"Anyone who wants to play never have I ever come to the living room now!" A girl said loud enough for everyone to hear her, which was saying something over the blaring music. I hadn't planned on playing, but when I saw Daniel, Alani, and Nadia start walking toward the living room, I changed my mind.

"Where have you been?" Alani asked as I sat down in between her and Nadia.

"Harper," I said.

She didn't respond since the girl that had called us in here started talking.

"Does everyone know how to play?" She asked as most of us nodded. A few people didn't know how to play, including Alani, so she started explaining.

"You hold up ten fingers, and if someone says something that you have done, you put a finger down. The person who keeps the most fingers up wins. Simple, right?" She said as we all agreed.

"Okay, let's start," The girl's friend urged.

"Let's start simple. Never have I ever masturbated with my family in the house," She said as almost everybody put a finger down, including me. I looked over at innocent Alani, expecting her to have all her fingers still up, but to my surprise, she had put one down.

Surprise raced through me as an image popped into my head. It was an image of Alani, naked, on her bed, with her head back and her hand between her legs.

I had no idea where that image even came from. Quickly shoving that vision out of my mind and thinking of my grandma, I looked away from her as we kept playing.

"Never have I ever practiced kissing my hand," A boy said. A few people put down a finger, including Alani, as I smiled at the thought of her doing that. I knew she was inexperienced and wanted to expand her horizons, so it made sense that she would practice kissing on her hand. Alani liked to plan things out and be ready, which was another reason I wasn't shocked.

We continued to play with questions such as "never have I ever liked a friend's boyfriend or girlfriend," "never have I ever been arrested," and "never have I ever gotten a hickey." All of which Alani hadn't done.

Alani ended up winning the game as everyone cheered for her.

"Your prize is that you get to make out with any guy that played the game," The girl that was running the game said.

I froze. What did she just say? Alani stopped celebrating for a second before looking around the room. Was she actually going to do it? It was on her bucket list, and if she didn't do it, everyone would wonder why, so she kind of had to. As she looked around the room, a part of me wondered if she would choose me, but I knew she wouldn't. Our relationship wasn't like that.

"Daniel," She said with a smile. Daniel smiled back and got closer to her, touching their foreheads together. I was going to be sick. As their lips touched, jealousy coursed through my veins. I tried to look away, but my body wasn't listening to me. As their mouths moved together, Daniel moved his hands from her lower back to her ass and squeezed. That was enough for me. I turned away and walked into the kitchen, away from them making out and confused about my own feelings.

*****

"Where did you go? Did you see what I just did?" Alani squealed after finding me in the kitchen.

"Yeah, I saw it. I just wanted to get some water," I lied.

"We can cross make out with someone off of the bucket list. Now, I just need to get drunk," She slurred, gulping the drink in her hand.

"I think you're almost there already."

"Maybe," She said.

"Where's Daniel?"

"He's getting me another drink."

"Alani!"

"What?"

"You never accept a drink from someone you don't know well."

"Why not?"

"Because they could put something in it that would knock you out."

"But I accepted a drink from you."

"That's different," I said, offended that she was lumping me into the same category as Daniel.

"How so? I've known you for almost the same amount of time that I've known Daniel."

"It's just different. We spend more time together."

"Well, maybe I want to spend more time with Daniel."

"Fine, whatever," I said as I walked away. If Alani wanted to spend more time with Daniel, I wasn't going to stop her. I looked back as Daniel came up to Alani and handed her another drink. I was a little nervous about her accepting the drink, but from what I knew, Daniel was a good guy, and Alani did have a point about knowing him almost the same amount of time that she's known me.

If she liked Daniel so much, she could complete her list with him.

*****

"River!" Alani said, coming up behind me as I talked to some people.

"What?" I asked, pulling her to the side.

"I think I'm drunk!" She slurred.

"Yeah, I think you are. Where's Daniel?"

"Getting me another drink," She said as Daniel showed up.

"I think she's had enough," I said.

"One more won't hurt," Daniel replied as my fists tightened. Alani was clearly drunk, and he was giving her more drinks like it was nothing? Was he trying to get her to throw up and have a massive hangover tomorrow?

"I think it's time for us to go," I said to Alani.

"No! I want to stay!" She pouted.

"It's time to go. Come on."

"Fine, but only because I'm tired." She said before saying goodbye to Daniel.

"Where's Nadia?" I asked, looking around, and after a few minutes of searching, I found her talking to a boy and walked over.

"I'm gonna get a ride home with Jess," Nadia said, motioning toward the boy she was talking to, who must have been "Jess."

"Okay, be safe," I said before grabbing Alani's hand and leading her out to my car.

Alani was having a bit of trouble walking straight. She also kept stopping to smell the flowers outside of the house.

"I want to go back," She hiccuped.

"No. It's time to go," I said as if I were a parent dragging their kid out of a candy store. We walked to the car, and I got Alani strapped into the backseat. She was quiet on the way back, and when I got to her dorm building and looked in the backseat, I realized why. Alani fell asleep with her head resting on the seatbelt. She looked quite peaceful as she relaxed.

Creeping around the car, I opened the door and tried to wake her up. When she wouldn't move, I picked her up, and when I finally got her in my arms bridal style, I carried her up to her room. She wrapped her arms around my neck on the way up, and once at her door, I grabbed her key and opened it.

I moved her over to her bed and attempted to set her down, but she wouldn't let go of my neck. I had to pry her hands off of me before she finally settled down. Once she was tucked under the covers, I got up to leave.

"River," I heard Alani say as I was about to exit her room.

"Yeah?" I whispered.

"Can you stay with me tonight?"

"No," I said, knowing that Alani was drunk and didn't know what she was saying. Plus, if she woke up with me in her bed, she would freak out.

There was no way I was going to sleep in her bed, no matter how much I might have wanted to.