Page 66 of Dared

“You did it!” Finn shouted, a huge grin on his face.

“I love you,” I breathed.

The world came to a standstill, and I was dizzy from being spun, so it took me a second to catch up. Finn was staring at me with wide, shocked eyes, his mouth open, and…oh.

Oh.

I’d just said those words aloud. Before we’d even had a chance to discuss whether we were still friends or maybe something different.

Alarms started blaring in my brain, and so I acted on instinct. I panicked, tearing myself away from him and making a run for it.

I didn’t get very far. Finn’s hand wrapped around my wrist, stopping me in my tracks. The next thing I knew, I was being dragged inside an empty classroom, the door slamming firmly behind us, with Finn blocking the exit.

“Leo.”

I shook my head violently, glaring down at the floor and wishing more than anything I had a previously undiscovered superpower for burning holes through surfaces that would manifest right about now. It wasn’t only my face that was on fire, it was my entire fucking body, and there was a lump in my throat threatening to choke me.

“Leo,” Finn said again, and this time, his voice was so soft. He gently tugged on my wrist. “Look at me, please.”

Forget the presentation. Meeting Finn’s eyes was the hardest thing I’d ever done.

“Leo,” he repeated, and his gaze was so serious my body trembled. “I want to dare you to do something.”

I stared at him.What?

“This is a dare you can turn down, and I promise it won’t affect our friendship either way. You’re my best friend, and that’s not going to change.”

“W-what’s the dare?” I whispered, my voice cracking on the words.

Pulling me closer, he brought his free hand up to cup my nape, his fingers sliding into my overgrown hair.

“My lion. You’re so fucking incredible, you know?” He swallowed hard and then continued. “I…I dare you to be my boyfriend.”

“Your boyfriend?”

“Yeah.” The corners of his lips curved upwards. “I think…I think we might already be boyfriends.”

Was this what it felt like to be high? I was floating, the warmth I’d felt earlier magnified by a million, spilling out of me as I lunged for Finn, throwing my arms around him and kissing him with everything I had.

When we broke apart, he laughed breathlessly, his eyes shining. “Was that a yes?”

“Yes. Yes. I accept your dare. I’ll be your boyfriend,” I said as seriously as possible, but I was smiling too hard for it to have the effect I was aiming for. “I was thinking the same thing as you. Or wondering. Whether we were boyfriends or if you even wanted that, or if?—”

“I fucking want it, baby.” His mouth slanted across mine again. “By the way, I love you back.”

“Youwhat?” I squeaked and then cleared my throat, attempting to speak at my usual lower pitch. “You do?”

“Yeah, I do. Fucking hell, Leo, you’re everything to me. I knew it already, but I dunno, it didn’t really register that what I was feeling was me in love with you because everything’s just been…”

“Like a natural evolution?” I tried.

“Yeah, that.” He gave me a soft smile. “So much. We somehow went from talking online to this, and I never even questioned it because it felt so right and so normal. Like it was meant to be.”

“It was,” I confirmed, making his smile widen, and it gave me the courage to continue. “You know you’re my favourite person in the world, right?”

“Yeah. You’re mine, too. No one else even comes close.”

That declaration led to another kiss that got hotter and hotter, until a loud rapping on the door had us springing apart.

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