Rina snickered from next to me, and Daniel scowled before giving her a glare.
“Chits, boss,” he said to her.
When she excitedly placed both her chits into the bowl, Daniel walked away from us with an air of defiance in his steps.
Rina grinned as she looked up at me with glimmering eyes, to which I chuckled and nudged her hip with mine.
My mind was still in a buzz from that epic fucking head she’d given me. It was so unexpected, yet so damn hot that it’d left me speechless for minutes after.
Daniel had suggested that instead of doing the usual date and gifts shebang on Valentine’s Day, the whole squad should gather with their respective partners at Rina’s house to play a game ofDare. No truths, only dares. And not just any dares, either, but ones thathadto be at least slightly inappropriate, and also ‘up to the par of humorous’, according to Daniel.
He’d made each of us write two separate dares, and as I fully came to terms with what was about to happen, I realized that I hadn’t been thinking straight when I’d agreed to this shit.
Me and the crew were off work for the day, obviously. Just like I’d promised Miguel, I’d invested in installing a couple small bookshelves in the storeroom myself, and me and the crew were in the process of merging the faulty bookshelf with the spare ones we’d ordered in January from that shitty company. We had loads of materials from those shelves anyway, so we’d decided to put it all together and see if it worked.
But we’d hardly started on that bit, though, so there was still stuff to be done before the library was complete.
I sighed and looked around at everyone who was gathered. Cruz and Daniel were here with their wives; Taron and Tori were also present. Ash and Dave had come together, and because both Remi and Simran were single, they’d decided to come as a pair. Paul and Greg – those bastards – had declined coming to the mad-fest, and had instead taken their dates on a damn picnic.
A sweet,regular, Valentine’s Day picnic.
I was starting to think they’d done the right thing.
I didn’t know what level of dares I was supposed to expect from the others. Even from Rina, because when I’d asked her to let me read hers, she’d turned her back to me like those kids do in school in order to hide their test sheets.
Oh well.
The one’s thatI’dpicked, though, were simple – because, you know, I’m agoodpersonand all.
1) Eat 12 hot peppers and recite your filthiest sexual fantasy in complete detail, without taking a water or milk break.
2) Try to capture a burp or a fart in a mason jar and make your partner smell it.
See?Simple and completely doable.
Told ya I’m a nice person…
Even though business atVila do Açaíwas crazy on V-day, Rina had somehow convinced Miguel to keep the shop closed, and Daniel, our Saint and savior, had booked a VIP golf session for Miguel and his friends atThe Beverly Country Clubto keep him out of the house so that he could murder us all in this cult gathering that he’d organized.
I didn’t trust those sparkling blue eyes of his, but Rina was excited, so I had no other choice but to do Daniel’s bidding.
“People!” he called out to us. “Let’s all sit down in a circle, because the dares are in. It is game time!” He opened a kitchen cabinet and grabbed a bottle ofArdbegfrom inside it. When he turned and our eyes met, he shrugged and said, “Just in case, y’know? If the dares get intense and someone needs liquid courage.”
“It’s 10a.m., Daniel.”
He shrugged again, but slowly this time. “Your point?”
I rolled my eyes and followed Rina into the living room.
As I sat next to her on the floor, with Taron on my left, Daniel strutted over to the cult circle and sat opposite me. Brianna, his wife, was on his left, and Cruz was to his right, withhiswife, Valeria next to him.
It’d been a genuine pleasure getting acquainted with them, as they were really good people to talk to and share a laugh with. So were Ash and Dave, honestly, but I guess the former was a bitmore eagle-eyed towards me at first, clearly because it was her job as Rina’s best friend to judge my very existence until she was happy with everything she saw and heard.
I didn’t blame her.
Daniel cleared his throat, placed the chit-filled bowl in the center, and set the bottle of scotch in front of him before saying, “Are you guys ready?”
We all murmured our yeses.
