear Locke say, “kiss or slap, who’s betting what?”

“Slap, definitely,” Van says warily.

My sister surprises me, “Kiss. I bet my car on it.”

I grimace. Taryn’s gonna lose her car.

“We can’t let Taryn lose her car,” Cardan says as he locks the door and pulls the string between us for the lone light bulb to flash on.

“We can’t?” I ask. I’ve never been close enough to Cardan Greenbriar to realize just how much space he takes, how much he can crowd a person. My lips feel dry and I don’t miss the way he stares when my tongue darts out to lick at them. “Why not?”

It takes a moment for him to tear his gaze from my mouth. “She loves that car,” and he’s so serious, too.

“She shouldn’t have offered it,” my brows furrow. “Are you trying to imply something?”

He licks his lips now and I suddenly get the appeal. I stumble back a bit, pressing against the wall, cursing inwardly at my body’s reaction to such a simple thing. “Only that I want to kiss you.”

I’m stunned. Did I hear him right? “Uh… are you drunk, Cardan?”

“I haven’t even had a drink, Jude.” He smirks, explaining, “Designated driver.”

“You live here,” I point out.

He shrugs, “Someone’s gonna need a ride.” I must misinterpret the look he gives me because my cheeks heat up and I have to close my eyes to center myself. My body jolts in surprise when I feel Cardan’s knuckles graze the warm skin of my cheeks. My eyes shoot open, but I don’t move. “Jude?”

“I… but, you hate me,” I remind him.

“Maybe.” His eyebrows knit. He moves closer to me. His dark eyes seem impossibly darker. Blown out, dilated. “But I want you, more.” he murmurs. His thumb slides over my bottom lip, tugging it down. “I definitely hate that I do.”

My breath hitches. I’m too focused on the way his finger strokes my skin that it takes me too long to understand what he’s just said. “That doesn’t make sense. What have I ever done to you?”

He leans down, his free hand at the side of my face, palm against the wall. Not touching me, but I can feel the heat of his skin all the same. “Nothing,” he admits. His jaw ticks. I want to drag my tongue along the sharpness. “I’m selfish and don’t know how to act when I can’t have what I want.”

“You can’t?” I didn’t mean to say that, but I’m a little cautious of why Cardan thinks he can’t have me. I know I’ve been nothing but nice to him until it was clear early on that he wanted nothing to do with me. I might have started biting back then, no longer holding back snark.

“You’re dating my best friend,” he says. “As much as I want you, there’s no way I’d try to take you. But here, right now,” he shrugs and glances at the watch on his hand by my face. I turn slightly too, watching the small second hand tick away from my peripheral. “In the next five and a half minutes, I’ve decided I don’t give a fuck.”

“You don’t?” my breathing is deep and the closet seems much smaller than it did two minutes ago - and damn, is it hot in here? It takes me a moment, when his lips are so close to mine, skin tingling at the proximity that’s barely there, that I realize what he’s said. “But I’m not dating anyone,” I confess. “Who exactly is your best friend and why do you think I’m dating him?”

He blinks. “Locke.”

“Whoa,” I say. Then I snort. I have to shove him away so when I laugh, I’m not doing it in his face. I press a hand to my stomach, trying to ease the sudden burst of humor I can’t let go of. Tears prick at my eyes, because I’m laughing so hard. Later, when I let out a deep sigh and slump back against the wall, I see through blurred vision that Cardan’s got his arms crossed, almost exasperated.

“Done?”

I grin. It’s so bright, I think it stuns him because he looks stupefied for a moment. “I am so not dating Locke.”

“You two are always touching,” he tells me. He scrunches his nose in what seems like contempt. Something in his voice is serious, intense even. Like he’s willing me to understand him. “Just minutes ago you were practically on him, his lips against your skin, your cheeks all flushed.”

Instead of telling Cardan that it’s just how we’ve been since we met, I instead surprise myself and say quietly, “I’ll stop it if you want.”

He gently takes hold of my face, fingers spanning down to my neck, and pulls me closer, “I think you already know what I want, Jude.” His lips are against my own when he speaks.

I pull him closer by the collar of his shirt. Before he can kiss me properly, I say, “Just so you know, I can change my own tire.”

He doesn’t miss a beat, doesn’t question my train of thought. He gets it. “Doesn’t mean I won’t help you if you need it.”

“Thought you’d watch me struggle,” I admit.

“You don’t even have a car, baby.”

My lips twitch, “Guess I need a ride tonight.”

“Jude,” he groans at my implication, then his lips are on mine, hands in my hair while mine trail up to his neck, locking together at his nape. His body presses to mine, a thigh slots between my legs, my breath hitches, lips part, he tastes me like a starved man. He shifts, finds my thighs and hikes them over his hips, centering himself against me as he pins me to the wall. He sucks on my tongue then nips at my lip, right before he presses a chaste kiss where the hurt is. 

My ankles hook behind his back, begging him deeper into my skin and my fingers slide into the soft curls of his hair, nails scraping, gripping, tugging. His lips only leaving mine to kiss wetly down my throat, giving me a moment to breathe when my hips undulate and he can somehow tell I’m dizzy with want.

His hand fumbles down to to my hips, one hand holding me still against the wall, the other reaching to undo the button of my pants. His fingers are quick and nimble, reaching into the waistband of my panties. “Cardan,” I groan, arching my neck and pulling his head harder against my skin.