The kiss barely lasted a second before Deen let go of my face and pulled away—just a cowardly peck on my lips. If I had my eyes shut, I would’ve thought a passing wind brushed me. After all that teasing, Deen didn’t have the guts to escalate things.

She was going to lose the war if that was her limit.

Deen opened her eyes. Our eyes met. She stepped back and quickly averted her gaze. She covered her mouth with the back of her hand. Her cheeks had a tinge of pink.

“Why did you close your eyes?” I said, giggling. Time to mess with her. “Such a weirdo.”

“Huh?” Deen’s brows furrowed. “Like, was I supposed to keep my eyes open when we kissed? That’ll be majorly weird.”

“Closed eyes are for intimate kisses,” I said.

“No, they’re not.” She dropped her hand as she rapidly replied. “I mean, yes, they are. But I didn’t close my eyes to get intimate with you. Gosh, that’s so embarrassing to say. I closed my eyes because that’s what people do when kissing on the lips.”

I wagged a finger at her. “That’s what lovers do.”

“Nuh-uh.”

“Well, whatever.” I clasped my hands behind my back and moved closer to her. Thrusting my chin up, I locked eyes with her and said, “Another.”

“Another what?”

“Kiss.”

“Wha-what?” My best friend blushed even more, her nose turning a darker shade of pink.

Seeing her reaction filled me with a sense of power. I had tried making guys blush, never a girl, unless I was manipulating someone to get socially humiliated—in that case, crying would follow the blushing.

Embarrassing someone if there were only two of us was much more complicated than embarrassing someone in public. The latter case was playing to the crowd—humans are social creatures; it is instinctual to get affected by the reaction of many others. The former was needling the person’s mind—a fun challenge.

I kept silent, continuing to look up at Deen. She couldn’t meet my eyes. I pity her for being the only outlet for my newfound hobby. Her fault for agreeing to live with me.

“Another kiss on the lips?” she said, a notch above a whisper.

“Don’t tell me you’ll leave me with that super lame attempt at a friendly kiss.”

“I was… I was…” She took another step back.

I pointed to my lips as I closed our gap. “Did you know the lips have a ton more nerve endings compared to our fingers? Lips are like a hundred times more sensitive than our fingers. Don’t quote me on that, though. I suck in science class. And also math. Anyway, I kinda didn’t feel your kiss.”

“I did kiss you.”

“Yep. If I had my eyes closed, I would’ve thought you tapped my lips with your finger.”

“Are you… are you sure you’re okay with another kiss?” Deen asked. “I thought you hate touchy-feely stuff? You don’t like it when I hug you.”

I shrugged. “Last time I checked, kissing and hugging are not the same. I’m fine with a kiss, so long as you don’t hug me. Even better if you don’t hold my cheeks while we do it.”

“I-I see… I won’t hold you.” Deen took a deep breath.

“I’ll close my eyes if that makes you feel comfortable,” I said. “Though you wouldn’t know if I did because you’ll have your eyes closed too.”

She weakly chuckled. “Close your eyes so you won’t see—erm, to make it less weird.”

“Ready?”

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Deen nodded.

I closed my eyes.

Our noses bumped.

“Sorry,” Deen mumbled.

I opened one eye. Our faces were an inch apart. “That’s what we get for closing our eyes,” I said.

“Whatever. Now, close your eyes, and let’s get this over with.”

Looks like our roles are reversed. I had a smile on my face as something soft bumped my lips. Then the pressure increase. I pushed my lips against hers, matching her intensity. Her sweet scent filled my nose. There were puffs of air on my left cheek. That made me conscious of my own breathing and that I was inhaling her breath.

I tilted my head right to avoid her nose. That also changed the position of our lips. I positioned my lips into the gap of hers, having a better lock.

It might be my imagination, but I could feel Deen’s rapidly beating heart through her lips. Was that possible? Did the lips have blood vessels? I could bite to see if it’d bleed. No, I remember that lips did bleed. A cut lip was a common movie injury of the good guy after a fight scene.

Five… six… seven… Deen broke our kiss.

“Seven seconds,” I said, opening my eyes. “And yeah, I can feel it this time.”

“Was that okay?” Deen breathlessly asked. I had no idea why she was so worked up. She was fine with all the touchy-feely stuff before. Why was this any different?

Whatever the reason for her reaction, it was clear I had the power in this situation. And I wasn’t letting it go that easily. “So that kiss was my apology for spanking you,” I held up one finger. “Or, what was that you said? Sledgehammered your ass?”

“Yup, that’s it,” Deen said. “Are we done? I think I’ll—” She was about to retreat, but I grabbed the hem of her shirt.

“Wait. One more.”

If the enemy is retreating, it is time to press your advantage—some bullshit quote I made up. This wasn’t about our teasing wars anymore. This bitch already lost after our first kiss. I was just enjoying myself here. I did deserve a return to form manipulating people’s emotions. Something normal after all the abnormality I’d been through. It was a whole new ball game making someone embarrassed. Pretty lighthearted… so it’s fine.

One more kiss and I’d be done messing with Deen. For now, anyway. I wanted to get some breakfast first and maybe something sweet. Then I’d call Mom to check up on her.

“Wha—? Why one more?” Deen said.

“As I said, that other one was the apology kiss,” I explained to her. “A separate kiss as my advanced sorry for all the future bullying I’ll do.” I held up two fingers, my other hand still holding onto her shirt.

“I thought that was already included—”

“I really hurt you with that spank. One kiss for that. Another one for the future times I’ll bully you again.” I grinned at her.

“Here’s an idea,” Deen said, poking my side. She was finding her confidence back. I squirmed but didn’t let go of her shirt. “How about you don’t bully me?”

“I can’t promise that,” I replied. I twisted my fist in her shirt, tugging on it more.

It tightened around her breasts as I yanked it down. Deen bowed a bit. I could see in her eyes that she was hesitant. Her whole face was painted pink, even her forehead. But she wasn’t trying to leave. Just slightly resisting the pull on her shirt.

“You’re such a bully today,” she whispered.

“And here is my sorry.” I grabbed her head, both my hands cupping her cheeks.

She gasped but didn’t say anything.

Slowly, I pulled her face to mine. She stammered, not forming any coherent words. This was the first time I got this reaction from anyone. She looked so ridiculous. So fucking funny! And I had an idea how to make it even funnier.

Our lips met for the third time. I stood on tiptoes to press my lips hard against hers. One… two… three…

Slowly, Deen relaxed. Again, I tilted my head to have a good lock on her lips, like jigsaw puzzle pieces put together. Four… five…

Deen tried to break the kiss. I held her in place.

“Mhmm!” she protested.

I dug the base of my palms into her cheeks, feeling the gap between her upper and lower teeth. I continued pushing into her cheeks to loosen her jaws. Six… seven…

Then I forcibly wiggled my tongue between her teeth, forcing them apart. Deen inhaled sharply. Time to execute my plan. I blew air inside Deen’s mouth, our lips locked so it wouldn’t escape. I felt her cheeks balloon. Opening my eyes, I was greeted by a puffer-faced Deen.

She swatted my hands away and retreated to the door.

I laughed. “You should’ve seen your face. It’s really so—”

“Erind!” Deen turned into a strawberry. “Why the fuck did you do that?”

Uh-oh. She sounded furious. “It was just—” Deen turned around before I could finish my sentence and stormed out of the room. “—a joke.”

I raised a brow. What was she so angry about? Was I a bad kisser? I touched my lips.

“Wait… did I have bad breath?”