Page 75 of Dared

“Leo!”

I turned just in time to see Niccolò launch himself at me, laughing into my ear as I caught him, spinning him around. We’d become close friends lately, which wasn’t something I’d thought would happen in the past, with his loud, outgoing personality the antithesis of my shyness and anxiety around people. But somehow, it had, our friendship cemented after that night in the student union.

In fact, my friend group had widened to include not only Niccolò but also his boyfriend, Bennett, and several of Finn’s teammates and their partners. Noah, especially. We’d originally bonded overMario Kart, and I’d even played him one-on-one a few times when our boyfriends had been busy with football training.

Speaking of… “Hi.” A grinning Noah lifted his hand in a wave as he slid into the seat next to Nic’s, closely followed by Elliot.

“Where are the girls?” Ed pouted as I returned Noah’s greeting.

Nic jabbed him in the bicep with a perfectly manicured, glittery blue fingernail. “Girls? Boys are better. All those lovely manly?—”

“Debatable.” Ed cut him off with a swift shake of his head before his attention was drawn to someone behind me. His eyes widened. “Now that’s what I’m talking about. Leo, be my favourite big brother and get me an intro with her. Or one of her friends.”

My brows rose. “Have you met me? I’m the least likely person to introduce myself to anyone new.”

“I’ll do it.” Niccolò followed his gaze. “Ooh, pretty. You have good taste for a straight boy.”

“Don’t encourage him,” I mumbled, but neither of them was listening to me, whispering and giggling. I forced myself to turn around to see?—

“Millie.”

“Leo.”

We both spoke at the same time, and Millie smiled widely while I gave a nervous laugh. Finn and I had played online with her and Daisy several times since the initial time we’d played a quad campaign, and although I still struggled to speak to either of them outside of the game environment, our shared love ofLesath Legendsgave us enough conversation topics that I was able to get by.

“Ahem.” Ed cleared his throat loudly, elbowing me in the side unsubtly.

I sighed, my gaze flicking to Millie’s companions. “Ed, this is Millie, Daisy, and Sophie. Everyone, Ed is Finn’s younger brother.”

He grinned widely and then winked, which I honestly didn’t think people did in real life. Maybe he had something in his eye. “Which of you beautiful ladies are single and want some quality one-on-one time with the hottest Carsley brother?”

I covered my mouth with my hand to hide my smile, and Nic leaned up to whisper in my ear. “Watch out for this one. He’s as forward as I am.”

“I can see that.”

Millie was eyeing Ed with amusement. “How old are you?”

“Sixteen, seventeen in a few months. And alllll man where it counts.”

“Please, make it stop,” I whispered to the sky.

“Hmm.” Millie tapped her lips. “How about this? If you’re still single when you’re eighteen and you decide to go to LSU, come and find me. I’ll see about introducing you to my cousin. I think you’ll like her.”

“It’s a deal. Take care, ladies. Have a great day.” He blew the three of them kisses, and when he’d turned to face the pitch again, I stared at him.

“Who even are you?”

“I’d say I’ll give you some tips, but my brother would kill me. Plus, I don’t want you two to ever split up.” His eyes widened. “Fuck! That never even occurred to me until now. Please, never split up. I’m begging you.” He placed his palms together in a praying motion, sticking out his bottom lip. “I wanna be best man at your wedding. Can I be best man? Wait, how does it work with two men? Do you get a best man each? Can I be yours? Oh, but then Finn would be sad. Maybe I could be yours for half the wedding and Finn’s for the other half?”

“Ed.”

It was the only word I managed to say before Nic was barging in between us, grasping Ed’s arm.

“We could theme the wedding,” he gasped dramatically. “A gaming theme! But not tacky or anything.”

“Please make it stop,” I begged the sky again, my face heating, and it wasn’t from the sun. Closing my eyes, I did my best to tune out what was now an animated discussion of my completely hypothetical gaming-themed wedding, pretending I was anywhere but here.

“Leo?”

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