Irin and I hold each other's hands as we walk together, deliberately ignoring Vik as we pass him. Tytas leads us back to the same place where I first saw them: the gentlemen's seating area.
Felicia sits with her two friends, leaving a space beside her for only one person—Vik. She glares at me as if she wants to rip my head off. Vik walks past us, pushes between us, and carelessly breaks our joined hands apart before sitting beside his moody girlfriend.
"This motherfu—" Irin mumbles.
Tytas gestures with his palm toward the empty couch across from Vik, inviting me to sit. I sit in the middle, with Tytas on my right and Irin on my left. Two of Tytas and Vik's friends, both members of the polo team, sit on another couch between ours.
We sit around the oversized coffee table. It is wide, but neither tall nor large enough to be called a dining table, and it appears to have been custom-made. .
A few minutes later, the servants bring over more than fifty shots, I would say. They place them on the table, lining them up in front of our seats in three rows facing one another. I look down and count the glasses directly in front of us. From what I can see, there are ten.
Tytas leans closer to me, and everyone notices his behavior.
"If you don't feel comfortable, you don't have to play. It's just a silly game."
"She's already in," Vik says.
I look at him. "Right, Princess? Or are you scared?" Vik provokes me, though it's hard to tell whether Felicia is upset by it or enjoying it.
"Hahaha." Their friends laugh and chuckle.
There are also other people surrounding our seats, watching us. It makes me uncomfortable, but I try to blur them out of my sight.
"Tell us the fucking rules," Irin says.
"Don't be such a downer, Irin," Felicia says with a small smirk. "Behave. We're nice, classy people."
"Really? I could barely tell." Irin talks back and gives Felicia her devilish smile.
"Come on, guys! Let's play!" One of the guys hypes everyone up, clapping his hands.
"Yeah!" Vik smiles and claps along. "We each choose one opponent to compete against," Vik says. "Then we ask each other questions. One shot per question."
"I guess if I don't answer, I drink?" Irin asks.
"Yes, but if you answer, the person who asked the question drinks," Vik adds.
I glance at Irin, and she glances at me at the same time.
I know that look. She found something—I bet.
Now I want to play the game, but I hope the man sitting across from me won't do anything crazy to me, or worse, to Irin.
"Who goes first?" Felicia asks excitedly.
"Me," Vik says.
"All right, babe. Who are you going to choose?" Felicia asks.
"Ice Princess," he says, looking directly at me.
Felicia leans back against the backrest and crosses her arms, a smirk on her face.
"As a welcoming gift—for the first time you've come down from your tower. Hehe," Vik jokes.
I stare at him. "How about we add an extra rule?" Vik says.
"What?" Tytas glares at him.
"Don't be so fucking tense, man. It's nothing serious. This time, it won't be just questions. You can order the other person to do anything."
"OOOHHH!" the two friends on the center couch exclaim.
"Come on, Captain. If she can't do it or doesn't want to, she can just drink instead," Vik says with a sly expression.
Tytas glances at me and touches my thigh. "Are you okay with that?" he asks with concern. "You don't have to play."
I say nothing and look at the man across from me, who clenches his jaw as he watches us.
"Jesus, it's just a game, man. Why is she so fragile?" Vik says.
"Careful, Vik," Tytas warns him.
I turn toward Irin, and we raise our eyebrows at each other. Irin holds my face and leans closer to me.
"I've got your back," Irin whispers.
"Then beat this fucker down," I whisper back, and we chuckle together.
"You two should get a room," Vik says.
"Hehehe." We chuckle.
"Sure. I don't have anything to hide," I say with a smile.
"Are you sure about that?" He seems pleased.
"Do you?" I tease him back, and he seems to enjoy my sassy side. "So, how do we do it? Do we take turns?"
"Nah, we're doing one round at a time," Vik says. "Let's see how well you can handle tequila—or whether one shot will knock you out. Hahaha."
"Hahaha." Their friends laugh and giggle.
"You don't want to fuck with her, man," Tytas says to Vik.
Vik glances at Tytas, slightly stunned, then shifts his gaze back to me.
I raise my right eyebrow at him, and he chuckles softly.
"I'll go first," Vik says. "What were you doing with Tytas back there?" Vik asks.
"OOOHHH! What?" Their friends widen their eyes and make excited sounds.
"We were talking," I say.
"Come on, we're not kids anymore. Give me the details," Vik says.
"We were talking," Tytas confirms, but Vik doesn't seem pleased.
"We talked about our childhood, how often we used to play together, and how much fun we had when we were kids. We locked eyes. I told him to look at me, and we held each other so closely that we were about to kiss," I say.
"OHHHHH MY GOD!"
"Detailed enough for you?" I add, signaling with my eyes for him to drink his shot.
He seems a little pissed, but the smile on his face tells me he's enjoying it. I glance at Tytas, whose cheeks are turning red. He looks at me and tries to hide his smile.
"You were about to, and then what happened?" One of the friends near Tytas asks excitedly.
"Some asshole interrupted us," Tytas says this time.
Everyone looks at Vik.
"Next question, baby," Felicia says.
"What's your darkest secret?" Vik asks.
"I have so many. You need to be more specific," I say.
He pauses. "Are you a virgin?"
"Hehehe." The others chuckle.
"Yes," I say.
"What!?" Felicia and her friends look shocked. "Oh, my fucking God!"
But they're not nearly as stunned as the boys in the room.
The surrounding crowd goes wild. I'm glad there are fewer than ten people here at the moment.
"Out," Tytas suddenly orders.
I look at him. The tension in his expression is kind of frighteningly hot.
The crowd hesitates, but he stares directly at them. Then the servants ask everyone to leave.
Only those of us seated in the fancy seating area remain.
"Bottoms up," I tell Vik. He looks stunned. He's about to burst out laughing, but he holds it in and drinks the shot.
I can feel Tytas staring at me while glaring at his jerk of a friend.
"Have you ever touched yourself?" Vik asks.
"What the fuck, Vik!" Irin yells at him.
"Don't cross the line," Tytas says in a deeper voice, making it clear that he's upset.
"It's just a game," Felicia says, defending her boyfriend.
"Yes," I reply.
"Fuck, man—" The two guys are completely invested in my round.
Vik smiles broadly and drinks the shot. "How does it feel?" he asks.
"Amazing," I reply.
He drinks another shot and lets out a loud sigh before pausing. Then he looks more deeply into my eyes. "In this group, who would you want to have sex with?"
"Do girls count?" I ask.
"Hmph. No," he says.
I pause. "Tytas," I answer.
It isn't a lie. Out of everyone in this fucking room, Tytas is the only one I feel comfortable enough to get close to. We almost kissed, and my pulse was telling me something. I glance at him, and he licks his bottom lips again.
"FUCK!" The two guys are having more fun than anyone else here.
"Drink," I say. "You're halfway there."
They look down at the row of shot glasses, half of them now empty.
"I order you to make out with Irin," Vik says.
"Immature," Irin says.
"Don't want to? Then drink," Vik adds.
Irin and I look at each other. She leans her face closer while holding mine.
"Just play along. I'll make him pay for it," she whispers, and then I smile.
She parts her lips and presses them against mine. Then I slide my tongue into her mouth. We kiss each other intensely, as if we mean it. We can hear the audience cheering. Then I pull away from the kiss and turn my face toward Vik.
"Pleased?" I say, knowing that my red lipstick is ruined.
People look pretty stunned, especially the guy in front of me. Then the two guys sitting on the middle couch applaud us.
"Now you can have a wet dream about us," Irin says.
"Hey!" Felicia yells.
"Your guy asked for it," Irin talks back. "Drink," she tells Vik.
He drinks the shot. I can clearly see that he's a little drunk.
I turn to look at Tytas. He looks at me and licks his lower lip again—I've seen him do that several times today. Then he rubs the back of his neck, touches his chin as if trying to cover his mouth, and glances at my lips.
"You're tough, huh? You said you have many dark sides. If that's true, tell me one thing," Vik says.
"I can do anything for someone I love," I say.
"Anything? Like if he told you to jerk him off in front of everyone or kill someone for him?" Vik asks with sly words and a cunning expression.
"Vik, you're out of line, man." Tytas shifts until he's sitting almost on the edge of the couch. He glares at Vik so intensely that everyone seems to shrink.
"What? She doesn't have to answer," Vik says.
"Yes," I say, and everyone turns to look at me, including Tytas.
"You're lying," Vik says.
"The person meant for me probably wouldn't ask me to do some stupid shit in the first place. Second, I'm not lying. I'd do anything for my person," I say.
Everyone looks shocked, and I notice something moving on the second floor.
Is that the shadow? Am I hallucinating?
I shift my gaze back to Vik, and he's about to take a glass.
"Two shots, Vik. You asked me two questions," I say.
"Hmph." Tytas makes a pleased sound in his throat, as if satisfied. "I told you," he says, bumping his knee against my leg.
"Two chances. Ask wisely—you might never get another opportunity like this," I tell Vik.
"Hehehe." He laughs crazily. "About your father—"
Everyone falls silent. Tytas clenches his fist.
"Hey, think before you speak," Tytas threatens him for the third time.
"She can handle it. What exactly does your father do, Princess?" Vik asks viciously.
I lightly touch Tytas's fist while looking at Vik. Tytas relaxes his hand.
"My father is the commander of a private investigation unit," I reply.
"WHAT!?" Everyone's jaws drop, and they scream so fucking loudly.
Vik looks stunned.
"Like—you mean your dad orders people to shoot and kill bad guys or something?" one of Tytas's friends asks nervously.
I say nothing. I only smile at them.
Felicia leans against the backrest and covers her eyes.
Now she's scared?
"Drink," Irin says.
"One last question. You only have one left. Can you handle that?" I ask teasingly.
Vik takes the shot, swallows it, and curses, "Fuck!"
"This game is pretty fun," I say with a smile as I look at Irin.
She pats my head and kisses me on the cheek.
"Seems like you're losing her," Tytas says.
"Hmph… Last question. Who would you choose—someone you haven't already chosen, and no girls—to go down on you?"
"Damnnnnn…" The two guys sit up properly and try to act cool.
After hearing the question, that man comes to mind—the man I truly long for, yearn for—but he isn't here anymore.
"You don't have to think too hard," Vik teases drunkenly.
I look at him as I already know his intention. He really wants me to take him as an answer so badly.
I should give him a little reward for taking all the shots.
"You," I say.
"Woahhh…" the audience screams.
Vik smiles, struggling not to burst with happiness as he looks at Tytas.
"So you can shut your mouth," I add.
"WAAA—HAHAHAHAAA!" Those two are having the time of their lives.
Vik raises the shot, downs it, and shows everyone that he has finished them all. People applaud him.
"Now it's your turn, Princess," Vik says.