“Hey, Beau,” Cletus ignored me, stepping forward. “Duane wants to play Truth or Dare.”
I set my jaw, grimacing. Several people voiced their support for this terrible idea. Before long, someone had placed a cup in Jessica’s hand, the crowd was huddled together, and truths were being shared like STDs and unsolicited advice.
I withdrew to the edge of the group, sitting with my knees up and my elbows resting on them. I couldn’t help but watch my brother Beau with Jessica. It was like rubbing salt on a wound or shoving a hot poker up my nose. Each time she smiled at him was a knife in my heart.
She was sitting close; his arm was around her. They were laughing together. I wanted to gouge my eyes out.
Just when I’d had enough and was thinking about leaving, Tina turned to me and said, “Duane baby, truth or dare?”
She cast me a seductive gaze, her blue eyes flirtatious as she sucked on her index finger. It did nothing for me.
I shrugged and said, “I’m not playing.”
“Come on! It was your idea.” Tina pouted, appealing to the crowd.
I felt myself grimace as I ground out, “Fine. Dare.”
Most people chose truth, but I prefer dare. I couldn’t think of doing a single thing that scared me, and I’d never embarrassed easily. However, talking about myself in front of Jessica felt terrifying.
Tina squealed and clapped. She reminded me of a piglet. “Yay! Okay, good. I was hoping you’d pick dare. I dare you to come over here and kiss me.”
Someone, likely an asshole, called out, “I’ll take that dare!”
I tried not to gag.
My attention moved to Jessica. I don’t know why I did it. Some part of me, likely the asshole part that enjoys feeling like shit, wanted to see her reaction — or non-reaction.
But to my surprise, she wasn’t gazing at Beau. She was looking at Tina, and she was looking at Tina like she wanted to bury her alive. The intensity of her glare, the ice behind it, caught me off guard. Suddenly, kissing Tina didn’t seem quite so disgusting.
“All right,” I drawled.
Jessica’s eyes flickered to mine. Before she was able to hide it, I saw misery. And, if I wasn’t mistaken, I also saw jealousy.
Encouraged by the possibility that Jess might care at all about who I was kissing, I stood and picked my way through the crowd, then knelt in front of Tina. I had a decision to make.
I could give her a quick peck and move the game forward.
Or, I could kiss Tina like I wanted to kiss Jess. I could use her. I could exploit the situation and potentially push Jess out of her comfort zone, hopefully provoking some response. Something to give me a reason to hope.
Decision made, I grabbed Tina by the neck, and I kissed the hell out of her.
Pretending Tina Patterson was Jessica James was like pretending tofu was steak. Despite the disparity in quality, texture, and taste, I soldiered on. I tapped into a hell of a lot of pent-up sexual frustration and had to restrain her hands when I felt them reach for my dick. Despite all this, I ended it artfully, with lip-biting and sucking flourish.
The crowd had made noises at first, egging me on. But then they grew quiet, and I heard a few whispered, Damn, that boy can kiss and I’m next and Remind me to use my next turn on Duane.
As soon as I finished, I lifted my eyes to Jess, and what I saw made my chest hurt. But this time, it was a good hurt.
Her glare was affixed to mine, her face was bright red. Her usual charming smirk was replaced with a deep frown. Beyond all that, she was giving me a hot look.
I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand and stood, holding her gaze, and leaving Tina dazed on the blanket.
“It’s your turn, Duane,” Cletus’s voice broke the silence. He sounded cheerful…for Cletus. “Pick anyone you want, anyone at all.”
I nodded, my eyes never leaving Jessica’s, and gritted my teeth in preparation for what I was going to do next. It would require courage, the kind that risks public rejection.
“Jessica.” Her name on my lips sounded too loud. I had an odd thought just then, that I should only ever whisper her name, and that she should always be close enough to hear it. “Truth or dare?”
Her gaze narrowed. Even beneath the thick coat she wore, I could see her chest rise and fall with her breath. To drive my point home, I allowed my eyes to flicker meaningfully to Beau. I hoped she’d interpret the movement as an implied threat to expose her feelings for him.
For the record, I would never do that. I would have to be a complete idiot to do that. If Beau had any idea, he’d be a jackass to let her go. Also, it would be a betrayal. I didn’t want to betray Jessica. I wanted to cherish her.
“Dare,” she said, like she was daring me and not the other way around.
I kept my relief from showing but did allow myself a smirk. “Okay. Dare it is.”
Again I picked my way through the crowd, and again I knelt down on the blanket; but this time I was kneeling next to Jess, and she was adorably ruffled, unable to hide her anger.
“I dare you to come with me and go skinny dipping in Bandit Lake for the next hour.”
Her brown eyes widened, rimmed with shock, and the crowd erupted in opinions. I heard someone say, I should have thought of that one, that’s a good one.
“Well?” I pushed, suppressing my enthusiasm under an expression of boredom. “What’s it going to be?”
Finally she sputtered, “An hour? That lake is near freezing; we’ll get hypothermia.”
“Okay, thirty minutes then.”
“Thirty minutes?”
“Fifteen. Final offer. Or else you have to choose truth.”
A wrinkle formed above her nose, and her eyes bounced between mine. Then, abruptly, she lifted her chin and said, “Fine. I accept.”
She stood, unzipped her jacket, tossed it to Cletus, then jogged out of the circle of the bonfire’s light. I was too surprised to move at first, but then Beau punched me in the shoulder.
“What are you waiting for, dumbass? Go get her!”
I stared at my brother for a beat and saw what I’d been blind to earlier. Beau wasn’t interested in Jessica, not because she wasn't beautiful or amazing. She was. She was gorgeous. She was breathtaking. She was too good for either of us.
Beau wasn't interested in Jess, because he knew how I felt. Of course he did. We were twins. He must’ve always known.
We exchanged a brotherly grin, and he punched me again. “Go on, get.”
I nodded once then stood, toeing my boots off and pulling both my sweater and shirt over my head. I left everything but my pants in a pile on the blanket then sprinted into the woods after Jessica James.
I was always running after her, but this time I wasn't going to let her get away.
This is the fifth full-length novel published by Penny Reid. Her days are spent writing federal grant proposals for biomedical research; her evenings are either spent playing dress-up or mad-scientist with her two people-children (boy-7, girl-4) or knitting with her knitting group at the local coffee shop. Please feel free to drop her a line. She'd be happy to hijack your thoughts!
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Knitting in the City Series
Neanderthal Seeks Human: A Smart Romance (#1)
Neanderthal Marries Human: A Smarter Romance (#1.5)