Page 40 of How Dare You

“It’s not that hard to catch pieces of popcorn.” I’m not impressed, but the shared laughter is like a healing balm after months and months of stress.

“Not that hard,” He scoffs in mock offense. “I dare you to try to beat me.”

“Hand it over,” I reach for the bowl, throwing one up and catching it in my mouth as I come to standing.

“Show off,” he laughs, returning to his seat.

It’s a simple game, and I toss, catch and chew nine in a row with little effort as Rhett counts them off for me while grabbing beers for each of us from the cooler.

“Almost got you tied. What are you going to do then?” I ask, after catching the tenth.

He twists off the cap of my beer and sets it on the table between us. “First, let’s see if you can pull it off.”

I throw up the eleventh, and it barely misses my mouth, rolling down my chin to land in the cleavage of my fitted tank. “Now we’re tied.”

“We are not tied,” he steps closer to me, “but I am impressed.”

“You never said how I have to catch them.” I pull the errant piece of popcorn from my shirt and toss it in the fire.

His mouth drops open in offense. “Hey, I wanted that one.”

I roll my eyes and push playfully at his chest. “Don’t change the subject.”

He repeats his incorrect assertion. “The game was catching it in your mouth.”

“You never said that.” I shrug.

“That’s because you never set rules when we play games, even when I ask you to.” He takes the popcorn bowl from my hand, setting it next to my beer. “I even had to do it for our staring contest.”

He keeps doing this-bringing up that night. The first night we met. The first moment we met. He was charming and silly and nothing like the original guy I’d been on a date with. Nothing like any man in my life. Anyone in my life. He challenged me, and I couldn’t resist playing his game, being in his company. Just like now.

“Are we doing it again? Another staring contest?” Rhett asks, stepping even closer, so I have to tilt my head to maintain eye contact.

“No, we’re not,” I say, returning to my seat and leaving him to tower almost awkwardly above me. “We’re playing a far more juvenile game. Truth or Dare.”

“You have my attention,” his voice drips with salacious excitement as he returns to his own seat.

He has a point about needing structure, so I set some parameters. “Standard rules, and we each get one pass. But if we pass, we have to go with the alternate option the other person offers.”

“Anything off the table?” The predatory look in his eyes fills me with nervous excitement.

I shrug, flipping my hair over my shoulder. “Just don’t be a jerk.”

“Alright, I pick dare,” he gives the expected answer, accompanied by shamelessly running his eyes up and down my body.

I’ll start him off easy. “I dare you to go five minutes without looking at my boobs.”

“And if I can’t pull that off?” he asks.

“Forget the rules already, McCoy?” I giggle again. “Then you’d owe me a truth.”

He looks directly at my chest, smirks, and looks back to my face.

I shake my head, ready with a question. “Truth it is. This thing,” I wave a hand between us, “you’re always flirting with me, teasing me, telling me I’ll call you daddy—”

“You will,” he interjects, the command in his voice sending a tiny thrill to my stomach.

“You said I’d be calling you daddy and I’d be on my knees in that trailer—” I point toward the airstream that houses the bed we’ve been sharing. “By the end of a week.”

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