Page 13 of The Bully's Dare

Nick doesn’t stop glaring at me, but he obeys, pulling two High Lifes out of the cooler. He hands one to me and one to Kenzi.

I take it and swallow back my small victory. I’m not used to the taste.

Amy—all thin limbs and blonde hair—leans her body into Jason’s. She plays with the collar of his shirt. “Can I steal you for a second?”

“Sure,” Jason grins. “Be right back.”

He won’t be right back, not if the hungry look in Amy’s eyes is any indication as she drags him through the dune grass.

Kenzi plops down next to the guitarist. “So!” she says cheerfully, “Can you play anything other than Kumbaya?”

Kenzi is vivacious and bright. She might not fit the mold—Barbie-doll girls with big tits and empty heads—but she has a cutting wit and is “one of the boys” well. Maybe they can smell the entitlement on her, like a pheromone. They accept her into the group and she blends in well.

Meanwhile, I sit beside her, quietly drink my beer, and sift sand between my toes. The lower layer still retains the day’s heat.

Eventually, Kenzi and I peel off from the heat of the bonfire. We end up sitting on a dried out husk of fallen tree, drinking and watching the sea creep up.

Kenzi points at the stars. “That’s Big Bird.”

“I think you mean Big Bear.”

“No. Big Bird. Look at his beak!”

I laugh. The beers have made me hazy. “So I guess you’re going to be an astronaut when you get older, huh?”

“I might.” She turns to me. “What about you?”

“Doctor.”

“Seriously?”

I nod. “It’s all I’ve ever wanted to do. When my mom got sick…Chemo and all that. The doctors that took care of her, they were my heroes. I want to do that for someone else.”

“That’s beautiful.”

“Plus. The salary is nice.”

“Ah, there it is.”

We laugh. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Jason leave the bonfire to come join us.

He’s lost his shirt and it’s hard to avoid looking at the glint of his muscled abdomen.

“Hey, beautifuls.” Jason flops down beside us.He’s got his back on the sand and when he moves, I see it sticking to his shoulder blades.

“I think it’s flirting with you, Kenzi,” I tell her.

Jason cranes his neck back at us. “You having fun?”

“Not as much fun as you.” Kenzi pokes his side with her toes. “You have lipstick on your neck, champ.”

Jason rubs the side of his neck. “Is it my color?”

“A little bright.”

“Hey,” Jason says. “You guys wanna play a game?”

“What?”

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