Michelle and Leon were stunned. Aron thought they needed some encouragement so he cheered, "Don't be shy!"
Michelle remained frozen in place. In her ears, the sound of her racing heartbeat became louder than the noise that her friends were making. The room smelled strongly of fruits, snacks, and alcohol. Even so, she could still smell a light musk coming from Leon.
The girl felt like her heart was going to beat right out of her rib cage.
That couldn't happen, could it?
"No way." Michelle's chest heaved as she raised her hand to cover her mouth, her eyes shifting nervously.
The music continued to play. Seated on the girl's right side, Leon heard what she said and felt a little disappointed.
Unaware that Michelle was just trying to repress her feelings of anxiety, he frowned when he saw her raise her hand to cover her mouth.
The man was speechless.
Did he disgust her?
Debra and a few others wondered about that as well. How surprising! Why would Michelle dislike such a handsome man?
What was wrong with her?
However, not everyone had the same thought.
Lydia was also in shock. Aron could be such a troublemaker. It was unreasonable to demand that the two should kiss even if they were not biological siblings.
Fortunately, Michelle refused, and she was not foolish enough to say that it was just a game.
Austin felt relieved and tried to put a stop to it. "Michelle treats Leon as her own brother. Stop messing around," he admonished.
"I agree with Austin. She can just kiss another guy, right?" Lydia remarked. "The next guy in line is...Aron."
"What?" It was Aron's turn to be surprised. But since he only saw Michelle as a friend and treated her as such, he recovered quickly and boldly said, "It looks like I have to sacrifice myself. Come and kiss me, Michelle."
"No." Leon grunted and moved to stand. Austin liked Michelle. Of course he didn't want her to be intimate with another man in front of him.
But he had always liked Michelle from the sidelines. Was there any reason he could use to stop the game? As the others have already said, they were just playing. If people dared to join the game, they also had to be able to admit defeat when they lost.
Leon, however, had an excuse which he used to make everyone see reason.
"I am still here and I won't let you take advantage of Michelle. This game is too much. Her future boyfriend will mind."
Nobody dared to refute that. Aron didn't care either way. "All right."
"You just can't kiss Michelle, can you?" Debra taunted. In reply, Aron rolled his eyes at her.
Michelle remained in her seat, unable to hear anything as she tried to calm down. Eventually, her pulse slowed to a normal rate and she unclenched her fists.
"Here. Drink some water," Lydia offered, pouring a glass for her friend.
Michelle withdrew from the game and sat in the other side of the room to eat. She had a bit of watermelon, some duck neck, and a handful of sunflower seeds. Overall, she tasted a little bit of everything that was on the table—as if eating was the only way she could keep calm.
Leon also sat quietly in the sidelines, saying nothing. He glanced at Michelle from time to time. His expression was thoughtful but it revealed nothing about what he was feeling.
He had been a willing participant in similar games before and it was only reasonable that the losers received consequences. But the moment he heard that Michelle needed to kiss another man, he hated that idea with every fiber of his being.
The thought made his heart tremble as if he was standing at the edge of a cliff and he couldn't see the bottom.
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Only you in my love