All thoughts of Jason—of the embarrassment and upset he caused—vanished when I focused on Dare standing in front of me, watching me with those liquid-honey eyes. My heart thudded heavily in my chest, whispering all of the wishes it wanted fulfilled, things I couldn’t bring myself to speak.
Dare went to say something but caught himself. “Guy’s really stupid, that’s for sure. To pick Brighton over you. Won’t take him long to realize he fucked up.”
“It’ll be too late,” I assured him, my nerves dancing and belly swirling with a growing need that consumed me from the inside out. “I won’t take back someone who treats me like that. I know my worth.”
Dare cut a look to me, a slight smile on his face, like that news had made him happy.
“That’s good,” he said in a deep rumble that made me want to hear him read thenaughtiestpassages from a steamy sex scene in a romance book.
I felt parched—for him. I was anythingbutsure of myself, despite the front I was putting on. “Are we gonna drink that?” I asked, glancing at the whiskey on the small patio table behind him. Dare picked it up and twisted the cap off, holding it out to me.
I pressed my lips to the bottle and took a gulp, the liquid burning my throat as it traveled down, eyes sliding to him for another peek. He was still watching me, amber-coloured irises drinking me in as I swallowed and licked my lips, tasting the whiskey on them.
CHAPTERFIVE
Connor
There wasan age gap between the two off us: nearly six years. I’d been just a little kid when Dare started hanging out with my brother. I’d always had a bit of a crush on him—who hadn’t—but that crush grew into a fan obsession when I was fifteen, about a year after they left on tour, when their popularity had exploded across the country.
The Forgotten Flounders wereeverywhere, in posters hung out about the town, and they were on gossip websites and entertainment outlets regularly.
I’d been like every other teen girl in the world, crushing on a member of a popular band. But even when I pretended it wasn’t more than a simple fan infatuation, I knew it was so much more.
I cared for him because he was fiercely loyal to my brother. I cared for him because he was sturdy and collected in ways I wasn’t. I cared for him because he was kind to people—genuinely kind—unless they pissed him off or hurt someone who mattered to him.Thenhe rose to the defense.
He was a man who knew how to temper his emotions, to think before he acted. He wasn’t an untethered hurricane, he was a gentle thunderstorm, his rains sent to nourish the lands. He was strong and caring, and all of those qualities had pulled me to him. I was proud to know therealDare McKenzie, the one the media didn’t get.
Over the last few years, the way he’d act around me had shifted. He no longer acted like a bonus big brother. He kept a respectable distance, he no longer smiled easily, or joked around in my presence. Even thewayDare looked at me had changed. His glances felt covert and he seemed almost pained in my company. I used to wonder if it was because I annoyed him, but now…the energy around us suggested otherwise.
Analyzing how he was looking at me, I knew he wanted me. He was just afraid to act on it.
Finished with my long sip, I held out the bottle for him. He’d shifted closer while I drank, so his body faced mine and we were separated by a foot. He reached for it while I lowered it, causing his fingers to slide against mine. Gently, he tugged the bottle from my grip.
The air between us seemed to crackle with electricity. He drank deeply, taking several slow, deep swallows of whiskey before setting it down on the table beside him. His eyes never left mine.
Our bodies were having the conversation our voices wouldn’t have. My breathing increased, my chest rising and falling a little more rapidly than a moment before, desire flooding my senses. I held his gaze, half on a dare—pardon the pun—and half because I couldn’t bring myself to look away.
The longer I held his gaze, the harder it was to ignore what pulsed between us at a frequency I’dneverexperienced before. We were playing a dangerous game, and I didn’t want to back out.
My nipples hardened into sharp points beneath his lust-filled gaze, and his pupils dilated, his own breath catching. I was sure he couldn’t see my nipples through his sweater, so it wasn’t that…it was like he tasted my desire in the air and was reacting to it.
I’d had sex before—plenty of times—with a few different guys. Despite how lackluster some of those experiences were, I knew how to tell when a guy was aroused by me. Every sign pointed to the fact Dare McKenzie wanted me, and I wanted him too.
Why not? You already trust him…the mischievous voice whispered within.You’ve wanted him for so long…
And really, six years wasn’tthatbig of an age difference. But I was a relationship kind of girl, and Dare hadn’t dated seriously in all the years I’d known him. I’ve never casually slept with someone, and I’d never hooked up with a friend. Yes…he was my brother’s best friend technically, not mine, but the voice in my head was right: I trusted him.
Despite that trust, there were a thousand reasons why it was a bad idea. It could hurt Cal, for one thing, and—not that I was counting on anything coming of it—but if itdidgrow into something more than one night, my father would not be on board.
Dad pretty much despised Dare. He had tolerated Cal’s friends when they were all kids, but the older they all got, the less patience he had for them. Dare had been the one creating and posting the music videos to the band’s YouTube.
It was Dare’s idea to drop the EP there, garnering the attention of an agent with Maple Records. That agent then flew out to watch The Forgotten Flounders perform at the Harbour Folk Festival, determined to sign them.
It wasn’t every day an agent from a big recording label showed up with an opportunity of a lifetime, and it didn’t take my brother and his friends long to decide at all. The label had been desperate to get them to fill a spot on an already-in-motion tour, and they’d been just as desperate to go on tour.
Sleeping with my brother’s best friend would be a mistake; it’d make things awkward for everyone we cared about. But my self-esteem had just taken a serious hit, and I wanted to forget about Jason and how shitty it felt to be betrayed like that.
There was a very real possibility I was looking for an escape in a dangerous place, but it was difficult to tell myself to stop. The way Dare looked at me, like he was completely under my spell, was something I’d always wanted from him. I couldn’t believe it was happening. I used to lay awake at night and wonder what it felt like to havehishands on me, to feelhislips on mine.
