“Shhh.” Chris holds up a hand, silencing him. “It’s the kick in the ass you need to get things moving in the right direction.”
“I don’t know.” I shake my head. “I can think of a thousand ways in which it could go wrong.”
Chris scoffs. “How could it go wrong? One of us picks either you or Tatum, you choose dare, we dare you to kiss, and boom. It’s that simple.”
I swallow, my stomach tying in knots at the thought of kissing Tatum. “I don’t know . . .” It fucking terrifies me. Because what if she feels nothing? I’m not sure I could handle the rejection that would follow.
“I’m not sure I want our first kiss to be a dare in front of all our friends,” I say.
Chris sighs. “You’re seriously going to police your first kiss when you’re desperate? We only have so long before we have to leave her here with him, seeing as how we play tomorrow. Who cares if the kiss is in front of people if it melts her panties?”
“Don’t talk about her fucking panties,” I growl.
The guys burst out laughing at my little outburst, and I want to kill them. All of them.
“So, you’d just rather Ethan do all the panty melting,” Jace asks with a raised brow. “Got it.”
“Fuck.” I glance back at the bonfire, homing in on Ethan’s hands on Tate’s bare skin, and I hear myself say, “Fine. Truth or Dare it is.”
The guys and I weave through the crowd while the ladies break off and head for the makeshift dance floor, past drunk couples grinding on each other and freshmen already passed out on lawn chairs. I tell myself I’m not nervous, but my heart hammers against my ribs like it’s trying to escape its prison.
The orange glow of the firelight illuminates Tatum’s face as we approach, and something in my chest tightens. Her cheeks are flushed, her movements loose and uncoordinated as she leans back against Ethan’s chest, clearly drunk as a skunk. Ihaven’t seen her like this since our senior year of high school and the sight of her?glassy-eyed and vulnerable?forms a knot in the pit of my stomach.
I pause just in front of her, feeling the warmth of the fire on the side of my face. “Mind if we join you?” I ask, trying my best to sound casual as I tuck my hands into the pockets of my jeans, but the way Ethan’s arms tighten around her waist has me feeling anything but.
Tatum glances up at me, her cornflower gaze narrowing in a way that would tell me she’s wasted if it wasn’t already entirely obvious. “There you are,” she slurs. “Finally not too busy to hang out with us?”
I frown as the guys scatter around the firepit, taking their places while I fight the urge to scoop her up into my arms, so I can carry her back to the dorms where I know she’ll be safe. Where she can sleep it off until morning. Where I can ply her with electrolytes and ibuprofen until her hangover fades.
She pats the hard ground beside her, and I sink down, ignoring her comment because I’m not really sure what to say. I know I’m being a dick by avoiding her, but being friendly with Ethan is easier said than done.
“Have you had a turn yet?” I ask, motioning toward the chick who’s shot gunning a beer for a dare.
She shakes her head with a grin. “Not yet, but so far, everyone’s being pretty civil and keeping things tame.”
“Boring, you mean. Everyone’s being pretty boring,” I correct, and she snorts, because I know how much Tate loves thesekinds of party games. She lives for them, in fact. Despite spending most of our time as just the two of us in high school, when we did go to parties, she’d do nearly anything on a dare.
A breeze ruffles a lock of her dark hair, and I inhale, breathing in the scent of her shampoo, a scent that’s floral and so uniquely Tate it makes my heart twist.
Screw Truth or Dare.
Maybe I could ask her to go for a walk? Steal her away from this circle and sober her up?
I allow the thought to ruminate as the chick across from us finishes chugging her beer with a dramatic gasp. She wipes her mouth with the back of her hand as Chris leans into her, murmuring something behind his hand, and immediately, her sharp gaze scans the circle until her eyes land on me.
“Brandon, truth or dare?”
I freeze, glancing between her and Chris, who’s wearing the most self-satisfied smirk I’ve ever seen.Fuck, he works fast.
My heart beats out of my chest as I muster my courage.
This is it.
The moment I’ve been waiting for.
The one when I’ll finally kiss Tate.
The one when everything changes.
