Page 71 of Flower

“A game that involves tongue?” she drawls, quirking a brow. “A game where our lips were pressed together longer than what was necessary? And If I remember correctly, I was the one who had to force us both to come up for air.”

My gut clenches at the image she is planting in my mind of her and Mason’s lips locked together. With him kissing her the way he kisses me. I shouldn’t be bothered by it. Logan and I went a lot further than kissing, but it’s the fact that Mason lied about his past with Lily, and now I’m being blindsided by it.

Lily’s eyes land on mine, brimming with smug satisfaction. “Can’t say I blame you. He’s a good kisser, isn’t he?”

“Lily,” Mason snaps. “Cut it out. What the hell is wrong with you? It wasn’t like that, and you know it.”

Lily rolls her eyes. “You and I both know that’s not true but seeing as you’re trying to avoid upsettinglittle miss off-limitshere, I suppose I will let it go.”

Letting out a huff, she reaches for her bag and stands up, placing it on her shoulder. “I would suggest you both be a little more discreet from now on. You wouldn’t want that lovely ex-boyfriend of yours to find out, Ava. I think we all know what would happen if he does.”

She gives us another sweet smile, like the psycho she is before sauntering off out of sight, and my whole jaw locks as I try to stop my teeth from grinding together. Mason leans forward, running his hands over his face and letting out a deep sigh.

“You lied to me,” I seethe, pinning him with a glare, and his eyes shoot to mine. “You told me nothing happened between you two.”

“Nothing happened.”

“You kissed her. Something happened,” I bite back.

“It was spin the bottle. It wasn’t a real kiss.”

“You stuck your tongue in her mouth and wouldn’t take it out. Sounds like a real kiss to me,” I mutter and fold my arms across my chest. Amusement flits across his face, and the sight of it instantly makes my blood boil. “This isn’t funny, Mason.”

“I’m not laughing.” He bites his lip, holding back a smile, and I narrow my eyes. The asshole thinks this is funny. He’s trying to hold back a smile as we speak. “It’s just cute when you’re jealous.”

“Ugh! That’s it, I’m leaving,” I snap and rise to my feet, but before I can put one foot in front of the other, he grabs me around the waist and pulls me back down.

“Baby, don’t go. I’m sorry, okay?” he croons, trying to placate me, but I turn away in indignation. “Look, I promise you it wasn’t like that. She’s exaggerating the whole thing. It honestly didn’t happen the way she described it.”

I turn back to him and fold my arms. “What actually happened then?”

“Two years ago, I went to Grant’s house for a group study session. Lily, Emily Myers, and Antonio Rossi were there. After three hours of hitting the books, we got bored, so Lily suggested we liven things up a bit by playing spin the bottle like all the cool kids do.”

“I should have known,” I grumble sarcastically. “I’m surprised she didn’t suggest seven minutes in heaven.”

“Well, as you already know. The bottle landed on me, and we kissed.”

I inhale through my nose.

He gives my hand a squeeze and continues, “Butshewas the one who stuckhertongue inmymouth. And to be honest, I thought she was trying to kill me with it.”

I press my lips together, trying not to laugh at the thought of Lily trying to kill Mason with her tongue.

“And I was the one who pulled back because I thought she was trying to suck out my soul. She scared the shit out of me.”

My shoulders shake, and unable to hold it in anymore, I burst out laughing. “Are you serious? She made it sound like your kiss was a scene fromThe Notebook.”

“Trust me, it was more like a scene fromAlienswhere that ugly-ass parasite attaches itself to your face and plants shit down your throat,” he grinds out, and I hold my sides, erupting into a fit of giggles. “Perhaps that’s what she was trying to do with her tongue. I put up a good fight, though. I think Grant thought he had it worse, though. He was forced to kiss Antonio.”

“What?” I gasp. “Are you serious?”

“Yep, I never thought it was possible for someone toliterallyturn green, but somehow Grant managed to pull it off. He looked like he was two seconds away from hurling. Antonio, on the other hand...” He trails off and rubs his chin as if thinking back. “He actually looked pretty pleased about the kiss.”

“You guys do realize that when the cool kids play, they actually skip when the bottle lands on the same sex, right?”

“But that’s breaking the rules.” He frowns.

“Those are the rules,” I point out, and he shrugs.