Seventeen-year-old Hazel never saw having a sick mom in her future. And the last thing she expected was for her new next-door neighbor to give her a checklist that would change everything.
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After Hazel Winter's mom got sick, all emotion vanishe...
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I DON'T KNOW how we've gone an entire half-hour without the bottle landing on me, but somehow we have. I've gotten lucky every time, and Joy got exactly what she wished. She's kissed about five different guys, and with each one, she added tongue.
The bottle spins again, and I hold my breath, freezing when it lands on River. Across from him is a girl I've never seen before. I don't pay attention to anyone who goes to our school, but she's really prettyand seems eager to kiss River. She crawls over to him on hands and knees, and River hesitates at first but eventually leans in and presses his lips to hers. I didn't expect to get as pissed as I am, but I'm furious. The same furious I felt when I thought he was going on that date with Joy.
Yet another emotion to check off the list.
She runs her hands through his hair and adds tongue. She adds tongue, and the alcohol hits me at once. I can feel it swishing around in my stomach, threatening to get thrown up all over this carpet. I swallow it down, though, and stare into my lap, twirling my fingertips around and around until it's over.
"Damn, he's a good kisser," the girl tries to whisper to her friends, but everyone hears it. I want to tackle her right on the floor.
The loafer-wearing guy spins the bottle again, and it lands on me this time. It's the fucking loafer guy that undressed me in his mind from earlier, and there's no way in hell he'll be my first kiss. River grows rigid beside me, the loafer guy wiggling his eyebrows disgustingly.
"I've been waiting for this one," he says, and when he gets on his knees to come over to me, I suddenly feel another pair of lips meet mine.
It's River, and his lips are soft and plump, my hands clutching onto the sides of his face to tug him closer. Everyone around us erupts into ooos as he does it, and I don't know if he's just doing this to be nice, but the girl wasn't lying when she said he was a good kisser.
He tastes like mint and liquor, and I'm grateful my first kiss is with him and not loafer guy. I'm assuming that's why he kissed me, but I'm not complaining.
I expect it to stop, but River doesn't want it to. His hands run down my waist, twisting the fabric of my sweatshirt up into one hand to tug me closer. Then I feel his tongue, and my god, nothing feels better. In seconds I practically pant as my tongue circles with his, and if it weren't for someone shouting, "Get a room!" I probably would have crawled right into his damn lap.
We both break away, and River is staring at me so intensely that I get even shorter of breath. I'm dizzy as hell, and I don't know if it's from the liquor or the kiss.
"Fuck," River breathes onto my lips, but he's interrupted when loafer boy shoves him backward onto the ground. River bounces back almost instantly, standing to his feet to get in his face. "Are you serious, man? It's a fucking game. Chill out."
