The Dare (3 page)

Shit. Now I was freaked about being
possessed? By what? The need to screw every female within a
ten-mile radius?

A throat cleared. I looked up. Beth stood
wrapped in a fluffy white towel, her dark wet hair clinging to her
neck and shoulders.

Scratch that. Not every girl within a
ten-mile radius. Her. Just her.

"What's your last name?" I asked, needing the
distraction as she shifted from one toned leg to the next.

"You're kidding, right?" Beth's eyes
narrowed.

"Yes?"

Yeah. It was definitely a day of firsts. For
example, not only was I the first person in my family to make it
into politics, but I was going to be the first male of the family
to die before the age of thirty.

How would she do It, I wondered? Suffocation?
Push me out the window?

"Why are you so pale?" Beth slowly walked
toward me.

"I, uh…" Damn. I had nothing. My entire
career was spent talking, and I had absolutely nothing. Words
escaped me. My focus was on her lips as they moved. Fantastic.
First I want to actually be the cookie she bites into, and now I'm
obsessing over her lips.

But they had this naturally pink tint to
them.

Which reminded me of bubblegum.

I had a thing for gum. It kept me from
getting nervous during speeches.

I had a feeling Beth would do the same thing,
if only I was given the chance for one, small taste.

One night stand. One night stand.
Maybe if I kept repeating it to myself, my body would catch up.
Getting lost in those gorgeous green eyes or looking at that
amazing ass was going to get me nowhere in life. I needed a solid,
committed relationship where both parties equally benefited from
said partnership. Not a fiery green-eyed temptress who ate cookies
at 3:00 a.m. and cried into a box of them when she discovered they
were peanut butter instead of chocolate.

"Jace?" Beth reached out and cupped my chin
with her hand, peering into my eyes.

"What are you doing?" I stepped back.

"I'm a doctor." Beth rolled her eyes.

Doctor my ass. I distinctly remember hearing
she played with diseases for a living; no way did I want her hands
anywhere near my face. Then again, they'd probably been on other
parts all night.

Mental note
: Scrub
harder in shower.

"You're a chemist. Big difference." I swatted
her hand away.

"So you know I'm a chemist, but you don't
know my last name?"

"You were doing the periodic table of
elements in your sleep and were talking about curing cancer?
Remember? Doesn't take much math to add that one together,
sunshine."

Besides, part of my homework given by the
lovely Grandma Nadine was to do a background check on Char and her
family. That woman was insane; she wanted no stone unturned. In the
end, I'd broken at least four laws to get the information she'd
needed. But I owed her. She'd pulled me out of my slump. I
remembered Char from high school since we were closer in age, and
Beth? I remembered her for entirely different reasons…

"Are you okay?" I asked, approaching the
pretty girl in the white dress. Normally I wasn't so brave at
another school's functions. After all, I played for their rival
team, and I was quarterback. I kept a low profile. My cousin,
however, had needed a date for prom, and I couldn't say no.

"Yeah," she sniffed and then looked down at
her hands, "thanks."

That moment defined me, not because of
anything special happening like fireworks lighting up the sky or
romantic music floating through the air. It defined me because it
was the first time in my life that a girl's tears had actually cut
me to the core. I wanted to fix it, and I didn't even know her. It
pissed me off that she was crying, and it pissed me off that I
cared so much.

"Want to dance?" I held out my hand.

She looked at my hand like I'd just offered
her pot.

"Just one dance," I urged. Why did I
care?

"Sure," she stood, "just one dance."

I hadn't known that my one good deed would
come back to bite me in the ass. How could I know that, even then?
Grandma's watchful eyes were on me like the damn Lord of the Rings
Eye of Sauron.

"Damn Grandma," I said aloud. I'd done my
good deed for the year; I was ready to be finished with the entire
Titus family and their insane shenanigans. The sooner I left, the
easier it will be to walk away. Sound logic, I was aware.

"If you keep talking to me like I'm a child,
you'll have a reason to call me sunshine because I'll be putting my
foot where the sun don't shine, got it?"

"Are you always this pleasant in the
mornings?" I stepped away from the beast. Yes, we were back to name
calling. "Or is that reserved especially for me?"

"Just you," she stomped over to her discarded
bridesmaid dress and snatched it off the chair, "and politicians I
don't vote for."

"You didn't vote for me?" It was out of my
mouth before I could stop it. Deflated, I waited for her
answer.

"Nope." Beth grinned, seemingly enjoying my
shock. "Then again, I don't live in Oregon."

Idiot. Last words said. Gauntlet fallen. Game
set. I watched her disappear yet again into the bathroom.

"Ma'am, with all due respect. You've
committed a federal crime. I don't believe a breath mint is going
to solve that problem, and for the last time, no. Your dog may not
serve as a character witness."

"It's because he's French, isn't it?" Grandma
nodded knowingly.

Beth

I needed a paper bag and a do-over
Back-to-the-Future
-style. I leaned against the door and took
a few deep breaths before opening my eyes.

Jace.

It had to be Jace. Out of every damn single
man at the wedding, my ovaries had decided to jump into his pants?
Really? Was I that desperate? It didn't make sense! I spent the
better part of my shower trying to figure out the equation with
logic.

Was it because he saved me before? Was I
still holding onto the one that got away? To be fair, had he not
run away like a scared child, I probably would have run myself. It
terrified me, made me feel things that an eighteen year old
shouldn't. I spent the better part of my freshman year of college
thinking about that kiss. Thinking about the way his lips felt
against mine and wondering what would have happened had he stayed
instead of run.

But he'd left, and I never saw him again.

It wasn't until a year later that I realized
he hadn't even gone to my school.

I self-consciously tucked my hair behind my
ear. Did he even recognize me?

Know who I was?

Why couldn't I have done something normal?
Any other guy I could have forgotten
—
not
him.

My eyes burned, my body hurt, I was starving
my ass off, and I looked like I'd just gotten run over by a chicken
truck. Taking a deep soothing breath, I focused on the previous
night.

We were both at the wedding.

We both drank.

Did he remember anything? Or was I the only
cookie-eating loser who had blacked out partway through our night
of fun?

I would not freak out. I couldn't freak out.
Ha, Ha, I was officially losing my damn mind. Calling my sister was
out of the question. Not only would she be massively disappointed
in me, but she was supposed to be packing for her honeymoon.

Stepping away from the door, I placed the
dress gently on the toilet and stared at it.

That dress had betrayed me.

Grandma Nadine had promised it would be
magical. She'd said, and I quote,
"Beth, you just trust Grandma.
She has everything figured out for you."

Figured out. My. Ass.

I should have figured Grandma Nadine would
have something up her sleeve. After all, the woman meddled in
everyone's lives, thinking she knew what was best. She was like a
freaking cupid, only she wore leopards instead of hearts, and even
on her worst day she could still outsmart the CIA.

The dress glared at me.

I made a face.

The white sparkles on the dress reminded me
of my senior prom. It was white and looked like something a
princess would wear. My stomach clenched at the memory…

"Will you dance with me?" Brett held out his
hand.

Once I picked my jaw off the floor and my
breathing returned to normal, I grasped his hand and leaned against
his chest as KC and JoJo's "Crazy" came on the loudspeaker.

I couldn't believe I was actually dancing
with Brett Xander. I tried to appear calm, but my heart was beating
erratically against my chest. I pulled back and smiled. "Thanks for
doing this for all us girls."

"No sweat," he responded, seeming to
genuinely mean it. "I mean, it would have sucked to not
graduate."

"Not graduate?"

"Right." He rolled his eyes. "My penance for
being a jack-off for the last four years came in the form of my
idiotic teacher saying I needed to learn how to be less
self-absorbed. Unfortunately, my parents agreed. So not only did I
have a shitload of homework to do to get my grade up, but I had to
do community service."

"Which was what? Taking out all the AP girls
in biology?"

"Hell no." He laughed.

I instantly relaxed.

"It was to pick girls who I knew wouldn't get
dates and take them with me to prom. I mean, no offense, Beth.
You're kinda hot in a nerdy, pent-up-sexually-frustrating
librarian-type way, but you're much too smart and intimidating for
a guy to actually date."

"I'm too smart?" I repeated, stunned. I mean,
I knew he was an ass for doing what he did and not realizing how
much it affected the rest of the girls, but still? To call me out?
On a special night?

"Well, yeah." Brett nodded and pulled me
close. "Maybe if you dumbed yourself down a bit, people would like
you."

"People?"

"Yeah." He actually looked embarrassed. "I
mean, it's not just dudes that walk the other way when you stroll
down the hall. People think you're like one science experiment away
from pulling a Carrie on the entire school."

"Right." My lower lip trembled. "Anything
else?"

He squinted. "Wow, you're taking this really
good."

"Yup." Lies. All lies.

"It wouldn't hurt to get a better rack. Then
again, you probably haven't grown into your body yet. It
happens."

The song ended. Brett leaned over and kissed
my cheek. "Hey you're pretty cool for a nerd. Thanks for the
dance."

I stood motionless in the middle of the dance
floor, unable to cry, unable to feel, really unable to do anything
except look down at the white dress and wish for once I was the
princess instead of the ugly duckling.

"Beth!" Jace knocked on the door. "If you're
done freaking out, we need to go."

"Right." I wiped my wet cheeks and clenched
the dress in my hands. It wasn't magic. If anything, it was just a
reminder that I was exactly where I'd been when I'd graduated in
2000. A loser. A loser with a small rack who preferred math and
science to Facebook.

"Beth, I'm serious. It's not looking
good."

"Keep your pants on!" I yelled, irritated
that he was making me hurry. With a curse, I pulled on the dress,
put my wet hair in a quick pony tail, and opened the bathroom door.
"What's the big hurry?"

Jace held up his phone. It said
Grandma
Nadine.

"Hello!" a loud voice yelled. "Jace! Beth!
Hurry! Grandma has this all figured out."

"Famous last words." Jace nodded. "But we
have no choice."

"No choice?" I repeated. "What? Is the mafia
after us or something?"

"Worse."

"I highly doubt that."

"Look." He pointed to the TV. Reporters were
in front of a hotel, looking excited as hell.

"The news?" I asked. "Why is that worse
than
—
"

"Special reports say the senator took a
prostitute back to his room at midnight last night and has yet to
check out! Which raises the question, has the senator truly put his
murky past behind him? Sources close to the senator's ex-fiancée
say the cheating scandal from two years ago nearly destroyed him.
One more scandal won't bode well for the youngest senator in state
history. After all, how can we trust a man who can't even keep a
fiancée?"

"That's enough." I grabbed the remote from
Jace's frozen hand and threw it onto the bed. Great. So not only
did I lose my virginity to a politician, but now I was a
prostitute. I reached for his cell phone and growled into it.
"We'll have words later."

Grandma snorted.

"But get us out of here first."

"Say the magic words."

"Uh, please?" I nudged Jace out of his
paralyzed state.

"Not
those
words."

I closed my eyes and allowed visions of my
calm and sterile office to bring back the peace into my body. That
didn't work., I needed to think about
Vampire Diaries.

Damon Salvatore. Damon Salvatore. Damon
Salvatore.
And happy place found!

"I can't read minds. What words do you want
me to say?"

Grandma chuckled. "Why, thank you, of
course!"

"For?"

"How was he?" She giggled like a school girl.
"Men with power seem to have a special type of
—
"

"Thank you!" I all but shouted. "Now get us
out of here."

"Roger."

The phone went dead.

I looked to Jace for help, but he seemed to
be fighting a losing battle with his tie as he tried to pull it
from his neck.

"Stop." I swatted his hands away. "You're
going to hang yourself if you keep doing that."

He shrugged.

"What?" I loosened the tie. "No snappy
retort?"

"Not feeling snappy," he said dryly.