Page 104 of Meet Dare

“Let’s hold off naughty for a few minutes.”

I jut my bottom lip out and pout. “I hate waiting.”

He barks out a laugh. “No shit.”

I stick my tongue out.

“I’ll make it worth your while,” he whispers into my ear before nibbling on the lobe. Oh, he’s cruel. He knows what it does to me when he bites my earlobe.

“Why are we waiting?” I sulk.

“We need to get some things straight about us.”

I groan. “You’ve got a willing naked woman in your arms and you want to have the ‘talk’?”

He tickles my ribs and I swat his hand away. “No fair. No tickling.”

His hands cradle my face. “Are you ready to listen now?”

I roll my eyes. “Go on, then, Mr. Davis Downer.”

He clears his throat. “I just want things to be clear. From here on out, we’re together. No bets. No dares. Nothing is temporary anymore. When you’re upset or read an email not meant for you—”

“It was an accident.”

When he shakes his head, I know he doesn’t believe me but he’s smiling so obviously he isn’t mad.

“We discuss things. You don’t run off half-cocked.”

I bat my eyelashes. “I’m always fully cocked.”

He tweaks my nose. “Joke all you want, but I’m being serious. It’s you and me against the world.”

Him and me against the world?Crap. If we’re really doing this thing, I need to tell him about my parents. I squirm.

“What’s wrong? Am I going too fast for you?”

My nose wrinkles. “Yes, but there’s something else.”

He kisses the tip of my nose. “You want to discuss this naked or get dressed first?”

I’d rather be doing something else naked, but I’m going to lose my nerve if I don’t say it all now.

“I thought I didn’t deserve love because I killed my parents, but I didn’t kill them. Or, at least, Beckett claims I didn’t. I’m not convinced.”

“I think you’re going to have to slow down and explain.”

I inhale a deep breath and let it out before beginning. “I was a sick child. Hard to believe now, I know.”

He squeezes my hip. “Go on.”

“The night my parents’ died.” I swallow the lump forming in my throat. “They were out on the roads because of me. Because they were fetching medicine for me.”

“And you’ve convinced yourself it’s your fault they were in a car accident.”

I bite my lip as I stare at his chin. “Isn’t it?”

“Baby. No.” He cradles my face in his hands.

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