17. Chapter Seventeen #2
She reached out and walked two fingers up my bicep. “A little bit of danger won’t hurt.”
“Fine.” I glanced over with my best stern look. I wasn’t sure I even had one, but the moment definitely called for it. “But we need rules.”
She rolled her eyes. “You’re so paranoid. You’re acting like I’m going to dare you to fuck me or something.”
I sent her a pointed look. Because that was pretty much what she had done just a few weeks ago at the bar.
“Ok. Point taken. We’ll keep it PG-13.”
It started off innocent enough. I found out her favorite movie is The Notebook, which actually didn’t shock me.
That movie had more drama and heartbreak than it did love and happiness.
She confided that her feet are super ticklish.
She asked me if I liked pineapple on pizza—which no, that’s gross.
And if I wore boxers or briefs. My answer was neither.
Boxer briefs or, more often, commando for me, which made her eyebrows shoot up to her hairline.
Now it was her turn to answer. “Truth or dare.”
“Let’s do dare this time.”
I thought for a minute. I’d done this with a group of friends on a road trip before and dared Savannah to flash someone. But the thought of anyone besides me seeing Mia’s tits made me irrationally annoyed.
I handed her my phone. “Find a song you know on my playlist and sing with it.”
She frowned at me. “I hate you.”
I shrugged. “You’re the one who picked this game, and then you picked dare. So I don’t wanna hear you complaining.”
“Why couldn’t you have just dared me to flash someone?”
I locked my jaw. Because, Sassy McSasserpants, I don’t want to get in a fight with someone right now.
“Just pick a song.”
She picked “Never Enough” and sang like a freaking angel, making every hair on my body stand at attention and sent goose bumps skittering along my arms and down my back. I glanced over at her, wide-mouthed, when she finished.
“Why do you look so surprised?”
“Because you acted like you couldn’t sing.”
“No. I said I don’t sing in front of people.”
I shook my head with a chuckle. “You keep surprising me.”
“Ok then. Your turn. Truth or dare.”
“Dare.”
She sent me a flirty smirk and I knew I was going to regret this.
“Take your shirt off.”
I raised a brow, challenging her.
“That’s still PG-13.”
I got in the right lane and slowed down. Luckily, the route we were on wasn’t a highway. “Take the wheel.”
She did and I worked my T-shirt up and over my head.
The sun was starting to set, and the air now had a bit of a chill to it, but this time it was her eyes on me that caused goose bumps to break out over my skin.
Her smile as she took in my bare chest said she was loving this.
I had to admit, I liked that she found pleasure in seeing me without a shirt.
Now back to her turn, and she picked dare again. I paid her back by making her hold my hand until her next turn. The awkwardness in which she did it confirmed that she wasn’t used to the gesture. I found it adorable.
I picked truth for my turn.
“What’s one thing you’d do if you knew there were no consequences?”
The first thing that came to mind was to make her mine. Spend as much time as possible kissing her, touching her, pleasuring her.
“No cheating,” she chided. “Remember you have to tell the truth.”
“Be with you,” I answered softly, knowing we were treading on thin ice.
I could feel her assessing stare, and after a moment, I stole a glance over to find disbelief in her eyes.
“I’m telling the truth.” I pulled my gaze back to the road. “If I knew no one would get hurt or upset, and it wouldn’t negatively affect our friendships, I’d agree to your terms—”
“Why?” she asked, cutting me off. “You’d be sacrificing the chance to find someone you could have forever with. For what? Sex?”
I shook my head. “Not just sex. At least, not for me.” I still didn’t understand it, but there was no denying I wanted her in ways that went beyond physical.
“Zack…” she whispered, low and almost sad.
“It’s just an answer to a question. One based on fiction, because unfortunately our actions always have consequences.
” The mood had gone from fun and lighthearted to heavy.
I needed to get us back on easygoing and carefree—my favorite place to be.
“Do over. Forget about that question and give me a dare instead. Something good this time.”
“What? The shirtless one wasn’t good?”
I shrugged. “You can do better.”
She was quiet for a moment before she reached in the back and pulled a notebook out of her bag. I glanced over at it as she placed it on her lap and flipped through it to a blank page. It seemed to have page after page of drawings. Was she artistic?
She scribbled something on a piece of paper and ripped it out, handing it to me. “You have to hold this up to the next three cars we pass or stop next to, but you can’t look at it until after the third car.”
A smirk tugged at my lips. It probably said something like “I like to suck dick.” Ok, fine, I was game. And I knew it would make her happy. What was a little embarrassment on my part if it helped bring her smile back? Maybe she’d even gift me with her laugh when the dare was done.
The first car had some young twentysomething girls.
The passengers smiled, elbowed the driver, and she honked three times as they all giggled.
The next one was a middle-aged woman who shook her head with a smile but still honked.
The last one we came to a stop next to at a red light, and there was a couple in it.
The guy snarled at me, but the girl leaned over and honked.
The boyfriend did not find this funny. In fact, he looked downright pissed off.
“Oh shit,” I laughed as he went to get out of the car. Luckily, the light turned green, and I floored it out of there.
Mia started laughing so hard she was hiccupping and struggling to catch her breath. “That was hilarious,” she stumbled out through her laughter. “He was totally going to kick your ass.”
At the next red light, I turned the sign over in my lap to read what she wrote.
Honk if you think I’m sexy AF.
I threw my head back, cackling. But then I sobered, realizing if her goal was to get people to honk at me, that meant only one thing. “You think I’m sexy?”
She rolled her eyes. “You know I do. Don’t play coy. You’re also annoyingly frustrating and cocky as hell.” Her expression turned serious before she added, “And I would too.”
“You would what?”
“Be with you. If I knew there would be no consequences.”
I swallowed and turned back to the road. I wasn’t sure I could handle seeing the truth in her eyes.
“I know,” I whispered as the light turned green.
We were both quiet, the meaning behind our words lingering around us as I picked up speed.
The sound of raindrops pinging against the metal of the Jeep broke through the moment. Her head slowly swung toward me and her eyes narrowed.
A smile broke out on my face, which probably made her even more mad. “It’s like dancing in the rain, but instead, we’re driving. Romantic, huh?”
She continued to glare at me until slowly her lips morphed into a smile, and she shook her head with a chuckle. “It’s never boring with you, is it?”
“Apparently not.”
I caught a slight shiver tear through her and she rubbed her arms. It wasn’t cold out, but the sun had officially set, and with the rain picking up, it was starting to feel a bit chilly.
She was wearing a short-sleeved, mostly white T-shirt, which, under different circumstances, might be fun to see soaking wet.
Thankfully it wasn’t pouring yet, just a light drizzle.
She reached in the back seat and handed me my shirt back, then wrapped her arms around herself.
Nope, that definitely wouldn’t do.
I pulled the car to the shoulder, threw the shirt over my head, and climbed out. “I have a sweatshirt in the back you can use.” I returned a moment later, jumped back in my seat, and froze as I turned to her.
The damp white T-shirt came up and over her head, revealing a dark red bra that looked more like a tiny version of a sexy tank top. I stared at her gorgeous breasts like I was fourteen again, seeing boobies for the first time.
“Are you going to give me the sweatshirt, or continue to drool over my tits?”
I blinked and trailed my gaze up to her face, still not making any move to hand her the garment to cover herself. “I’m still thinking about it.” I was also thinking about all the million dirty things I wanted to do to her now.
“As much as I enjoy you staring at me like you want to bury your face between my breasts, I’m actually pretty cold.”
Welp, I was officially an asshole. I thrust the sweatshirt out to her and mumbled an apology before pulling the Jeep back into traffic.
“Don’t be sorry.” She pulled the sweatshirt over her head, then lifted the neck of it to her face. “This smells like you.”
I chuckled. “Huh. Super weird.” Even though I was teasing her, I couldn’t deny how much I enjoyed the fact that she recognized my scent. And, more than that, seemed to like it.
She rolled her eyes, sitting back against the seat with a smile and softly singing to Adele playing through the speakers. I could easily spend hours listening to her sing.
My mind whirled, replaying parts of the last couple of hours. Maybe it was just wishful thinking, but it felt like her walls weren’t so impenetrable now.
Did I stand any chance of showing her we could be good together? Or would she always be guarded and waiting for the chance to walk away?