Page 49 of Dared

“So fucking proud of you,” he whispered. I felt his lips brush over my earlobe in a soft kiss, and then he was stepping backwards, lifting his hand in a wave. “See you at Ander’s house.”

When I climbed into the back seat of Noah’s VW Golf, Noah, Elliot, and Niccolò were deep in a heated discussion about the music that should be played on the drive back to campus, and I relaxed back against the headrest. No one was looking at me, or had been spying on me with Finn, or anything else my paranoid brain could conjure up.

I smiled.

“I didn’t come last!” Niccolò bounced in Bennett’s lap, waving his controller in the air. “Thanks, Leo.”

“Oh. No. It’s all you. I didn’t do anything.”

Finn leaned down, wrapping his arms around my shoulders. “Accept the thanks.”

I tilted my head so I could see him. He was seated on one of the sofas while I was sprawled on the floor in front of him, using a cushion propped up against his legs as a backrest. “Okay,” I said. I got a kiss to the cheek for that, and I couldn’t help my gaze darting around the room to see if anyone noticed. There were fewer people here than there had been at the football night, but there were still plenty of witnesses.

No one was looking, though, other than Noah, who simply raised a brow, tapping his controller. I nodded, and he elbowed Liam, getting him to pass his controller to me. We were playing casually—no tournament this time—but Noah had specifically asked me for a rematch, and now I had something to prove.

“A kiss for luck,” Finn murmured, brushing his lips over my cheek again before he released me, straightening up. My stomach was doing that swooping thing again, but I didn’t have time to think about what it meant right now. My reputation was at stake here.

We lined up—me, Noah, Preston, and their housemate Damon, and then the countdown began. Adrenaline flooded my body as I gripped the controller with sweaty palms.

Go.

We shot away from the start line.

“Fuck, yes, baby.” Finn had leaned forwards again, and now he was speaking low in my ear. “You’re ahead. Come on. You can do it.” I let his words filter through my brain as I skidded around the final bend, swerving to avoid a banana, the finish line in my sights. Noah was right on my heels—or wheels, I guessed—and I couldn’t afford to let him get past me. Except he tapped his controller lightly, knocking me to the left, and I lost precious seconds correcting my steering. We crossed the finish line at almost exactly the same time, but the display told me that Noah had won again, just milliseconds ahead of me.

“Good game.” Noah turned to me with a bright grin. “You almost had me until I knocked you off course.”

“That was a dirty trick. I wish I’d thought of it first.”

“Next time.”

We smiled at each other, and behind me, Finn squeezed my shoulders before circling his thumbs over my nape. His head was still lowered, dipping to my ear. “You almost had him.”

“Movie time!” Ander announced. “Travis is dicking down his girlfriend, so that means I get to choose what we watch.”

Liam threw a cushion at him. “Why do you get to choose? You don’t even live here.”

“Guest privileges. Tell him, Noah.”

Noah held up his hands. “Don’t get me involved in this.”

“Wanna go?” Finn murmured quietly. “We haven’t been to your flat for a while.”

I was taken aback by the rush of blood from my head to a certain other part of my body. He probably meant he wanted to play games, but I hoped he wanted to kiss me. Or maybe even more. Fuck, I wanted that.

I nodded, and he helped me to my feet, mumbling an excuse about coursework that no one bought, going by the smirks and knowing expressions. Somehow, I was okay with the teasing, mainly because my dick was doing the thinking for me. That was a novel experience.

As soon as we got back to my bedroom, Finn dropped his bag to the floor and then sat down in my gaming chair. He placed a set of headphones over his ears, handing me my own headphones, and wiggled the mouse to wake up the computer. I did my best to ignore the sudden disappointment heavy in my stomach. My monitor was still on theLesath Legendshome screen because we’d played a marathon online session against each other last night after I’d eventually left Finn’s house, and when Finn picked up the controller he normally used when he was here, I forced a smile. Okay, we were playing. This was good. I liked playing my favourite game with my favourite person. The other stuff wasn’t important.

“Leo.”

“What.”

“Come here.” Finn patted his lap, and I sat sideways on him. I could feel his gaze boring into the side of my head.

“Now what? Are we playing?”

He hummed. “Not yet. First of all, I have a dare for you.”

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