Blackout by Chris Myers Page A

his.
    Gazing off to one side, I catch the flare in other girls’ eyes as I dance with him. They lick their lips and smile enticingly at him. He could have any one of them at least for the night. Is Lisa here with him? Does she know about Shannon?
    “You smell so good, Teal.” His nose nestles into my hair. His breath warms my neck, his touch sending shockwaves through me.
    The song keeps us close, me tangled in his arms, my breasts aching for his hands to caress them, O’s desire for her lover’s touch. I should be running, but my body begs to stay, clinging to him. All my senses breathe him in.
    His excitement presses into my pelvis. I don’t want to need him. Daddy must’ve had his reasons for the restraining order. I shouldn’t lead Dare on and add to his humiliation.
    “I want to hate you,” he whispers into my ear, “but I also want to call you mine.”
    “Why?” I don’t understand. When I was a kid, he barely tolerated me.
    “I already told you.”
    My body aches all over for him. I press my breasts against his chest, and his arousal stirs in his shorts. I don’t understand what I’m doing, but I want him in the most primitive sense. I want to be loved, not used by men like O.
    A strong hand rips me from Dare’s embrace while we dance.
    “What the hell?” I gasp.
    Shock electrifies my body, and blood and tupelo trees flash in front of my eyes. The darkness seeks me. Please not that. Stars spin around me.
    One touch from Dare straightens the world for me. “Leave her alone, Graham. She doesn’t need someone like you.”
    Graham laughs. “You mean she doesn’t need someone like you. I caught you red-handed with my girlfriend. What is it with you wanting my dates? I invited Teal and Kami here, and why are you even here?”
    Dare glances my way, disappointment flashing in his eyes.
    “Did Dare really steal Graham’s old girlfriend?” I step back from Dare toward Graham. What am I doing with Dare when Graham invited me?
    Dare had sex with Graham’s girlfriend? I shake my head. Dare is one disappointment after another.
    Dare huffs out a laugh, not hearing me but focusing on Graham. “Your girlfriend wanted it, and I gave it to her good.”
    Dare’s gaze darts to me with the pain of regret crinkling those sensuous lips that beg to be tasted. “Oh, shit,” he mutters. “Teal, I’m sorry. That was fucking stupid.”
    Graham’s fist curls into a hard ball. I touch it. “Don’t.” Dare would kill him. All those years of scrapping with his older brothers hardened him.
    “Look, I didn’t know she had a boyfriend, and she came on to me,” Dare says, gaging my reaction. He can’t make up for what he said earlier. I’d like to walk away now, but I stare at him instead.
    What happened to the Dare I admired? Is he long gone? The one who’d wrapped bandages on the snapping turtle his dog had chewed up and who’d put the baby bird back when it fell from a tree before it could fly.
    I don’t need any of this. I need to focus on me. “You should go,” I say.
    The only emotion Dare shows is a slight twitch on his lips before he turns to walk away.
    Lisa stops him. “Stay. We’ve hardly spoken, and I want you here.” Her hand runs along his arm in ownership, and a twinge of unwanted jealousy scratches me.
    In high school, lots of girls wanted to be her. Guys followed her, but she chose Dare, then why is he with Shannon?
    Lisa leads him to a gaggle of giggling girls sitting in lawn chairs. Paramedic Nan is one of them, which curls my lips into an unpleasant snarl.
    Graham clasps my hand, and I give him a stiff smile. “Let me get you a beer.” He pours me a full one. “I’m sorry about that.”
    I actually hate beer, but it provides my hands with something to do.
    After he gives it to me, he says, “Why were you dancing with him? I thought—”
    “He didn’t, and I need to know what he remembers.” I should just ask Dare. From his ever-changing mood swings, I haven’t even tried