It was another late afternoon at Monmouth. Blue was flipping through the pages of one of Gansey's notebooks, trying to make sense of the annotations that mentioned his Welsh King.
By necessity, she was on Gansey's bed. There weren't many other options to sit and Gansey and Adam were currently examining maps on the floor. She didn't feel particularly good at reading maps, least of all when those maps were old, creased and faded with use. Still, there was something strange about being on a boy's bed —a boy who she was not dating at that.
Adam frowned at the map in front of him, following a line with his slender fingers. Blue liked Adam's hands. From time to time, she wondered how it would feel to have those strong hands touching her. From time to time, those strong hands would be replaced by Gansey's soft, delicate touch. She felt herself blush and looked back at the notes in front of her.
It wasn't fair to Adam to have those thoughts about his best friend. Yet, Blue was a teenager, her body wanted things before her mind could direct those thoughts somewhere else. Right now, her body had ideas that involved two sets of hands and two mouths at her neck.
She frowned at the page in front of her. Gansey's messy notes seemed to be interconnected. Page 29 was a continuation of Page 10, which itself was referenced many times in between. It was a nightmare to connect the dots, but it was a good distraction from her treacherous thoughts.
Blue startled when Ronan came into the room. "I'm going out," he said, crossing the living room.
She looked up at him and saw he had changed into a black tank top and jeans, while Adam and Gansey were still in their school uniforms.
"Where are you going?" Gansey asked, glancing up from his notes.
"Out," Ronan replied, helpfully.
"Be safe," said Gansey, but Ronan was already out of the door.
"Where is he going?" Blue asked.
Gansey sighed. "I'm afraid I don't know, but it can't be anywhere good."
Adam seemed to think concern for Ronan was unwarranted at the moment. "He'll be fine."
"Racing is never—"
"He'll be fine," insisted Adam. Finally, he looked up at Blue. "Have you found anything useful in Gansey's notes?"
"Just a shit ton of references to that town that's not on any map." Adam smiled at her. "I think Gansey might have a fake town on his hands."
"Hey," Gansey protested. "It's real, okay? I know one of these maps has it."
He turned pulled another folded map out a book. Blue smiled at that. "Maybe it was just a paper town, Gansey. These maps are old enough for that to be the case."
Before Gansey could dispute Blue's theory, Adam spoke up "maybe we need a break."
"A break?" Gansey asked, as if the concept was foreign to him.
Blue closed the notebook on her lap and put it aside with Gansey's various journals. "Yeah, Gansey. What do you do to have fun in here?"
"I'm having plenty of fun," he replied.
"Let's play truth or dare," she said, unprompted.
Adam raised an eyebrow in her direction. "Truth or dare?"
Emboldened by her own suggestion, she adds "what? I've played it with all of my friends."
Blue didn't say that it had been a long time since she last played it with anyone. People in the movies played it all the time. Blue wanted to know what truths she could get out of these boys.
Gansey seemed at a loss for words, as if he had never played himself. Adam looked from Gansey to Blue and shrugged. He stood up and came to sit next to Blue on Gansey's bed.
"There's only 3 of us," said Gansey.
"Good." Adam and Blue said at the same time. Their eyes met for a moment and they smiled.
Gansey put down the pencil he was tapping against the floor, then came over to sit with them. "Who should start?"
"I think Blue should start, since this was her suggestion," Adam said.
She crossed her legs, and watched as both Gansey and Adam looked at her calves, now exposed as her skirt rode up. "Okay, shoot."
"Truth or dare?" Adam asked.
"Truth."
"Have you played this with all your friends, Blue?"
"Yes."
"Which friends?" he pushed.
"One question per person," Blue said, then turned to look at Gansey. "Truth or Dare?"
"Truth," he said, immediately. Blue sighed, of course Gansey would.
She took a moment to think of her question. If someone asked her later why her mind went down that route, she would lie and say it was random. "Have you ever kissed one of your friends?"
"Dare," Gansey replied.
"Gans?" Adam asked. Blue thought she saw curiosity and wistfulness on his face.
"I said dare," he repeated.
"That's enough answer for me," Blue said, coming to the conclusion that if Gansey had kissed one of his friends, it was Ronan. Adam's reaction was enough to tell her he wasn't on the receiving end of Gansey's lips. Blue swallowed her disappointment.
"I didn't confirm nor deny anything," Gansey protested.
"That's enough for me," she said.
"Blue—"
"I won't tell Ronan you said anything, jeez, Gansey."
"Blue—"
"It's Adam's turn, Gansey. Ask or I will take your turn."
Gansey shook his head incredulous. He turned to Adam with his beautiful big brown eyes. "Adam, truth or dare?"
"Dare."
"I dare you to—"
"I dare you to kiss Gansey," Blue said, speaking over the boy in question. She realized her mistake the second she spoke up.
Both Raven boys turned to look at her with matching surprised expressions.
"It was my turn," said Gansey at last.
"You were taking too long," Blue replied.
"That was not on the rules," Gansey continued, as if they were violating the sanctity of Truth or Dare. "What if I had another dare in mind?"
"Did you have anything in mind?" Blue asked.
"That's beside the point, what matters is—"
"We could just kiss," interrupted Adam.
Gansey opened and closed his mouth like a fish. Blue thought this was going better than expected if at least one of the boys was willing. It would be enough to fuel Blue's fantasies for weeks. Of course, her only outward reaction was to smile cheekily at Gansey.
"Adam—" Gansey started.
"It's just a kiss. It's not a big deal," Blue pushed.
"Why don't you kiss Adam then?" Gansey asked.
Blue didn't think she'd told Gansey yet. Now was as good a time as any. "Because of the curse."
Gansey frowned, ready to ask further questions, but Adam interrupted again. "Can we kiss now?"
Adam and Gansey looked at each other for what seemed like a small eternity, then Gansey leaned forward and softly kissed Adam's lips. Gansey was pulling away, but Adam's hand came to touch Gansey's cheek and he chased the boy's lips for a deeper kiss. Blue's face warmed up and her lips tingled at the sight. She watched as her Raven boys kissed, softly, almost reverently, and Blue ached.
Their kiss ended much too quickly for Blue's taste, but both boys seemed shaken by it. Adam's hand fell to his side and he turned to Blue. "Are you happy now?"
"Very."
Gansey turned to her and said, "truth or dare, Blue?"
"Truth," she said.
"What does the curse say exactly?" Gansey asked.
She rolled her eyes. "That if I kiss my first love, he's going to die. That's all there is. Gansey, truth or dare?"
"Dare."
"I dare you to tell me if you liked kissing Adam," she said. Gansey pressed his lips in a line, then nodded. "Tell me."
"I liked kissing Adam." Gansey looked directly at Blue. "What about you? Don't you want to kiss Adam?"
"I can't. It doesn't matter if I want him to or not."
"Can I kiss you?" Adam asked. "You said 'if I kiss my first love'. Can I kiss you?"
Blue didn't think curses worked on technicalities, so she shook her head. "I'd rather watch Gansey kiss you again."
"What if two people kissed you at the same time?" Gansey asked, his tone clinical. "You said 'first'. Would something happen if—"
"Gansey, unless you're offering, I'm not sure where I'll find two boys to kiss me," she said.
"I am offering," Gansey said. "If you're okay with it."
Blue's body felt hot all over. Two sets of hands oh her body, two set of lips at her neck. She tried to shut down those thoughts by trying to picture Orla in her mind, but all her mind conjured were images of her Raven boys' hands against her skin.
"Okay."
"Okay?" Adam asked, frowning.
To Gansey, she said "if you die, I won't be responsible for it."
"I offered," Gansey reiterated.
Blue took her cardigan off, exposing her arms, shoulders and neck with her low cut green top. She looked at both boys, awkwardly waiting for her to say something. "You can't kiss my lips or I'd be kissing you."
Adam and Gansey exchanged a look.
"But you could kiss my neck." She had a vision and she would not rest until it was a reality. She put her hands over her crossed legs and closed her eyes. "Okay."
Blue didn't have to wait long. She felt Adam and Gansey move around until they were each on one side of her. Soft fingers caressed the right side of her neck, and she knew, without looking, that Gansey was hyping himself up.
"Adam?" he asked.
Blue gasped when their mouths touched her neck, soft, warm and so, so right. She opened her eyes to check no one had died, but immediately closed them again when Adam's mouth moved, leaving a trail of kisses down the side. Gansey's hesitant press of the lips, became more confident when Blue didn't move away, slow and steady down the stretch of her throat, to the point her pulse was beating stronger than ever.
Adam's teeth scraped the left side of her neck, and Blue felt a surge of electricity go down her body. She hummed with pleasure when Adam's teeth nibbled at the soft skin at the base of her throat.
Blue swallowed her lust, and said, her breath catching in her throat. "Adam, kiss Gansey."
When she felt both teens pull away, she opened her eyes. They bridged the distance between them without pulling away from Blue, Adam's hand still on her arm, Gansey's shoulder pressed against her side. Gansey kissed Adam, mouth open just enough to fit against Adam's. Adam kissed him back fiercely, hungry.
Every point of contact between them felt charged, and Blue's body felt more like a conduit than ever.
The boys pulled away panting, looking at each other with surprise. Blue looked at them, her face heating up. "Do it again," she asked, demanded almost.
They kissed again, hot and bothered and real in way that the previous kisses hadn't been. Blue watched, every single one of her nerve endings on fire, the sound of their kissing loud in her head.
When they finally pulled away and looked back at her, she was trying her damn hardest to resist the pull of asking how far would Adam and Gansey go. Instead, she said, "it's Adam's turn now."
Gansey frowned, pulling away. "Was that okay?" he asked.
"Yes."
"Are you sure?" Gansey pressed.
"Oh my god, please Gansey do not ask me again. I know what I'm about," she said immediately. "Adam, truth or dare?"
"It's Gansey's turn to ask," he said.
Gansey said "truth or dare?"
"Truth."
"You want to kiss me again," Gansey said.
It was not a question, yet Adam answered "yes."
"Because Blue asked you to?"
Adam shook his head. "Because I want to."
Blue closed her eyes, and her mind was quick to come up with an image of Gansey and Adam kissing each other senseless on the same bed they were sat on. With a fluid movement, Blue took off another layer of clothing, all she had on now was a mesh top, no bra under it. Both boys blushed at Blue's bold move.
"If you're going to keep kissing, I want to keep watching," she said.
Gansey gave a curt nod, Adam was still looking at Blue's breasts under the mesh top.
"Whenever you want, Adam," she said, feeling bolder than before.
The boys didn't need more encouragement.