“Kyle, come and sit down. We were just playing Spin the Gun.”
“What?” Kyle squinted in the direction of the gun, and Julian realized that he had forgotten about it and scooted over, blocking it futilely.
Sasha laughed. “Julian, are you trying to hide the gun? Come on, put it back on the blanket.”
“Wait, was that really a gun?” Kyle asked, incredulous. “Is it loaded?”
“No, of course not.” Sasha giggled. “But isn’t it cool? I wanted to show it to you.”
“No way,” Julian said, frustrated. He was losing control of the situation. “Sasha, he’s not supposed to know about the gun. Kyle, forget you saw it.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, guys!” Sasha tugged Kyle downward and sat beside him on the blanket. “I told him about it. He saw it. You’re being silly, Julian.”
“I can’t unsee it, dude.” Kyle scoffed. “What are you doing with it? Where did you get it?”
“Julian found it, that’s why he’s freaking.” Sasha’s dress slipped up, showing her perfect thigh. Julian noticed Kyle looking over, too.
“I’m not freaking.” Julian tried to recover.
“Are you serious?” Kyle took a swig of vodka. “You’re playing Spin the Gun?”
“It works better than a bottle because it doesn’t go far. Watch!” Sasha grabbed the gun, returned it to the blanket, and spun it. The muzzle got caught in the blanket and pointed at Kyle. Sasha leaned over, grabbed Kyle by his shoulders, and kissed him hard on the lips.
Julian’s heart pounded in his ears. He had spent a lifetime watching Sasha but he’d never watched her making out with another guy, right in front of him.
Kyle burst into laughter as Sasha let him go. “Well, hello, Sasha!”
“Let me spin,” David said out of the blue.
“Go for it, David!” Sasha clapped. “Who do you want to kiss? Allie or me?”
“Take a guess!” David drained his bottle, then spun the gun, but it ended up with the muzzle pointing at Julian.
Julian recoiled, putting up his hands. “Don’t even think about it, dude.”
David snorted. “Dude. So not happening.”
“No!” Sasha waved her hands. “That’s not the rules. You have to kiss whoever it lands on.”
“The hell I do.” David laughed.
“Damn right.” Julian laughed, too.
“Julian, are you afraid to kiss David?” Sasha asked, her eyes narrowing.
“Sasha, stop it!” Julian felt hurt. Sasha had played him. “Why are you being such a bitch?”
Allie drank more vodka. “Guys, she’s just joking around.”
Sasha giggled. “Julian, don’t get all mad. Just kiss him! It’s the rules!”
Julian felt his temper give way. “Sasha, since when do you care about rules? You weren’t supposed to tell anybody about the gun. You told Kyle.”
“You’re not mad about the gun,” Sasha shot back, but Julian was too angry to stop now.
“Sasha, we don’t even know this guy. We can’t trust him knowing about the gun. How long have you been dating him?”
“Dating?” Sasha burst into laughter. “What are you, my dad?”
Julian let it go. “How long have you known him?”
“I know him.”
Julian turned to Kyle. “For how long?”
“I’m not gonna tell anybody about your stupid gun,” Kyle said, his tone matter-of-fact.
“How do I know that? We’re all friends. We don’t even know you.” Julian got an idea. “If you want to hang with us, you have to prove yourself.”
“I’ll hang with whoever I want to hang with.”
“You can’t hang with us or with Sasha unless you prove yourself.”
Sasha perked up. “Prove himself to me? Like how?”
Julian didn’t miss a beat. “He has to do what we all did, way back when. He has to play Russian Roulette.”
“Russian Roulette?” Kyle repeated in disbelief. “You guys played Russian Roulette?”
“Yes,” Julian answered without hesitation. “We all did. It’s the price of admission. Right, Sash?”
“Yes.” Sasha started laughing, turning to Kyle. “Kyle, we played Russian Roulette to hang together, and this is where we played it. It’s, like, our initiation. If you want to hang, you have to play, too. Right, David?”
David caught Julian’s eye, then turned to Kyle. “He’s right. We all played it. If you wanna hang, you have to.”
Kyle snorted. “I don’t want to hang that much.”
Sasha put her hand on Kyle’s arm. “Take a chance. We all took a chance. Even Allie.”
Allie didn’t say anything.
“Here, dude. Let’s play.” Julian grabbed the box of bullets, took one out, loaded the gun, and spun the barrel. “Now it’s got a bullet. That’s how we played. It’s your turn to play.”
“I don’t want to.” Kyle recoiled, aghast.
“Play, for Sasha.” Julian thrust the gun at him. He was hoping to send a message to Sasha, that this guy wasn’t good enough