The Dare by Rachel van Dyken Page A

unintentionally put one
of his players out of commission for the rest of the season.
    "Who are you here with?"
    "My cousin." I swallowed nervously.
    He peered around me at Beth and chuckled.
"She doesn't look like your cousin."
    "Not her." I ground my teeth together. "She's
just… a friend."
    Behind him, my cousin waved frantically.
    "Look, I gotta run. My date needs me." Geez,
it wasn't like I was getting secret plays from Beth or anything. I
turned and gave her hand a quick squeeze. "It was fun."
    She gave me a sad nod, and I walked away.
    When I looked back, she was gone.
    The sound of the alarm jolted me out of the
dream. Why the hell was I dreaming about that now? I smacked the
alarm clock with my hand and peeked over at Beth. She was sleeping
like the dead, too beautiful for her own good, and I was horny as
hell from that damn dream. I shouldn't have walked away. I should
have gotten her number. Not that it would have changed a damn
thing. People didn't date in high school and then get married right
away anymore. At the time, I'd still believed in love at first
sight. Hell, I'd thought it had been love; the rest of the memory
was painful as hell. My therapist said my mind had somehow pushed
the rest of the night out of my consciousness; he'd said accidents
had a way of doing that. I was protecting myself. But from what? I
wasn't sure.
    When I'd woken up in the hospital, I was
changed — everything had changed. My
parents had said I wasn't the same, but I had no idea why. It had
made me even more paranoid about pleasing them, about getting
things right. Getting my career right.
    Speaking of careers, I grabbed my phone from
the nightstand and was rewarded with a low-battery signal. I got up
to grab my bag then remembered that I didn't have a bag. The same
checked bag that had yet to appear.
    My guess was that Grandma was holding it
hostage. Or maybe Jake and Travis. Those bastards must have known.
And how the hell did the woman have this planned a month ahead of
time? A month ago I was saying yes to her scheme with Char and
Jake.
    A light bulb flickered on in the darkness of
my brain.
    I'd said yes.
    That's where I'd gone wrong. I should have
stayed far, far away.
    Russia. I should have moved to Russia.
    "Beth." I nudged her a bit.
    She was lying on her stomach, wearing the
outfit from the night before. She stretched, her shirt inching up
on her body, exposing her flat stomach and a slight scar where her
appendix had obviously been.
    She moaned again and lifted her arms high
above her head.
    The shirt followed.
    So did my eyes.
    I blinked a few times, fascinated with how
smooth her skin looked. I wanted to touch it — to hell with that, I wanted to lick it. Had I licked
it the other night?
    "Jace.
    Her voice was low, sexy as hell, raspy. Shit,
I was in trouble.
    "What?"
    "Do we have to go to couples' therapy?"
    "Aw, sweetheart, backing out already? Where's
your balls?"
    "I don't want balls." She yawned. "I just
want a damn charge. I have girl parts. I talk a big game. I use big
words. Right now, I want a big-ass coffee and a big sleep."
    "Stop saying big."
    My body was responding to that word in a very big way, and I was already struggling after watching her
yawn and stretch and mew all over the place.
    "Fine. Large. I want a large coffee, a
large — "
    I covered her mouth with my hand. "Let's
establish mornings as quiet time. A time of reflection, and
thinking, and — "
    She bit my damn hand.
    "Coffee."
    "Bite marks." I showed her my hand.
    "Woo me."
    She fell back onto the bed in a heap, and I
had to admit I liked the bossy attitude. I got up and started
fumbling with the Keurig.
    The shower turned on.
    "I'm so proud!" I yelled without turning
around. "You turned it on all by yourself."
    And I turned myself on by saying turn
on. Damn curse! I gave myself a little shake and placed the cup
under the spout.
    "Aghhh… mother of — "
    Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump .
    Absolute silence then an ear splintering,
"Jace!"
    I