Page 33 of The Bully's Dare

“Yeah,” I say. “It’s a dare.” Then I unpin the panties from the corkboard.

14

Kenzi

It’s beach day for the Strattons. And Four.

We leave the boat and make our walk to the parking lot bogged down with beach chairs, umbrellas, and thermal bags.

Four and Pearl walk ahead side by side. Pearl, as a rule, only ever carries her purse. She has her arm linked together with Four’s as they walk and she laughs at his bad dad jokes.

Meanwhile, I hoof it with a beach chair strapped to my back and another heavy bag on my shoulder. The family camel.

“Hey, Kenzi!”

At the sound of my name, I stop and turn around (with no over-the-shoulder visibility, the chair on the back requires me to make a full turn). Jason and his crew are at the marina’s swimming pool. When I see Jason, however, my jaw drops.

He’s standing on one of the pool chairs, arms outstretched. He’s all tall, lean muscle, each and every one of them on display. Because he’s wearing nothing except for the bright red lacy panties that I pinned to the corkboard yesterday.

Holy cow. Leave it to Jason King to turn a prank into a fashion statement.

He drops off the chair and walks to the gate. I meet him on the other side of the gate, gawking. I hate that I can see the definition biceps. His abdomen. That dangerous V that slips down his hips.

He swaggers up to the gate, all cocky. “What do you think?”

I lift my eyebrows. “You know this is a family friendly pool, right?”

Jason glances down and tugs at the lace. “What, are the boys showing?”

I follow his gaze and…Jesus Christ on a cracker. The panties really do nothing to contain the massive package trapped underneath.

My poor, pent-up hormones are no match for the sight and I feel my insides clench.

“Well…I’ve got to hand it to you,” I say, trying to play it cool. “You pull it off.”

“You think?” he grins. “If you like them, I’ll wear them to our date.”

I roll my eyes. “Still not happening.”

But he doesn’t look defeated. Instead, that cocky smirk remains intact. “You’re going to give in. Eventually. Just so you know.”

“What, afraid of a challenge?”

“Clearly, not.”

My eyes haven’t left his. Despite myself, I realize…I’m enjoying this. A lot. I like making Jason King work for my attention. I like Jason King giving me attention. I even like this twisted give-and-take we share.

“Change your clothes,” I say. “Seriously. You’re scaring the kids.”

“One date,” he persists. “Just one.”

I shrug. I step away, gripping the straps of the chair, and turn around to catch up with Four and Pearl.

“That wasn’t a no!” Jason calls out.

My back is turned to him, chair hiding me from view, and I’m glad for it because I can finally grin openly where he can’t see me.

Jason is right, though. It’s not a no.

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