Page 15 of My Pucked Up Neighbor
Except for the part where I haven’t stopped replaying it in my head since it happened.
I roll over and squint at the ceiling. Morning light filters through the curtains in soft golden streaks. Somewhere in the living room, the tail end of a party playlist is still playing at low volume. Probably Kira’s doing. That girl could sleep through a hurricane and leave a speaker on at volume six like it’s white noise.
I sit up and stretch. I’ve got flashcards, outlines, and a criminal law brief waiting for me. The bar exam doesn’t care about my flustered hormones or my very confusing neighbor.
But before I can even reach for my textbook, Kira groans from her room.
A door creaks open. “Mandy?”
I sigh. “In here.”
She shuffles in with last night’s eyeliner smudged into smoky chaos and a fuzzy blanket wrapped around her like a bathrobe cape. “I feel like I got hit by a tequila truck.”
“Serves you right,” I mutter. “Who decided spin the bottle was a good idea?”
She flops onto my bed. “Me. You’re welcome.”
“I was being sarcastic.”
“You still got kissed by the hottest guy in the building.”
I stiffen. “It was a game.”
“That kiss had main character energy,” she says, pulling the blanket up to her nose. “Like, I’m sorry, but even my hangover paused to be impressed.”
I roll my eyes, but my cheeks heat anyway. “It was nothing.”
“Sure. That’s why you’re staring at the ceiling like it has answers.”
I throw a pillow at her.
“And don’t think I didn’t notice the real reason you wanted to play spin the bottle,” I tease. “Trying to guarantee a kiss with one of Detroit’s finest?”
Kira grins without shame. “Please. It was a public service. I gave the people what they wanted.”
“And by people, you mean yourself?”
“Exactly. And FYI, Ethan tastes like spearmint and sin. I have zero regrets. I kissed a Detroit Acer, Mandy. What are the chances of that? I peaked.”
She nudges me. “So? How’d it feel kissing NateandJames? You got the deluxe package.”
I scoff. “James was dramatic, Nate was… Nate.”
Kira grins like a cat with a secret. “But Nate’s the one that got to you, huh?”
I roll my eyes. “It was a kiss. One kiss. For a game.”
“You keep saying that like your face didn’t go all ‘soft smile emoji’ every time he looked your way.”
I pause. “You realize my sister’s gonna go full FBI if she finds out, right?”
“Oh yeah. She’ll pop up like a soap opera villain. ‘Howdareyou make out with my ex!’”
I laugh despite myself. “I wasn’t making out. It was a simple kiss. Spin the bottle.”
“Whatever helps you sleep at night, Little Fields.”
“Don’t you start calling me that.”
