Daring the Bad Boy

by Monica Murphy

  “Okay, okay. You’ve got this.” She nodded, her smile bright in the silvery light of the half moon.

  “Three!” Presley shouted, hopping up and down.

  I didn’t expect her to say three so fast. I whipped my head around and stared at the lake, the way the gentle waves looked like they were topped with sparkling crystals. The moon’s soft glow cast everything in this ethereal sheen that made me think of a fairy tale.

  A fairy tale where I suddenly became a flailing, screaming princess who fell off the dock and into the lake in a not-so-graceful leap.

  The cold water embraced me, pulling me down, my lungs already burning, and I’d only been under for a few seconds.

  Don’t panic, don’t panic.

  The words rang in my head as my feet brushed the muddy, gooey bottom—how deep did I fall, jeez—and I kicked my legs out as hard as I could, aiming for the top of the water. I opened my eyes but I could see nothing but darkness. Not even the light of the moon could penetrate the murky water, and I spread my arms out, trying to remember what Kelsey told me about diving underwater. Then I took a breath.

  Big mistake.

  Water slipped into my mouth and I pressed my lips together, my lungs positively aching. Oh God. I was probably going to die in this lake. Barely into my summer camp experience and I was a total goner. I’d never get a chance to flirt with Kyle wearing my favorite bikini. I’d never get the chance to kiss him—or anyone for that matter. Heck, I wouldn’t even get to experience Dane giving me mouth-to-mouth because he wasn’t here. He was in his cabin sleeping, like I should’ve been.

  Pushing aside the negative thoughts, I told myself to get a grip.

  It felt like the water was pressing on my chest, and I struggled against it. Imagining I was a rocket shooting through space, pushing upward, high in the sky. Up was my goal, air was my goal, the dock was the ultimate goal, and I closed my eyes, told myself, I can do it. I can do it.

  Oh God, I don’t think I can do it.

  They say when you’re about to die, your life flashes before your eyes in a sequence of events, from the time you were born to the here and now.

  But I saw none of that. Just the murky water and Presley’s smug face and Kyle staring at me like he couldn’t believe I’d jumped off the dock.

  I showed him, I thought. I showed all of them.

  And now I was going to die. Just like that time when I was four. I’d almost died then, but I guess my moment was now.

  I sank down, down, down. Giving in. Giving up. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t hardly move, but then I felt arms wrap around me.

  Strong, well-muscled arms.

  They tugged me upward with little effort, and my body became weak as I slumped against an equally well-muscled chest. My head broke through the water and I took a deep, painful breath, coughing up water as I floated on my back, my savior loosening his grip on me but not ever letting me go.

  I clung to him, curling my arm around his, breathing hard as I pressed my fingers into his skin. He was real, solid and warm, and for the briefest, craziest moment I thought it was Kyle who saved me.

  But it wasn’t.

  “You okay?” My hero’s deep voice sounded right by my ear and I shivered. Between coughs, I nodded, and his arm tightened around me once more as he pulled me along with him, closer to the dock.

  “Oh my God, is she all right?” I heard Kelsey shriek from her perch on the dock. My ears were plugged, every sound muffled like I was still under water, and it was weird. Whoever was dragging me along with him answered with a gruff yes and then, finally, my feet were touching actual ground.

  I found my footing, the water lapping against my waist, and I glanced to my left, my newfound hero standing beside me, though he was looking in the opposite direction. For a fleeting moment as I stared at his chest, I thought it might be Dewey, the lifeguard from the pool. Rescuing dumb me from a midnight dare jumping into the lake sounded like something he might do, but I realized quickly that this guy was much more muscular than poor gangly Dewey. Then I even thought it could be Dane, but there’d been no Australian accent. And he wasn’t as tall as Dane.

  The moment I tilted my head back and saw his face, recognition dawned. It was Jacob. The jerk who told me he was going to write me up for sneaking out with everyone else.

  Great. The rudest boy at camp just so happened to save my life. I hoped he wasn’t one of those types who expected me to be indebted to him for the rest of the summer or whatever.

  I looked away and coughed, water filling my mouth so I had no choice but to avert my head and spit it out. My cheeks felt hot, and I couldn’t believe I was embarrassed, but old habits died hard, I guess.

  He said nothing, just grabbed my hand and walked/dragged me the rest of the way out of the water, until we were standing on the sandy beach. I heard feet thumping on the dock and I glanced up, watched in disbelief as the majority of my so-called friends and the boys from B7B ran off the dock. Not a one of them had stayed behind to see if I was okay.

  Not a single one of them.

  Were they scared they’d get in trouble? Would Jacob rat me out? He was the director’s nephew, after all. I needed to say something to him. I didn’t want to get in trouble. I didn’t want to be sent home, and I’m pretty sure he had the power to make both things happen.

  Before I could say anything, though, Jacob grabbed my shoulders and gave them a little shake so I’d look up at him. His eyes were dark, his mouth set in a grim line, and he bent his knees a little so our gazes were even. “You really all right?” he asked, his tone firm.

  I’d quit coughing, but my voice still came out slightly wheezy. “I’m fine.” My bones felt like jelly and I thought I might pass out from lack of oxygen, but yeah. I was great.

  He squeezed my bare shoulders with his big hands, his fingers sliding over my thin bikini straps, and I realized I’d never stood this close to a boy before with so little clothing on. A shiver moved through me, and I tried to take a step back for much-needed distance, but he wouldn’t let me go.

  “That was really stupid, jumping off the dock like that,” he said, his deep voice now full of irritation.

  “Trust me, I wasn’t trying to impress you.” I couldn’t believe I’d said that. But I was offended that he basically just called me stupid.

  “No kidding.” He released his hold on my shoulders and walked a few steps away, snatching up something off the beach. “And I definitely wasn’t impressed.”

  I made an incredulous sound, one I usually saved for the privacy of my bedroom when no one else was around, and he sent me a look. I was reluctant to admit it was sort of a cute look, his dark eyebrows raised, as if he dared me to contradict him.

  So I did.

  “Are you going to write me up?” When he still said nothing, I continued. “You said you would earlier.” I glanced around, noticed that the dock was completely empty.

  Where was Kelsey, anyway? Did she leave me, too?

  “You want me to?”

  “N-no. O-of c-course n-not.” My teeth had started to chatter. I didn’t know if it was from the cold or the shock, or a combination of both, but I couldn’t make them stop.

  “Did you bring a towel with you at least?” Jacob asked. When I shook my head, he muttered something that sounded distinctly like a curse word starting with the letter F. The sympathetic look he shot my way was surprising as he came back toward me, his hand thrust outward, a ball of fabric clutched in it. “Take this.”

  I didn’t want him feeling sorry for me. And that didn’t look like a towel. “Wh-what i-is it?” I wrapped my arms around my middle, my fingers brushing against my goose-bump-covered torso. I couldn’t stop shaking. It was like I had no control over my body.

  He sighed and glanced to his left, then his right, like he wanted to make sure there was no one around before he stepped forward and stretched the dark fabric between his hands. “Don’t move,” he ordered, his tone bossy as he yanked the fabric over my head.

&
nbsp; I jerked against his first touch, but otherwise I remained still. It was a giant hoodie that he slipped over my head. Warm and soft and a little sandy from when he’d abandoned it on the beach. The fabric clung to my damp skin and the hem fell to my thighs, covering me from my neck to almost my knees. I shoved my arms in the sleeves but they were so long, they swallowed my hands completely, even when I stretched my fingers out.

  He stepped closer and reached behind my head, pulling the hood up so that it covered my soaked hair. Then he grabbed hold of the strings at the sweatshirt’s neck and tugged on them, so the hood cinched around my face tightly, his gaze never leaving mine. “Better?”

  I nodded and took a deep breath, the shivering starting to subside, thank goodness. “Much.”

  Jacob reached out and wiped one cheek, then the other, his thumb rough yet warm against my chilled skin. “You’re still wet.”

  “I should p-probably take a shower.” I clamped my freezing lips shut. Why did I just say that? Showers meant naked, and I didn’t want to talk about getting naked with Jacob. Ugh. Not that I meant it that way.

  Why couldn’t Kyle have been the one to save me? That would’ve been my dream come true, my summer plans come to fruition in only a few days’ time. I could’ve swooned and fallen into his arms and he would’ve realized just how amazing and wonderful I was, all because I almost drowned by trying to prove to myself that I wasn’t afraid…

  “Jake! Is that you? What’s going on?”

  Oh God. I wanted to die. Just…collapse into the sand and pray it swallowed me whole. I saw the camp director running toward us, his expression full of concern and slightly…angry?

  We were so screwed.

  …

  JAKE

  “Play along,” I told the girl who was blinking up at me with terrified eyes. They were big and wide and the deepest blue, though the moon could be playing tricks on me. But her eyes were definitely pretty. “Let me do all the talking.”

  She squeaked in response and I shoved her behind me, smiling at Uncle Bob like I was always hanging out by the lake at midnight.

  “Hey, Uncle Bob.” I waved at him when he came to a skidding stop in front of me, wearing pale blue pajama pants and a thin white V-neck T-shirt. Damn, I could see all sorts of hair sprouting out, like it could barely be contained, and I almost wanted to laugh.

  Almost.

  “What are you doing out here at this time of night?” he demanded.

  “Technically it’s the morning,” I joked, my smile fading when I saw his eyes narrow. Yeah, needed to take this a different route. “I was, uh, walking the grounds.”

  “With a girl?” Bob asked pointedly.

  I played dumb. “What girl?”

  “Maybe the one I found on the dock?” He tilted his head. “Or perhaps the one hiding behind you?”

  The girl on the dock was probably this girl’s friend—the only loyal one she had. I’d heard a blood-curdling scream when I was on the far side of the beach, freaked out that someone must’ve plunged to their death. I saw the group that had been hanging out on the dock yelling and pointing, a few of them running away. One of them stood by the edge of the dock, a redhead who looked terrified as she pointed out into the water.

  “Who’d you find on the dock?” I asked.

  “A camper from G7A,” Uncle Bob said.

  “Ah.” I had no idea what to say next. I could practically feel the girl shaking behind me, her teeth lightly chattering. She needed to go take that hot shower she mentioned and climb into bed. Forget this entire night ever happened.

  “Who’s the girl standing behind you, Jake?” Bob crossed his arms in front of his broad chest, looking like he had all night to listen to my explanation.

  Dread filled me but I stood taller, the cool night air rippling over my still-damp naked skin and making me shiver. I’d thrown my hoodie on earlier without a shirt and it was damn cold out here. “Ah, she’s…” Crap, I didn’t know her name. I didn’t know who she was. I knew she had a nice rack that filled out her bikini top to perfection. I knew she was a dumbass for jumping into the lake and that her friends were jerks to not try to save her.

  “Um, it’s me. Annie.” She stepped around me, actually daring to say something when I told her to follow my lead. She was either gutsy or dumb as rocks. “From cabin G7A.”

  Ah, crap. My uncle was going to put two and two together and think I was up to no good, and he was partially right. My earlier intentions with Lacey had been bad, so thank God I hadn’t gone through with it. Saving this girl’s life was the actual good part. But I’d probably end up still looking like a jerk and pissing off my uncle.

  Bob frowned at her, then at me, then back at her again. “What are you doing out here at this time of night? There is a curfew, you know.”

  “I know. I’m so sorry.” She sighed and tilted her head down, her entire face practically swallowed up by my hoodie. “I was just…missing my parents so much. This is my first time at camp and I was feeling homesick. I thought I’d come out and sit on the dock by the water and then I accidentally…fell in.”

  I blinked at her, but she didn’t even look at me. She was saving her performance for my uncle.

  Impressive.

  “Well.” Uncle Bob’s voice was gruff as he scratched at the back of his neck. A sure sign he didn’t know how to react. He probably wanted to bust her, but she was saying all the right things. And she took the attention off of me. “Thank goodness Jake was out here, then.”

  “Yes. He saved my life,” Annie said gravely. “I’m sorry, though, that I caused so much trouble.” She turned to look at me, her eyes wide and unblinking. “I hope you can forgive me.”

  “I’m just glad you’re okay,” I muttered, not sure what else to say. She looked like a good girl, she acted like a good girl, but she could put on a damn good performance.

  “Jake, walk this young lady back to her cabin,” he demanded before turning his attention to Annie. “Do you need to see the nurse?”

  “Oh, no. I’m fine,” she said with a nod. “But thank you.”

  “All right then.” He studied us both, his gaze razor sharp, head tilted, like he still wasn’t quite sure if he could believe us or not. He pointed at Annie. “I don’t want to see you out here this late at night ever again, young lady.”

  “You won’t,” she said solemnly. “I promise.”

  Uncle Bob made a harrumphing noise before he turned and headed back to his cabin. We watched him go, us standing next to each other, until he disappeared out of sight.

  I finally turned to look at her. “Ready to go?”

  She nodded, and we headed toward the girls’ cabins. “You don’t need to walk me the whole way,” she said.

  “If you get lost or somehow fall back into the lake and my uncle finds out I wasn’t with you? There will be hell to pay,” I muttered. “I’ll drop you off in front of G7A and watch you walk through the door.”

  “So Fozzie Bear is really your uncle?” She sounded surprised, though she also sounded like she already knew this. Rumors spread like wildfire around here. The older campers didn’t have their phones, so they sat around and gossiped instead.

  “Yep,” I said grimly, not giving her any more information. Why add fuel to the gossip fire?

  “Oh.”

  We remained silent for a while, walking the path side by side, me kicking a rock off the trail and her sinking her hands into the front pocket of my hoodie. A hoodie I really wished I was wearing because I was freezing my ass off. Felt like the temperature was dropping with every minute that passed. It was worth giving to her though, because she looked pretty cute wearing it.

  “I know you told me to follow your lead,” she said after a while, her voice low as we started to pass the cabins. “But I thought it would work better if the excuse came from me.”

  “No, you’re right. What you said was—perfect.” She totally deflected Bob’s attention off of me, and I appreciated it.

  “I’m glad I co
uld help.” She sent me a sidelong glance. “Your uncle would be mad if he thought we were somehow…messing around or whatever, right?” Her voice squeaked a little when she said the words.

  Cute.

  “Definitely.” I nodded.

  “And you…saved my life.” She cleared her throat, as if that admission was hard to make. “Thank you for that.”

  “Anytime.” I wasn’t going to give her a lecture or make her feel bad. Forget that. When I first dragged her out of the water I had been scared—and mad. What idiot jumped into the lake late at night? Maybe she didn’t realize her friends were so shitty, but still. It was a bad move.

  But I was over it now. She saved my ass, too, so we were even.

  “It was really dumb of me to do that. I had a momentary burst of confidence, I guess, and thought I could pull it off.”

  “Next time you have one of those bursts of confidence? Make sure it’s in the middle of the day, and there’s a lifeguard on duty.” I nudged her shoulder with mine and she nearly stumbled off the trail. I reached out and grabbed a shirtsleeve, keeping her from tipping over. Shit, I didn’t know my own strength or what? “Sorry about that.”

  She giggled and tugged on the edge of the hood, shoving it off her head so her still-damp, dark blond hair shone in the moonlight. “This night isn’t working out as planned.”

  “Tell me about it,” I agreed, which only made her giggle harder.

  It was kind of a cute sound. I was never one to think much of giggling girls because most of the time, they were annoying. But this one—she was all right. I guess. Any other chick would’ve ratted my ass out and I would’ve ended up in deep trouble. But for some weird reason, Annie had my back.

  “I don’t know how to swim,” she admitted softly.

  I stopped and grabbed hold of her arm, turning her so she had to face me. “Are you serious?”

  She nodded, her teeth sinking into her lower lip. “Really stupid of me to jump into the lake, right?”

  “Uh, yeah.” My voice dripped with sarcasm.

  “We were playing truth or dare and I took the dare. I was trying to prove to myself that I was brave. That I could do anything if I just set my mind to it.” She shrugged, my hoodie flopping all around her. She really was tiny. “I’ve never been very daring.”