Chapter 5

• /Samantha/
• He breezed past me, apparently out of nowhere, and crossed the finish line in front of me. It wasn't even close; he must have outrun me by at least thirty feet in the process.
• It's a damn shame!
• But we didn't stop running right away; instead, we slowed to a jog and continued running for another few minutes before slowing down once more to walk across the finish line. As I collapsed to the ground in the grass, resting on my back beneath the shade of a tree, gasping for air, I was absolutely weary. His entire body fell on top of me, forcing me down into the chilly hard ground and causing the grass to touch the back of my bare torso. He wasn't particularly heavy, so it's likely that he was relieving his weight off of my shoulders.
• He chuckled as I attempted to push him away, but my body was exhausted and my muscles were refusing to work with each other. Then he tormented me, wagging his head like a dog and letting perspiration fall from his brow onto my cheek, plopping it on my brow.
• "You always come out on top! Perhaps one day we'll come upon a wager that isn't so one-sided. Please keep in mind that I am a female and that my legs are shorter than yours." I whimpered, my voice out of breath.
• "I've taken note," he said, a wicked smirk on his face. I pushed him in a fun manner once again, but he only chuckled and smiled at me. "And now, regarding my award......"
• I let out a moan. "All right, that's OK. Who? Please don't make it into a teacher or anything, because I'm not going to do that. And I truly don't want it to be a female!" I groaned, snorting and chuckling at the same time as I turned my nose up.
• His response was lighthearted: "No, I'll make it much simpler for you than that."
• I closed my eyes, scratching my head, wondering why I had done this in the first place. His bets were never profitable for me. "Okay, so who do I have to kiss?". I went through it again.
• As I cooled down, I could definitely feel the chilly earth beneath my feet and the wind blowing through my hair. Shivering, I threw my arms around his waist, pushing him closer to me so that I might benefit from his body heat. As his warmth sank into me, his hot breath fanned over my face and I smiled as I recognized the delicious aroma of strawberry flavoured candy, which was his favorite, every inch of him crushed against my body. Despite the perspiration on my brow, he grinned and brushed it away.
• Oh my God, I must be gorgeous right now, despite the fact that I'm dripping wet - but then again, this was Henry, and he saw me like this on a daily basis. And I don't mind his perspiration; in fact, it made him appear even sexier when he was sweating profusely and breathing heavily. Is it possible that I just said anything like that about my dearest friend? I mentally smacked myself on the back of the head and gazed at him with anticipation. He had a strange smile on his face as he looked at me. Oh my God, did he just figure out what I was thinking?
• “Henry? "Can you tell me who I have to kiss?" I repeated myself, hoping to shift the conversation away from him in case he could genuinely read my thoughts and realized I was thinking about him in a weird manner, and not in a best buddy sense.
• "A proper kiss, complete with tongues," he emphasized, nibbling the inside of his cheek. With a nod and a sigh, I rolled my eyes. I remembered the blundering wager! David Danielding his head gently to the ground, he said quietly, "Me."
• I went completely still. What? He was about to kiss me, and I was like, "Oh no!" My dearest friend was about to kiss me on the lips! The closest he was to me was just an inch away, and I could feel his breath brushing across my lips. I stopped in place, completely taken aback by what was happening.
• At that moment, he moved and grabbed my chin, tilted my head to one side, and sucked hard on the back of my neck. I laughed at the thought of it; he had a way of making me laugh whenever he did anything like this. In an attempt to push him away, I lifted my hands, but he just grasped my wrists and trapped them over my head, and continued sucking on the same location. Eventually, he drew back and stared at it, a satisfied grin on his face as he did so.
• "What the heck was it for?". I inquired, my voice cracking up once again.
• He appeared to be extremely pleased with himself. Then he kissed my forehead and climbed off of me, bringing me up with him. "Just claiming my territory," he said. As we began to walk back, he slung his arm around my shoulder and smiled. "Do you feel cold?" he inquired.
• In answer, I gave a nod. "So, that was all in good fun?" I inquired in hushed tones. Is it possible that he didn't truly want me to kiss him?
• “Here.” The man took off his T-shirt and placed it around my back in an attempt to keep me a bit warmer. I maintained my face ahead and attempted, but failed, to take my gaze away from his magnificent form. It looked like he was sweating profusely all over his well-muscled chest, and I watched as a droplet of perspiration made its way down his abdomen. Prior to realizing what I was doing, I reached out with my index finger and wiped it off, leaving my hand there for a fraction of a second longer than was necessary.
• Oops! What was that in the first place? I clenched my teeth and raised my eyes to his; he was wearing the same anguished face he had had outside the locker room.
• I managed a shaky smile. "Sorry, you, um, had a bug on you," I lied, my voice squeaky with embarrassment.
• After clearing his throat, he murmured gently, "Thank you very much for getting rid of that for me." "Do you want to see a movie tonight?" "Can I get you a pizza?" he said, gratefully diverting the conversation away from the bizarre chest caressing I'd just performed.
• I couldn't help but smile at the concept. Yes, absolutely! The last time I had a movie night was almost a month ago, and I was looking forward to it. "Yes, without a doubt. "You bring the ice cream, and I'll provide the popcorn," I said, a grin on my face. That was the standard procedure.
• "I'm in possession of Paranormal Activity 3. "I just picked it up yesterday."
• "Did you do it? What was the reason for your purchase? "I'm not sure why you dislike ghost movies," I said, perplexed.
• He shrugged his shoulders. "I was aware that you were interested in seeing it."
• I exhaled a contented sigh. I adored my best buddy to bits; he was always so lovely and attentive to me, and I adored him even more. With a skeptical look on my face, I negotiated, "Hell sure, as long as you don't make fun of me if I jump, scream, or do anything," I said.
• Infelicitously clutching my shoulder while seeming to be injured, he replied, "Hey, when have I ever made fun of you for leaping during a scary movie?"
• "Hmm, give me a minute to ponder!" We were watching The Exorcist or White Noise at the time. Oh, and there was that time we saw Shutter together. "You couldn't stop laughing at me about it for days!" I sulked a little.
• He couldn't stop himself from laughing. "Oh, absolutely! ". That was hilarious, thank you so much. You should have seen the expression on my face. 'Holy freaking shit, Henry! You've done it again! I'm completely terrified! That was fantastic," he exclaimed, laughing his head off as he did a horrible mimic of my voice and recounted my horror word for word. "Check the closet!" I smacked his naked chest harder than I had anticipated, resulting in a loud slapping noise in the process. Then he laughed and rubbed his chest while still laughing. "Ouch, Samantha Bear, that stung," he said.
• "Oh dear baby, did you get harmed by a huge evil girl?" My baby voice mocked him as I reached out and touched his chest, where I'd smacked him, to make him laugh. I didn't want to move my hand away from his skin since it was so smooth and warm under my palm. I was having much too much fun with it. It took all of my strength to keep my hand away from my mouth and bite my lip, wondering what on earth was wrong with me today. As soon as we returned to the locker room, I grinned as I made my way to the girls' locker room to join the others. While untying the knot at the back of his T-shirt that I was wearing, I proposed that I take it home and wash it for him.
• I started to walk away, but he grabbed my hand and forced me to turn around to face him again. "I'm sorry, Samantha, but the answer is no. "I wasn't kidding when I said that." In the end, he turned away from me, leaving me standing there perplexed, like if I had done something wrong.
• What was it that he wasn't kidding about? What about the movie? Is it true that you're not playing a joke on me? I sighed and walked into the showers, not bothering to think about it because Henry might be a little perplexing at times.
• "Hey, Samantha, would you be interested in trying out to be a cheerleader?" I was finishing up my getting ready when a gorgeous blond girl chirped, "We have an opening."
• "I'm sorry, but I'm not interested. "I'm not really a good cheerleader." Then I smiled nicely and shook my head.
• "Oh, well, you're aware that cheerleaders have access to all of the hottest males." Henry is a member of the football squad. In order to get his attention and date him, you'd have to be a cheerleader, she added. "She was a little harsh on you," she remarked.
• That sentence drew a sigh from me. "I don't have to be the best friend's cheerleader in order for her to notice me, believe me."
• "Best buddy, that's correct. I'm aware of the way you two conduct yourself. For goodness sake, you branded him, and he didn't seem to notice or care. When she sneered at me, she snapped, "If one of us had done that, he would have freaked," she said.
• I merely shrugged my shoulders. "It was only a joke, and I knew it would make him laugh," I tucked my hair back into a sloppy bun for the second time.
• She took a deep breath and exhaled loudly. "What the hell is that?" she exclaimed, pointing at the back of my head.
• When I glanced in the mirrors, I noticed that I had a large purple hicky on my neck. "You're a son of a b*tch!" This is going to take an eternity to complete. I was whining and poking it, as if prodding it would make it disappear. "I'm going to murder him," I said, poking it.
• "Did Henry give you that?" the young lady said, her eyes wide with surprise. I nodded, wrinkled my nose up, and said nothing. That jerk was going to have to pay for all of this! I had planned to wait until he was sleeping before jumping on him later tonight.
• "Wow, that's the first time I've ever seen him brand somebody," the young lady observed quietly. "You must be a fantastic screw," she remarked, widening her eyes as she looked at me.
• I was taken aback and stared at her. "He's one of my closest friends!" It was all a joke, after all; I've never had sexual relations with him."
• That wasn't really accurate; I'd had several sexual encounters with him, but I'd never had intercourse with him before. In reality, I'd never had sexual relations with anyone before. I'd never done anything more than kiss someone before. With a doubtful expression on her face, the young lady stared at me as if she didn't believe a word I'd said. Then she turned and rushed out of the room, appearing to be on the verge of tears. I sighed, unable to figure out what I had said incorrectly.