Chapter 31 #2
"I don't think—" I started, but Logan cut me off with all the subtlety of a zamboni.
"Come on, Baleman," he said, waggling his eyebrows in a way that made him look like he was having a mild seizure. "Live a little. Unless you're scared?"
I just gave him my flattest stare in response. “Real original, Kelly.” I deadpanned. "Did you get that line from a teen movie?"
The others snickered, but then Lively shifted beside me, his arm brushing mine, and suddenly breathing became a conscious effort.
His voice dropped low, meant just for me: “Scared, Hailstorm?” He said and I blinked.
I couldn’t believe it. Was he seriously trying to bait me too?
I turned to face him, immediately regretting it when I found those blue eyes much closer than expected.
The corner of his mouth lifted in that infuriating half-smile that always made me want to either punch him or.
.. well, the 'or' was becoming increasingly problematic as time progressed.
“You wish , Summers,” I managed, proud that my voice came out steady despite the riot in my chest.
“Then it's settled!” Sarah and Rina were clapping their hands together with way too much enthusiasm. “Who wants to start?”
“Don’t you think,” That was Zoe, with a look that made alarm bells ring in my head. I was not going to like what was going to come out of her mouth next, I just knew it. “Our captains should take the first dare?”
“No.” The word dropped like a brick from my mouth.
“Sure.” Lively said from beside me and I turned my full glare on him. The idiot was openly watching me, his jaw resting in his upturned palm, his grin slashing across his face.
“What do you mean, ‘sure’, you jerk?” I bit the words out. “Isn’t the game supposed to be a choice between truth or dare? And why the fuck should I do the dare with you ?”
“For team building.” Was his immediate reply. The little shit.
“Oh, we’re so sorry,” That was Matt, and he had the same stupid look on his face that his partner, Zoe, did. “We didn’t give you a choice. Truth or dare?”
“Dare,” I said automatically, because like hell was I going to pick truth with the way he kept looking at me. The moment the word left my mouth, though, I knew I'd made a tactical error.
His grin turned positively evil as he and Zoe exchanged a knowing look. “I dare you…” he said, drawing the moment out with a theatrical pause as his eyes flickered between me and Lively, “to take a hike through the woods. Together. To the lookout point and back.”
I blinked, the dare landing with disappointing simplicity. That was it? A hike? I'd been expecting something mortifying, something that would have me contemplating murder, and instead I got... a walk?
“That's it?” I voiced my confusion, narrowing my eyes at Matt's suspiciously innocent expression.
But there was something in the way they were all looking at us— both our teams, with those matching Cheshire cat grins that set off alarm bells in my head. They were up to something.
“What's the catch?” I demanded, fighting the urge to cross my arms defensively.
“No catch,” Matt said, too quickly. “Just some quality bonding time for our fearless captains.”
“The lookout's, like, a twenty-minute hike,” Sarah added, not meeting my eyes. “Thirty minutes, tops.”
A chorus of poorly concealed snickers rippled through both teams, and that uneasy feeling in my gut intensified. These little shits were plotting something.
I opened my mouth to argue that this was bullshit—that I wasn't hiking through the damn woods for their twisted entertainment—but before I could get a word out, Lively was already on his feet. The sudden movement shifted the beanbag, almost tipping me over.
“Let's do it,” he said, looking down at me with those infuriatingly blue eyes, his hand extended toward me.
I stared at his outstretched palm like it might bite me. “You can't be serious.”
“Afraid of the dark, Hailstorm?” His voice dipped lower, wrapping around that nickname in liquid velvet, the cadence sending an unwelcome shiver down my spine.
“Fuck you, Summers,” I snapped, ignoring his hand and pushing myself up from the beanbag with as much dignity as I could muster.
Lively’s eyes softened at me, but there was a sly gleam that roused my suspicion immediately. He leaned in to me, coming so close because I refused to move away from him, and whispered, “Wish you would.”
My hand moved before I could even think about it, and I smacked him on the shoulder, my cheeks flaming. “I’ve told you to stop that, you freak.” I hissed back at him, but my heart was pattering in my chest, so fucking fast. The little shit faked a wince, but the twinkle didn’t leave his eyes.
“Ooooh,” came the collective response from our teammates, and I shot them all a glare that promised retribution.
“I'm making all of you do suicides tomorrow,” I threatened, but reached for the chip bag anyway. Because I’d rather die than chicken out of a dare in front of Lively freaking Summers. If he could do it, then I could damn well do it, too. “Every single one of you.”
“Worth it,” Zoe stage-whispered to Gina as they watched me, glee shining in their gazes. I mean, I’d always known that I was their own personal form of entertainment, but it still made me want to throw something when they showed it to me like this, time and time again.
“You can do it,” Gina stage-whispered back to me, giving me two thumbs-up. “We believe in you.”
What the hell was she on about? “Fine. Let's get this over with.”
Lively turned toward me, and his smile was far too bright as he nodded toward the door. “After you, Captain.”
I was suspicious of him, too. How the hell does he just accept this shit without even a hint of push back?
“What’re you smiling at, fuckface?” I mumbled, pushing past him as I went to the door.
God, why the hell was he so hellbent on flirting with me ?
Did it really hurt his damn big ego that I wasn’t falling all over him, or something?
As we headed out, his voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper and peppered with raw amusement. “What's the worst that could happen?”