Ride Hard (Raven Riders #1)(23)

“I’m all ears,” Haven said, folding her hands over the open pages.

“There’s gonna be a party here tonight. I really want you to come down with me.” Cora gave her a hopeful look.

Butterflies whipped through Haven’s belly, but it was time to put something on her list into action, and attending a party was definitely on there. “Okay,” she said simply.

“Wait, what? Really?” Cora’s eyes went wide.

Laughing, Haven nodded. “Really.”

“Aw, you rock,” Cora said, throwing an arm over her shoulder in a move that nearly tackled her.

“Well, let’s save the proclamations until we see if I end up freaking out.” Haven tapped the notebook. “But I’m serious about this. I don’t want to waste any more time. I feel like I’ve missed so much. I just want to live.”

“You will. You are,” Cora said. “It will all get easier when you realize not everyone’s like our dads and their goons.” She peered at Haven’s notebook with a mischie vous glint in her eye. “So what else can you check off tonight?”

“Well, if it’s a party, I was thinking I could try some drinks.” At almost twenty-three, she’d never had a single glass of wine, beer, or anything else. She might hate it, but she’d never know unless she tried.

Cora tapped her finger against her lips and nodded. “Okay. I like it. We need to make sure you eat beforehand, then. What else?”

“More?” Haven asked, laughing.

“Yes, more. Live dangerously, within reason, of course.” Cora winked.

Haven scanned the first of four pages she already had filled up. Some of the items were silly and frivolous, while others were serious and big and Haven had no idea how she’d make them come true. But there was so much she’d never done or been allowed to do.

Have your own kitchen

Have your own home

Go skydiving

Get GED (go to college?)

Get a pet

Get a job (what do I want to be?)

Thank the teachers who tried to reach out to me

Put the past behind me

Conquer fear and anxiety

Volunteer to help people (a soup kitchen?!)

Find a way to repay Cora

Make a mess and don’t care!

Go skinny dipping

Fly in an airplane

Visit another country

See a castle

Haven flipped to the page of Dare-inspired items.

Kiss a guy

Kiss a lot of guys!

Have fun at a party for once

Wear makeup

Drink

Ride a motorcycle

Learn to drive a motorcycle

“Kiss a guy?” she asked, looking at Cora.

“I was hoping you were going to pick that one. Why not? It could just be a kiss on the cheek. Or maybe it’ll be more, who knows?” Cora waggled her eyebrows.

Haven closed the notebook and flopped flat on the bed. “This list is juvenile.” Not to mention impossible. The idea of checking things off the list was fun, but how heartbreaking would it be for some things—maybe a lot of things—to never get done? Maybe it would be better not to dream, not to want. Maybe she was wanting too much.

“No, it’s not,” Cora said. “This list is about you thinking about what you want out of a life you’re just now being allowed to lead.”

Haven sighed and let Cora’s words sink in. “Okay, well. Then kissing a guy is a ridiculous idea,” she mumbled into the pillow. After a moment, she rolled her head to peer up at Cora. “Who would I even kiss? And what would I do, just walk up to someone and be like, I’m gonna kiss you now?”

Cora laughed. “Just see if an opportunity presents itself. Being open to it happening is half the battle. So now the question is what you’re going to wear.”

Haven lifted her head and pushed her hair behind her ears. “I want to look pretty.”

“Well, that’s easy, since you’re gorgeous anyway.” Cora ran her fingers through the end of Haven’s hair.

Haven rolled her eyes, uncomfortable with compliments no matter who they came from. In her experience, compliments had almost always stemmed from unwanted attention and came with a price tag—like you owed the guy something because he thought you were pretty. “I mean, I want to look good. Really good.” Her stomach did more loop-the-loops.

“You want to look hot,” Cora said. “Also easy. Does that mean I get free rein on putting you together for tonight, then?” she asked, her face alive with anticipation.

“Don’t make me regret it,” Haven said. For the next forty minutes, Haven wore and did and went along with everything Cora suggested. She ended up in her new tight jeans and clingy black shirt, with her hair styled in big loose curls that Cora pinned up on the sides to create a cascade of curls down her back. Haven didn’t have anything more adventurous than the black sandals Bunny had bought for her feet, but Cora did her makeup so beautifully—another check for her list—that she looked like someone else altogether. “Oh, my God. Is it too much?”

Cora looked over her shoulder into the mirror. “Not at all. Man, you look stunning. I do good work.”

“You do great work. It’s like it’s not even me.” Haven turned her head back and forth, trying to look at the back of her hair.