Page 24 of The Bully's Dare

“Okay…besides pantie-dropping. Why else?” I ask.

“And…I don’t know.” He shrugs. He turns his focus back on the plates, works on soaping and scrubbing. “I’ve had a good life. I guess I just…want to give something back. Make a difference.”

The way he says it…it’s like it’s something shameful. Like his heart of gold is something that is meant to be hidden away underneath his bed, behind his porn collection.

“So why don’t you?”

“My dad says if I want to do something good, I should do what he does. Make millions and donate to a good cause.”

I shrug. “That’s one way to do it, sure. But is that what you want?”

His jaw tightens. “I don’t know.”

I scoff. “I don’t buy it.”

He narrows his eyes at me. “What?”

“If you want to join…just do it. Screw your dad. You’re Jason King. You get everything you want.”

He doesn’t take his eyes away from me. “Not everything.”

I let out a light laugh. My turn to examine my plate. “Wow. Are you really hitting on me over the sink?”

“Well, you are already wet…”

He closes his fist and opens it fast, flicking water at me. I yelp and put my hand on his chest, giving him a shove. “Dick!”

He’s so solid, has so much muscle mass, that my shove barely makes him sway.

It suddenly occurs to me that my hand is still on his chest—hard, and full of muscles—and like this, we’re close. I don’t move away. Neither does he.

“I like you,” he confesses suddenly. It sounds simple the way he says it, yet I feel like the floor has been yanked from under me, and I’m floundering in the water below.

“Why?”

“You’re different.”

“Different? Fat? Nerdy? You’re going to have to be more specific.”

“You don’t let anyone tell you what to do. You’re the only one who calls me on my shit.”

“Someone has to.”

We’re close, now. Close enough to kiss.

I imagine the warmth of his lips. Would they taste like saltwater?

I think about Donovan. And a stone rolls over my heart.

I can’t. He’s my only friend here…and he’d kill me if he knew I was making out with the enemy.

A clattering of laughter from the deck jerks me back to reality. I step back, putting some space between us. Like that, the moment shatters.

“We should…go back up,” I say. My heart is pounding in my chest.

“You go,” he says. “I’ll finish up.”

I want to argue, but I’m afraid if I spend any more time down here with him, I won’t be able to stop myself from letting Jason King pin me to the sink and soak me.

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