Chapter 86: Never Have I Ever

POV: Carly

They didn't go far. The couches were exactly where they'd left them, the whole group sprawled out in various states of drunk, with Niko sitting in his own chair just off to the side.

If she hadn't felt so nauseous, Carly would have laughed at the way his eyes nearly popped out of his skull the second he spotted her and Aurora still arm in arm. Katy was somehow draped across Mauricio's lap with one arm hooked around Enzo's neck, much to Niko's visible disgust — though clearly he'd take that over the redheaded alternative.

"Hope you don't mind us crashing." Aurora announced, dropping onto a cushion, eyes never leaving Niko's glare.

"More the merrier!" Enzo cheered.

Carly drifted toward Niko on instinct and let out an undignified yelp when she tripped onto his lap, only steadying when his arms caught her by the waist before gravity could finish the job. She was laughing too hard to be embarrassed about it, hiccuping through giggles.

"You alright there, love?" Niko asked.

She nodded, biting her lip to hold the laughter in. "I slipped. I slipped."

His eyebrows pulled together. "Are you drunk?"

She pretended to think about it. "Mhmm. Just a little." Pinching her fingers together to demonstrate before wrapping her arms around his neck.

He was, for lack of a better word, shook. Carly wasn't much of a drinker, and the only thing he'd seen her have all night was that one shot. Then again, she'd spent the last half hour glued to Aurora's side, doing who knew what.

In all the time he'd known her, he had never once seen Carly McPherson out of control. Not of a situation, not of her own mind. It unsettled him slightly. And yet even like this — sloppy, glassy-eyed, definitely tipsy — she still looked unfairly beautiful.

And why are you trying to ruin this?

"Christ, please tell me one vodka shot didn't do this to you." He laughed, cupping her cheek to study her face properly.

Carly melted into the touch without meaning to, eyes fluttering shut, his thumb dragging slow against her cheekbone. Every nerve in her body felt like it was on overdrive, every inhibition she usually carried completely absent.

"Mmm. I love when you do that." She purred.

Her smile was lazy, drunk, completely unguarded as she stared up at him through heavy lids, hands wandering over his face like she was memorizing it for the first time.

"Not that I mind the hands," Niko said, eyebrows raised, "but sweetheart, what exactly are you doing?"

Her gaze drifted to the lit cigarette pinched between his fingers.

"Such a disgusting habit. Can I try it?"

"Uh, Carly, I don't think—"

She didn't wait for him to finish. She plucked it straight from his hand, put it to her lips, and immediately doubled over coughing after one too-deep inhale.

He rubbed her back while she recovered.

"You could've at least told her not to inhale right away, you wanker." Aurora said dryly from her cushion.

Carly ignored her, catching her breath against Niko's shoulder before pressing her lips to his neck. "Sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry for, I should've warned you." He said, still rubbing slow circles along her spine. "I don't even know why I keep these on me anymore since I don't use them. Habit, I suppose."

Her eyes widened slightly. "You stopped smoking?"

"Trying to." He shrugged with a half-grin. "I know how much you hate them."

"You stopped for me?" She asked, genuinely stunned.

"I'd hope by now you've realized there's very little I wouldn't do for you."

She hadn't even noticed he'd quit. A habit that old, a tic that deeply rooted, and he'd just — stopped. Quietly. Without making it a thing. Without telling her. Even through the haze, the weight of that landed somewhere real.

Her smile stretched ear to ear, and she leaned in to kiss his cheek, then his neck, burying whatever else she was about to say before she could regret it sober.

She threaded her fingers through his curls. "Sweet. You're so sweet to me. And, like, really hot. Seriously so hot. My boyfriend is a hottie vampire sundae."

He had never blushed that hard in his life.

"I don't tell you that enough, do I? I should. Well — I want to, but that's a sober-Carly thing to say, because your head's big enough already."

"Oh, is that so?" He laughed.

She nodded, poking at his dimples, rubbing her nose against his, completely unaware — or unbothered — that a room full of vampires was watching the whole thing like a live broadcast.

"Could you two be annoyingly cute somewhere else?" Enzo groaned. "Some of us are horny and lonely over here. Give us a show or leave."

Niko mocked him while Carly's attention drifted to Aurora, who had gone very still on the couch, watching the two of them with a tight expression before flipping her hair and crossing her legs.

"I'm bored. Let's play a game. Never have I ever." Aurora proposed.

"Absolutely not, you play dirty." Enzo groaned, pointing a finger at her.

"Oh, piss off, it's not my fault you get plastered after two rounds."

"As vampires we've basically all done everything imaginable, so can we agree this is just an excuse to drink more?" Mauricio added.

"Carly isn't a vampire." Aurora said simply.

The whole room went quiet and turned toward her for what felt like the hundredth time that night.

"Aurora." Niko warned.

She shrugged, all faux innocence. "Don't get your knickers in a twist, Nik. Isn't tonight about getting to know your girl? What better way than a nice game of truth."

It was a test. Carly could feel it. Either way she answered — playing along or refusing — Aurora would find some way to spin it into a win.

Niko's hand rubbed slow against her arm, gently turning her face toward his.

"Love, you don't have to do this." He said.

That had basically been his refrain all night, and as sweet as it was, it had started to feel like he thought she couldn't handle his world. His people.

"I'll play." She said.

Niko looked nervous. Aurora's smirk widened.

"Perfect."

"Never have I ever," Mauricio announced, "had sex while my parents were home."

Groans all around, followed by a round of shots. Ten minutes in and it was already obvious most of them — Niko included — were drinking after almost every round, proving this was never really about the game.

Carly was the only one mostly sober, having barely scratched the surface of what centuries-old creatures had gotten up to. Even Katy was drinking along. But the looks passing between Niko and Aurora kept pulling sips out of her she hadn't planned on taking.

"Didn't realize you were so vanilla, mate." Enzo teased Mauricio.

He just laughed. "Some of us respect our families enough not to want them overhearing exquisite shagging down the hall. Besides, Monroeson didn't drink either."

Carly felt Niko's grip on her waist tighten.

"Because no one's ever set foot in that castle he calls a home." Enzo said. "He doesn't count."

Niko exhaled, relieved nobody pushed further on the subject of his "home."

"And it's not like he isn't a fan of risky locations." Aurora added, with a wink. "Isn't that right, love?"

Niko's jaw clenched. So did Carly's.

Yeah. She's definitely not my friend.

She grabbed her cup, raised it. "My turn."

"Never have I ever flirted with another girl's boyfriend."

Real original, Carly. Way to go.

Aurora's eyes narrowed into something sharp enough to cut, and the tension between the two of them was instantly the loudest thing in the room. Niko, Enzo, and Katy all drank to that one, which Carly found a deeply satisfying detail.

Aurora set her cup down. "Never have I ever made out with—" She stopped herself, waved a hand. "Never mind, I have. Never have I ever slept with—" Another pause, another laugh at herself. "Done that too."

She laughed harder. "I've genuinely done pretty much everything, while sweet Carly here hasn't even scratched the surface. I'm sure we could find some way to break you in."

Carly felt her face burn, glare forming on instinct.

"You're drunk." Niko murmured.

"Clearly." Aurora raised her cup in a mock toast.

Enzo clapped his hands together. "Riveting stuff. Can we skip ahead to the part where everyone just starts making out?"

Niko didn't get the chance to respond before Carly grabbed his face in both hands and kissed him.

"I love how literally you took that, gorgeous." Enzo smirked.

Neither of them heard him.