Page 14 of Dared

“I know, but it’s different because I know who they are. And I think…they were probably being friendly, but I’m pretty sure Millie smiled at me in the same way Daisy smiled at you, and she was definitely flirting with you. And I?—”

He pushed himself up, lunging forwards to place his palm over my mouth. “Stop that. There’s no pressure, okay? We’ll play a couple of games, and we’re gonna have a good time. I promise.”

“Okay,” I said. It came out muffled against his hand.

“Good boy.” Removing his palm, he ruffled my hair, and I glared at him, which made him grin harder.

“Don’t call me that.”

“Sorry, little lion.”

I smacked his bare calf. “No.”

“Your name literally means lion.” Shifting to sit against the wall next to me, he nudged his shoulder against mine. “I like that we can act like this around each other. You’re fun to be around, you know.”

My jaw dropped. “I am?”

“Yeah. Don’t sound so surprised. I like hanging out with you.”

“Oh. Uh. I like hanging out with you, too.” My stupid fucking face was heating again, and I leaned forwards, hoping the fan would cool it off.

“Good.” Reaching for the controllers and headsets, he held them up. “Blue or camo?”

“Blue, please.”

He passed me the blue controller, and I settled my headset over my ears. Next to me, he did the same, and then our full focus turned to the game.

Finn’s character rapidly descended a rocky wall, and I angled my left thumbstick, sending my character scrambling after his. He laughed aloud as I misjudged the distance and slipped, my character landing at the bottom in a heap, knocking out a huge percentage of my health bar. “Want one of my medipacks? I dare you to invite Millie for a coffee when the girls join the game.”

“What? I can’t do that!”

“Yeah, you can. You haven’t backed out on a dare yet, and you know I’d never dare you to do something I didn’t think you were capable of.”

My palms were clammy around my controller at the thought of inviting someone out for coffee. Anyone who wasn’t one of my handful of friends. And a girl who might have been flirting with me?

“Finn. I don’t think?—”

He paused the game, taking one hand off the controller, turning my head to his with a light grip on my jaw. “Yes, you can.”

I studied him, noting the way his brows were pulled together, his eyes dark and serious. “Why is this so important to you?”

“Because you’re my friend, and I want you to be happy. Everything we’ve been doing has been good, right?”

“Well, yeah.” If it hadn’t been for him and JJ both pushing me out of my comfort zone, I’d—I didn’t even want to thinkabout it. I’d probably be hiding away in my room, on my way to becoming a hermit. Honestly, the thought still sounded appealing. But Finn was right. I sighed. “Can we amend the dare? I— We’ll play for a while, and if I feel comfortable enough, I’ll do it. But you have to come, okay? You and her friend.”

A wide smile stretched across his face, warming me all over. Dropping his grip on my jaw, he wrapped his arm around my back, pulling me into a hug, and after a moment’s hesitation, I hugged him back.

“I wouldn’t leave you, Leo. Not until you were ready. I wouldn’t do that to you,” he murmured before releasing me, shifting back into his original position. “Ready to play? I wanna get this bit done before the girls join us.”

“Yes.” I turned back to the screen, still warm all over and with a smile tugging at my lips. My smile grew bigger when he opened his inventory and handed my character a medipack, restoring my health bar.

I was still scared, light years away from the lion he’d called me earlier, but maybe I could do this.

“I-I could probably help you.” Gripping the controller more tightly to mask the tremor in my hands, I forced the words out. “I’ve, uh, studied web design.”

In my peripheral vision, I saw Finn’s head whip around, and I glanced over at him.Do it, he mouthed.

“Really? I only need something simple to show my photos, but I haven’t got a clue where to start. If you don’t mind pointing me in the right direction, that would be great,” Millie was saying, and I sucked in a breath. This was the moment of truth. We’dalready played through two campaigns. It was getting late, and if I didn’t take the chance now, it might not come up again.

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