REND

I frowned as Deen stood on my left and held my hand—more like hugged it. She laced her fingers with mine and sandwiched my arm between her two giant marshmallow bumpers. The warmth of another human—Deen’s no longer human, but still—triggered a bolt of disgust to shoot up my spine. The sound of her breathing and the exhaled air patting my cheeks tempted me to murder my best friend.

“Can I take back my—” I began to say.

“No takebacks,” said Deen. “We’ve agreed on the compensation. Now, pay it like a good girl.”

“I don’t know what being a ‘good girl’ has to do with fulfilling obligations,” I grumbled, raising a brow at her. “But you started this whole thing by putting your legs on my shoulders.”

“What exactly did I start? Hmm? You said you weren’t bothered by—”

“I wasn’t,” I hissed back.

“The Erind I know is a very trustworthy and honorable,” Deen said in an exaggerated sing-song voice. “She won’t go back on her word, like ever. If she says something, she’ll—”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever you say.” I rolled my eyes. “Start it already.”

Deen gently brushed away the hair covering the side of my face and tucked it behind my ear. I tensed myself, bracing for a wave of repulsion to well up inside me like rising magma. Deen leaned closer. Her trademark cotton candy smell intensified—it had a calming effect. Though it did tick me off that Deen loomed over my side like a predator.

What if I transformed into Blanchette so I’d be taller than her?

Something touched my ear.

At first, I thought she was kissing me. But when I felt something tracing the curve of my outer ear, I realized it wasn’t her lips touching me. It was her tongue.

This bitch! I wanted to protest but held myself back.

That was what Deen wanted. I focused on steadying my breathing, trying to meditate like a monk on the quest for inner peace.

Deen was trying to make me react—that was her win condition.

I wouldn’t show any outward sign that she was getting to me; I wouldn’t give her satisfaction. Also, if I stopped this, she’d continue to pester me until I’d let her finish this whole bullshit. That’d prolong my suffering. As I had said, let’s get this over with.

She stepped closer, pressing herself against my side, her legs tangling mine. My blonde bitch of a best friend was a master at invading personal spaces. She reached for the right side of my head and cupped my cheek with her hand. She pulled my face closer to her.

The urge to thrash and flail crept to the front of my brain.

Was Deen going to up the ante?

The answer was no. Deen simply continued to lick the side of my ear. Up and down, up and down. I thought she would insert her tongue, but it didn’t happen. Nothing much is happening.

“I thought you were going to bite me?” I said with a half-hearted chuckle. Take the hint. Bite me, and then fuck off!

Deen didn’t reply. She pushed my chin sideways up to the left, tilting my head right. She went down my ear, settling on my earlobe.

My heart skipped a beat when I felt her teeth. She nibbled my earlobe. I swallowed my saliva and then inhaled deeply. Was my heart beating faster?

Damn it! Deen would feel that.

I held my breath. That’d slow down my heartbeat, right? Or would that make it faster? What was the body’s reaction to the lack of air? Science is hard!

Would Deen notice what I was doing? She probably would. She’d make a big issue out of it. I inhaled again, slowly and deliberately, then exhaled for several seconds.

While Deen did her thing, I examined the living room, scrutinizing Mom’s eclectic design tastes to distract myself.

Should I redesign our condo? Shades of grey would work on the walls. Were we allowed to repaint our unit? All sorts of nonsense filled my head as I endeavored to distract myself. I had no idea how long this would last. Deen seemed to be enjoying teasing me, making weird sounds.

From nibbling, she transitioned to sucking my earlobe. I breathed sharply when I felt the tug. The war was escalating.

“Ow, ow…” I said, even if it didn’t hurt. “Hey, that’s not biting.”

Again, Deen ignored me. She sucked harder, flicking her tongue over the part of my ear in her mouth. Then she released my ear and switched back to licking. Her tongue snaked inside my ear.

There was a fluttering feeling inside my stomach. I didn’t hate it. Not at all.

But I also wasn’t going to just let Deen do her thing. I tried pushing her back without using super strength. She stuck her tongue deeper into my ear.

“Okay, I think that’s enough,” I said, peeling her hand from my cheek and leaning away.

She bent down further to reach my ear. I grabbed her face, putting my hand across her mouth to cover it. I felt her tongue on my palm.

“Amber Deen Leska, that’s enough of being a pervert from you.”

“Mhmmmhmm!” She widened her eyes.

“Don’t make excuses,” I said.

Deen pried my hand off her face. I let her. “I wasn’t doing anything!” she rapidly protested, her cheeks turning red. Even her neck flushed pink. “What do you mean I was a pervert? What did I do?”

I was going to banter with her some more but seeing her blush made me aware that I might be blushing too. I did feel hot, and my heart pounded. A slight tingling coursed through my body, and my breathing was erratic. This wasn’t good—I’d lose my high ground.

“What did you do?” I said, turning away from her. “Being a pervert, that’s what.”

Deen pouted. “I did only what we agreed on.”

“That wasn’t a bite.” I pulled up the neckline of my shirt to wipe my ear, hiding my face at the same time. I was ninety percent sure I was blushing too. Would holding my breath reduce blushing? I should’ve paid more attention in science class, though I doubted this was discussed. “You inserted—and don’t you dare argue with me whether insert or poke is the term to use—you freaking inserted your pervert tongue into my ear!”

“Fayynnn…” Deen drawled. “I may have gotten a bit carried away.”

I blinked. “Really? You’re admitting you’re a pervert?”

“Hey, I didn’t say that! I’m just admitting what I did. You’re the one drawing baseless conclusions.”

I raised a brow at her, peering over my shirt as I pretended to continue wiping my ear. “And what conclusion should I draw other than you should be in jail, you pervert?”

“What you did to me during our kiss was still worse,” Deen said, puffing herself up all indignant. So obvious she was faking it.

Fixing my shirt, I asked, “So, you’re saying you did it as revenge?”

“Um… sure. That’s my official response.”

“Officially pervert,” I grumbled.

“It wasn’t so bad, was it?” Deen playfully asked.

I faced her and shrugged. “I guess not…” I hoped my blushing had subsided.

“I’m glad you liked it.” A huge smile curved across Deen’s face. “I enjoyed nibbling on—”

“Woah, wait a moment,” I cut in. “How did ‘it’s not so bad’ turn into me liking it? That’s like magnitudes in difference.”

Deen blinked. “I just assumed… Anyway, I’ll ask you straight. Did you like me biting your ear?”

I glared at Deen.

She poked my cheek. “You did, didn’t you?”

I grabbed her finger. It took mountains of self-control not to break her finger as I lowered her hand. “I should be the one asking questions. Deen, why do you like biting my ear? What’s up with that?”

“Because your ears are cute,” she promptly answered without hesitation as if telling me the weather.

“That’s it? You’re cute, but you won’t find me biting—whoops, I did bite you.”

“I can still feel your teeth on my thighs,” she said, making a face as she looked down at her leg. I noticed that she didn’t try to be modest about me calling her cute.

“That sounds like something a pervert would say,” I said. Deen shot out a finger to poke my sides. I evaded left, shooing her hand away. “Tell me the real reason, Deen. You owe me that. I’ll forgive you for inserting your tongue into my ear if you tell me the truth.”

“If you must really know…” She sighed. “Then, okay. I’ll tell you. I find your ear cute and beautiful. Like a pale white shell in the sea of your black hair.”

“Sounds poetic,” I dryly commented.

“When I see you, I think of a doll—”

“Yeah, you said that—”

“I’m not done. Don’t interrupt.” Deen sent a couple more missile fingers to tickle me. “I think of you as a porcelain doll. Like you are super delicate and… and back to your ear before I say something that does make me a pervert.”

“What’s that supposed to—?”

“Your ears are soft even though you’re a porcelain doll. And that’s cute.”

“That’s because I’m not a doll, you weirdo,” I said. This bitch was messing around with me. I couldn’t believe I fell for all her bullshit. I honestly thought she was going to tell the truth.

“Well… you are to me.” Deen stuck her tongue out.

“I’m not going to pretend I can follow your thought. But what does all of that has to do with you biting my ear?”

“How about you bite my ear and find out?”

“Huh? Me… bite your ear? No way I’m—wait.” I narrowed my eyes as I scanned her face. Deen wanted an escalation of our war? I’d give her that. She’d regret starting this. “I’ll take you up on that offer.”

Deen took a step back. “You look like you have something planned. Can I take back my—?”

“No takebacks.”