Page 19 of Roar for Me
Dave’s cheeks were bright pink, whether from embarrassment or alcohol, Aurora was unsure. “Never have I ever broken into a classroom.”
Aurora took a swig of her sangria.
“What?”
“I forgot something. It was probably a book. Taylor showed me how to do it with a paperclip. He was on stage crew and they all had to do it from time to time.” She took the phone, handing it straight to Duncan.
“I thought of my own. Never have I ever received a green candy cane.”
There was a collective “ooh” as the others all looked at Duncan. Aurora followed the direction of their eyes, then looked dead ahead as she commented.
“Oh, I bet you got a dozen.”
Duncan shook his head as he lowered the glass from his lips. “Nope. Just the one. And it didn’t have a name on it either.”
“That’s no fun.”
“Tell Aurora how it said, ‘A secret admirer,’” Mike snickered as Duncan shook his head. He looked over at Aurora conspiratorially. “It was junior year—we were all there. We had chamber choir during the period they were delivered.”
“I wasn’t there since I didn’t make it in ‘till senior year.” Aurora watched them carefully.
Duncan cleared his throat and passed the phone to Britney. “I got my own, too. Never have I eversenta green candy cane.”
Aurora turned red as she put her glass to her lips and her heart pounded. Duncan practically crowed.
“Who did you send it to?” Jen asked.
“Don’t hold out on us!” Dave cried.
Aurora thought Dave’s eyes would pop out of his head. She swirled the sangria around in her mouth and shook her head.
“Come on, Roar.” Duncan had thrown his arm around the back of her seat, his face dangerously close to hers as he tried to coax it out of her. “You can tell us.”
Ignoring the effects of his hot breath on her neck and swallowing the wine, Aurora cleared her throat. She kept her eyes on Jen. “I propose an additional rule.”
“Okay, what?”
“If you don’t want to say who, then you have to chug your drink.” She held her breath as the other committee members looked at each other.
“Aw, come on. Everyone else but Dave has been forthcoming.” Duncan squirmed and crossed his arms over his chest.
“No, I think that’s fair,” Britney said.
“I volunteer to chug mine since I couldn’t remember that guy’s name.”
“Let’s vote,” Jen spoke up. “All in favor, raise your hand.”
Aurora raised hers and smiled as Dave and the girls were both on her side.
“Sorry, Duncan and Mike. Okay, it’s chugging time, you two!”
Dave and Aurora tapped their glasses together and she closed her eyes in gratitude as the fruity beverage slid down her throat.
“Some swimsuit on Aurora last night, huh?” Mike said as he drove his SUV down the highway toward the airport.
“She always did like leopard print.” Duncan watched the scenery rush past the window.
“Did you ever think you’d see her in a bikini?”
