Chapter 5: Never Have I Ever

(Eden’s POV)

It started, like most bad decisions, with Harper standing on a chair.

She raised her drink like it was a war flag and shouted over the music, “Okay! Everyone to the fire pit. Now. We’re playing Never Have I Ever!”

Groans, laughs, and a few “oh hell no”s echoed around the backyard. But Harper didn’t budge. She pointed dramatically at each group.

“Groomsmen. Bridesmaids. Cousins. People with functioning livers. Let’s go!”

Someone turned the music down. A half-circle formed around the fire, plastic cups and beer bottles in hand. I tried to hang back near the drinks table, but Harper caught my eye and narrowed hers like a warning shot.

“Don’t even think about ghosting this, Eden.”

I sighed and joined the group, sliding into an open seat on a lawn chair between a cousin I barely knew and an empty spot that—of course—Levi filled thirty seconds later.

He smelled like smoke and mint and the faintest trace of beer. Not overpowering, just… there.

“Didn’t think you’d play,” he said, glancing at me sideways.

I shrugged. “Didn’t think you’d notice.”

His lips quirked. “I’m observant.”

I tried not to choke on my drink.

Harper clapped her hands. “Rules are simple. If you’ve done it, you drink. No lying, no judgment, and no explaining unless we demand details.”

The group laughed.

Harper grinned. “I’ll start.”

She lifted her cup, the fire casting gold light across her face. “Never have I ever… skinny dipped.”

A few people drank. Harper herself, of course, took a long, dramatic sip.

Levi drank too. So did Luca, who was sitting across the circle—cool and unreadable as always. I kept my cup still.

Next: “Never have I ever hooked up at work.”

Half the groomsmen drank.

“Never have I ever lied about my age to get into a club.”

A chorus of sips.

Round by round, the questions got bolder. Cruder. Drunker.

“Never have I ever had a one-night stand.”

“Never have I ever kissed someone twice my age.”

“Never have I ever used a sex toy.”

I started feeling the warmth of the sangria bloom in my chest. My tongue loosened, my limbs relaxing. I was laughing. Almost having fun.

Then it happened.

Harper raised her drink, gave me a wink, and said with a grin, “Never have I ever lost my virginity.”

The group howled. People pointed, laughed, groaned.

Cups tipped back everywhere. Some guzzled. Others sipped with a side of drama.

And I…

Sat still.

Stone still.

I didn’t drink.

Levi shifted beside me. I could feel it. The way he paused. The way he noticed.

Someone shouted, “Wait, what? Eden? No way.”

Another voice—maybe Harper’s old college friend—giggled, “That’s kind of hot, honestly.”

But the buzz was already setting in, my face flushing with alcohol and humiliation. I didn’t mean to speak. I didn’t plan it.

But it slipped out anyway.

Loud enough to hush the laughter.

“I’m just tired of being a fucking virgin.”

Silence.

Again.

Not the funny kind.

The sharp kind.

A few people tried to laugh it off. Someone cleared their throat. Harper blinked at me like I’d just taken my top off. Across the circle, Luca’s brow lifted, but he said nothing. And Levi… Levi just looked at me.

Not pity. Not shock.

Just… looked.

I stood up so fast I nearly knocked over my chair.

“I need water,” I muttered, and walked—okay, stumbled—toward the house before anyone could say a word.