Dare You To (Pushing the Limits #2)(83)

“And I think I might keep it up when the story is done. I don’t know, maybe start another.”

Good. It’s the image I’ll take with me when I go: Ryan pitching balls in the morning and lost in his beautifully written words at night. I kick at the ground. “Do you have plans for today?”

“I do if they include you.”

I try to hide my smile, but I can’t. “Get cleaned up and pick me up in an hour.”

Tickling my skin, Ryan’s fingers graze the pink ribbon still tied to my wrist. “Yes, ma’am.”

Ryan

“YOU’RE A WUSS.” My little black-haired threat flips through the University of Kentucky student directory. “You can move a car across a pasture, but you can’t see your own brother.”

“That’s different,” I say. “I moved the car on a dare.”

Outside the guys’ athletic dorms, I attempt to stand in front of Beth as she searches for my brother’s room number. Beth wears a cotton Tshirt that hugs her slim form and ends a half inch short of her low-rise jeans. With her smooth skin tempting me in very right, yet wrong, places, I would bet my Jeep that the outfit doesn’t have Scott’s seal of approval.

Don’t get me wrong, I love it, and so does every guy walking in and out of the dorms.

She’s my girl and I prefer to be the only one looking at her.

My girl. We’re not official—not yet—but

Beth said four critical words when she climbed into my Jeep this morning: “I let Isaiah go.”

Which means she’s with me and not him. Later today, I’m asking Beth to make us exclusive.

Beth stabs her finger into the book.

“Jackpot.” She scribbles the room number onto the palm of her hand. “I double dog dare you to talk to your brother.”

“Do you know nothing about dares?” I ask while giving the evil eye to some guy who stares at the contours of Beth’s waist. “You can’t double dog dare unless I turn down the initial dare.”

She arches a brow. “Are we really going to talk semantics?”

I place a hand on her hip and back her against the wall. “That’s a big word, Beth.

Maybe you should explain it.”

A wicked smile touches her lips and raw hunger settles in her eyes, but instead of melting into me as I am into her, Beth pushes me away and ducks underneath my arm. A guy walks out of the building and Beth catches the door before it has a chance to lock behind him.

“It means you’re an idiot if you think I’m going to let you talk your way out of this.”

She gestures for me to enter the lobby and I do. “I wasn’t going to talk. I was going to kiss my way out of it. Do you have any idea how long it’s been since we kissed?”

“If you talk to your brother, we’ll kiss. A lot.”

“How about we skip this and move straight on to kissing?”

She ignores me and studies the large map of the dorm layout on the wall. “I officially dare you to talk to your brother.”

I cross my arms over my chest as my back straightens. Beth officially threw down the gauntlet. “Fine. What do I get if I win?”

Her raven hair cascades like a waterfall as she inclines her head toward me. A sexy glint lights her eyes. “What do you want?”

You. But that isn’t what I permit to come out of my mouth. “I want you to spend the rest of the day with me. No cell phones. No friends.

Nothing but me and you.”

“Deal.”

BETH EXPERTLY MANIPULATES our way past the RA guarding the entrance to Mark’s floor.

I’d call him an idiot, but I’m well aware that she used the same manipulation skills to convince me to drive to Lexington. To my horror, Beth knocks on my brother’s door without asking if I’m ready. Any hope Mark would be in class ends when the doorknob jiggles and Mark’s large, looming figure stands in the door frame.

Beth flashes a wicked smile. “S’up, Mark.

How was the game against Florida?”

He hesitantly grins as his eyes flicker between me and Beth. “I sacked the quarterback twice. Don’t you watch the news?”

She shrugs. “No. I’m pretending to care about football in order to break the ice. I’ll be in the lobby.” Beth nonchalantly walks off the way we came. Even when the door at the end of the hallway shuts, I still watch. After dragging my ass here, I never thought she’d leave me to do this on my own.

Mark steps away from the door and forces cheerfulness. “Do you want to come in?”

“Yeah.” I mimic his tone. Mark and I never forced anything before this summer.

Mark’s dorm room is the same as it was last year. I can tell he has the same roommate by the posters of Star Wars hanging on the wall.

“Where’s Greg?”

“Class. Do you want something to drink?”

He opens a small fridge. “Gatorade, water?”

My mouth tastes like the desert, but I don’t want to prolong this. “I’m sorry.”

Mark closes the fridge and sits on the bottom bunk. His fake smile vanishes and I shove my hands in my pockets. The Band-Aid method sucked for both of us. I wish I could make our relationship strong again. Mark was the first person I told when I pitched a no-hitter, made my first all-star team, and kissed a girl. Now, I don’t even know what words to stutter out next.