Daring the Bad Boy

by Monica Murphy

  “Gotcha.” Kyle flicked his hair out of his eyes again. “Good to know.”

  No one said anything as we continued to pass the bottle around. I couldn’t speak, my mind twisted over the many things Kyle could want from Annie. The girl whose name he didn’t even know. He must like her. She liked him, so her wish would come true. She’d probably end up with Kyle this summer; they could have a cute little camp romance and then go their separate ways come August.

  Just the thought left a sour feeling in my stomach.

  “I invited Annie to join us tonight, though I’m starting to think she’s gonna chicken out.”

  My entire body went stiff at the mention of her name. “So what’s going on with you two? You like her?” I asked, trying my best to keep my voice even. I shouldn’t be jealous. I had no reason to be jealous. I wasn’t interested in her, not like that.

  “I guess.” Kyle shrugged. “Everyone else here is been there, done that, you know what I mean? I always approve of new blood.”

  “What about the redhead, her friend?” Blake asked, passing the bottle to someone else. “She’s pretty new, too.”

  “I don’t like redheads. They’re not my type.” Kyle’s mouth stretched into that stupid grin again. I could tell he was already feeling the alcohol, the lightweight. “I do like blondes, though. I like blondes a lot.”

  I took the bottle that was passed to me and looked around before I took a quick drink. I freaking needed it after hearing Kyle talk about Annie and how he liked blondes. What the hell ever. I only planned on having a few drinks and then I was out of here. Couldn’t chance sticking around for too long. What if Uncle Bob came across us? I’d get sent home, no questions asked. My dad would be so pissed he wouldn’t bother sending me to juvie. He’d murder me in my sleep and it would be rest in peace, Jake.

  After my court appearance, he’d reminded me how much a record could possibly ruin my chances at getting into the university of my choice. College was my ticket out of there. One more year of high school and then I was free—unless I screwed everything up.

  Forget that shit. Couldn’t risk it.

  “Can I be honest?” I asked Kyle.

  He nodded. “Go for it.”

  “I don’t think she’s your type,” I told him after I took a second swig and passed him the bottle.

  Kyle frowned. “Why do you say that?”

  “Because. She’s too…” Sweet. Cute. Nice. Innocent. I couldn’t say any of that.

  “Virginal?” Blake supplied for me, making all of them start laughing.

  “Totally,” another one of them shouted, nudging Kyle in the ribs. He just pushed the guy off with a shake of his head.

  “I could get into that,” he said with a slight sneer, his eyes glassy. “All the ladies love me.”

  “Egotistical asshole,” I muttered under my breath, which only made Kyle laugh louder. At least the guy knew what he was and had no shame.

  “Seriously. She’s not your type.” I clapped him on the shoulder and gave him a quick shake. “You’ll try to kiss her and she’ll probably jump a mile.”

  “Nah, that’s just if you tried, Fazio, what with that serial killer stare you got going on,” Kyle said. “You need to lighten up, bro. Seriously.”

  Serial killer stare? This guy was seriously a jerk. “Whatever, man. Just think twice before you attempt to make a move on Annie. She’s probably not up to your speed.”

  I turned on my heel to go, muttering a good-bye to no one, considering not a one of them was listening, and as I rounded the arts and crafts building, I ran smack into a small, soft body.

  A small, soft body who reached out and shoved me away from her. Hard.

  “Hey, watch it—” I started to yell, my lips clamping shut when I saw who it was.

  Annie.

  “You all right?” I changed my tone, softening my voice. I didn’t want to scare her. “Sorry about that. I didn’t see you.”

  She said nothing. Just wrapped her arms around herself, the hurt look in her eyes telling me all I needed to know without her saying a single word.

  I’d bet big money she’d overheard our conversation and all the shitty things I said. All the shitty things Kyle said, too.

  Great.

  She dodged out of my reach when I tried to grab her arm, her pained gaze turning hostile in a quick second. “Don’t touch me,” she whisper-hissed.

  I was at a complete loss as to what I should do. I’d blown it. She’d heard me say he should stay away from her. Had heard us bag on the fact that she was too virginal. That was mean. I couldn’t take any of it back. But at least I could offer her up a bit of advice.

  So I did.

  “Don’t go meet him,” I told her as she turned away from me. “Ditch him tonight, Annie.”

  She paused, glancing over her shoulder at me. “Why should I listen to you? From what I heard, he wants me there.”

  “Right. And if you don’t show up, he’ll want you even more.” I was surprised I could force the words out of my throat. “We always want what we can’t have, right?”

  Yeah. Wasn’t that the truth? Because right now, as I stood there in front of Annie and looked at her pretty face, I couldn’t help but think…

  I want her.

  Yet I can’t have her.

  “You’re making a valid point.” She lifted her nose into the air, all haughty princess.

  “I can give you more pointers,” I told her.

  She lifted her brows. “What do you mean?”

  “Tomorrow. At your next swim lesson. You want to get with Kyle?” Just saying the words made my stomach churn. Totally over-the-top reaction but hey, I was being honest with myself. If I couldn’t have her, then I could help her with Kyle, and once they ended up together, then I’d leave her alone.

  And I needed to leave her alone. She was too…tempting.

  Annie nodded, nibbling on her lower lip.

  “Then take my advice. Don’t go meet him right now. Not like you’ll get to talk to him much anyway. He’s back there with all of his friends.” My heart was galloping like I just ran a marathon. I didn’t want her hanging out with Kyle. Not tonight. He was already buzzed. What if he made a move on her? I’d never forgive myself if something bad happened to her…

  Not that I thought Kyle was a bad guy, but he was drunk. Who knew what he might do?

  “Fine.” She sighed and threw her hands up in the air. “I won’t go.”

  Relief filled my chest, easing my erratically thumping heart. Thank God she listened to me.

  “But you owe me tips. Pointers.” She pointed right at me. “You’re going to help me convince Kyle that we’d be a good match. And you’re not going to tell anyone about this, either. None of this.”

  She sure was a bossy little thing. I kind of liked it. Standing straight, I saluted her. “Yes, ma’am.”

  A little smile curled her lips, but she hid it, her expression turning serious. “Same time tomorrow?”

  “Same time tomorrow,” I agreed.

  “See you at the pool.” She walked away before I could say anything else.

  …

  ANNIE

  I was probably a complete idiot to agree with Jake to not go meet Kyle last night. I’d been nervous about it, afraid of who would be there, scared I’d say something stupid and ruin everything. I hadn’t wanted to drink. If I was going to do it, I didn’t want my first real drinking experience to be with me and a bunch of guys I didn’t really know. That was like every teen movie come to life.

  This was the summer of being brave, not being stupid.

  Plus, as mad at Jake as I was last night, his words had actually made sense. We always want what we can’t have. If I were always eager and saying yes to Kyle’s every request, he’d tire of me fast. If I played hard to get, he’d work that much harder to, ahem, get me.

  So yeah. I was totally on board with Jake’s plan. More on board with him giving me pointers and helping me gain Kyle’s attention. I wasn’t exactly
sure why he offered, but he’d seemed almost…concerned about me last night. Like he really hadn’t wanted me to go hang out with Kyle at all. Was he watching out for me? Worried about my safety?

  That was sort of…touching. Even though I was still irritated over what he said to Kyle and all the other boys. And Kyle had been rude, too. I didn’t know what to think. Was it the alcohol talking? Or were they all just jerks?

  It was game night tonight, and I didn’t care if I was a little late to that. They’d held game night the second night I was at camp, and it was nothing but chaos the entire time. No one would miss me, and besides, Kelsey was covering for me again.

  As I pushed through the gate and approached the pool, I realized that I didn’t feel as apprehensive when I saw the water. Last night I could barely look at the pool, I was so nervous.

  Maybe I was already making progress.

  “You’re late.”

  I whirled around to find Jake kicked back on one of the loungers, shirtless and wearing those same blue Hawaiian-print swim trunks from last night, his arms bent behind his head, his biceps bulging. My heart flipped over itself seeing him like that, all relaxed and cute and oh my God, I really needed to stop thinking about Jake that way.

  Counselors didn’t go out with campers. Plus, Jake was too intense, too much for me. I didn’t care how sweet or helpful he’d been. Kyle was more my speed, more my taste.

  Glancing at the clock, I rolled my eyes at him. “It’s only one minute after eight.”

  “Still counts as late.” He leaped to his feet and sauntered over to where I stood, reaching out to tug on the ends of my ponytail. “You ready to do this?”

  Mute, I nodded. He was terribly close. I could smell him, all soapy clean and fresh. He had a baseball cap on backward and he grabbed the bill at the back of his head, flipped the hat off, and tossed it onto a nearby chair. I watched the hat fall, almost afraid to look anywhere else, because I had the distinct feeling he was totally checking me out.

  And I was totally letting him.

  “Take your dress off, then, and let’s go.” He strode toward the pool, and I watched him go, my gaze locked on his back. I’d never given a guy’s back much thought before. Jake’s was smooth-skinned and tan from the sun, his muscles shifting with his every movement. His shoulders were impossibly broad and his hips were narrow and those swim trunks hung a little low. Almost scandalously low.

  My entire body went hot from the direction my thoughts just went, and I shook my head once, telling myself to get over it, get over Jake. This was about snagging Kyle. Getting him interested in me. I didn’t need to have distracting thoughts about a counselor. Relationships between counselors and campers were strictly off-limits, and I wasn’t about to get in trouble.

  I shrugged out of my swimsuit cover-up and made my way toward the pool, sitting on the edge of the shallow end and immediately dunking my feet into the water. Jake sat down right next to me. So close our shoulders bumped.

  “Impressive,” he murmured, his gaze meeting mine.

  I looked away from those dark, all-seeing eyes, studying the water instead. “I don’t have much time, so I need to push myself to get over my fears.”

  “You don’t want to push yourself too hard, though. That could only set you back,” he pointed out.

  I slid my gaze to his once more, defiant. “I won’t set myself back. I can’t afford to.”

  “Fair enough.” He nodded, then rubbed his hands together. The movement caused our shoulders to bump into each other again, and I noticed how warm his skin was. “Let’s jump in.”

  He splashed into the water and turned to face me, his disappointment clear. I knew he fully expected me to follow after him, and I’d wanted to. Believe me, I would’ve done it, but the thought of actually hopping into the water without someone or something to catch me just sort of seized me up.

  So I remained frozen by the edge of the pool instead.

  “Come on, Annie,” he said, his voice low. Coaxing. “Join me.”

  I shook my head, not able to put into words my stupid, paralyzing fears. It was so frustrating, how one second I felt perfectly fine and the next I wanted to bolt.

  He held his arms out, like I was a toddler ready to jump toward him. “You can do it.” He waggled his fingers at me.

  “No.” I shook my head again, the ends of my ponytail whapping my cheeks, making me wince. Who knew hair could feel so sharp?

  “Annie.” His voice became stern. “You can do this. I know you can. Just…jump.”

  “I can’t,” I whispered, my body starting to shake.

  “You can,” he countered, his voice, his gaze, gentle. “I’ll catch you. I promise.”

  Why did the thought of feeling his strong, muscled arms wrapped around me and holding me tight make my skin tingle?

  “If you jump in, I’ll tell you everything I know about your boyfriend, Kyle,” he all but singsonged.

  He’s not my boyfriend, I wanted to say, but I didn’t bother correcting him. I started to laugh, irritated at myself that his offer was actually working. “Really?”

  He nodded, trying his best to hold back a smile. He had a nice smile, big and warm and friendly.

  Gripping the edge of the pool, I leaned forward and took a deep breath, my gaze lifting to Jake’s. His eyes were locked on my chest and I glanced down, saw the way my position gave me some major cleavage. Warmth bloomed deep within me that he was actually checking me out. Little ol’ me, Annie the nobody.

  With Jake, I never felt like a nobody.

  I let go of the rounded edge and practically belly flopped into the pool, sucking in a sharp breath when I made contact with the water. Gasped even more when I felt those strong arms envelop me and pull me into his hot, hard chest.

  “You did it,” he murmured close to my ear. “Look at you, jumping into the water like it’s no big deal.”

  I blinked up at him, water clinging to my eyelashes, sliding down my cheeks. I hadn’t gone underwater, but I’d caused a big enough splash to douse Jake and myself. We were incredibly close, like intimate-hug and he-could-kiss-me close, and I stared up at him, cataloging his every feature. His thick, dark eyebrows and his warm brown eyes surrounded by the thickest eyelashes I’d ever seen. His nose was just the slightest bit crooked, hooking to the right, and he had a tiny scar on his left cheek, another one just below the center of his bottom lip.

  How did he get those scars? I wanted to know.

  His breath fanned across my face, minty fresh like he must’ve just brushed his teeth or was chewing gum, and I closed my eyes for the briefest moment, trying to calm the swirl of confusion running through my brain.

  “He likes to tell dirty jokes.”

  I opened my eyes, frowning at Jake in confusion. “Who does?”

  He sent me a look, one that said duh. “Kyle. The dirtier the better.”

  My nose wrinkled. “Ew.”

  He chuckled. “I know.”

  “What else?” I asked as he righted me, his hands going to my waist as I let my legs drop, my feet touching the ground. We were still in the shallow end, and the water came to my waist. The sky was dimming quickly, the sun long gone, and it was dark outside. Quiet. It was like we were the only two out here.

  “His parents are filthy rich.”

  I already figured out that much. Everything Kyle owned seemed to have a designer logo on it. “And…”

  “His middle name is Richard.”

  Well. That was kind of cute.

  “Otherwise known as Dick,” he said with a straight face.

  “Now who’s the crude one?” I asked, giving Jake a shove, though he didn’t move a muscle. He just grinned at me in response. “What’s your middle name?”

  His grin faded. “Robert.”

  “Jacob Robert Fazio,” I murmured thoughtfully, realization dawning. “Wait, as in…”

  “Uncle Bob. Robert Fazio. Fozzie Bear. My dad wanted to name me after his big brother,” Jake explained.

 
Aw, that was sweet. Even sweeter? Jake seemed kind of embarrassed. His cheeks were ruddy, and now he wouldn’t look at me. Though he was still holding on to me, his hands on my waist, my hands on his arms. He was touching nothing but bare skin, a place no one else had ever really touched before, and for some weird reason it didn’t feel unnatural or wrong.

  It felt almost…right.

  “Annie. I want you to hold on to my arms and float on your stomach,” he instructed, his voice firm. He was back in teacher mode. “And kick your legs.”

  I stared up at him like I couldn’t understand what he just said.

  “Go on,” he encouraged. “Float. I’ve got you.”

  We went on like that for at least ten minutes, Jake encouraging me to kick my legs as he dragged me all over the shallow end of the pool. I gripped his forearms tight for fear he might accidentally let me go, but he never did. Didn’t complain, either, when surely I was hurting him, my nails digging little crescent moons into his skin.

  “Loosen your hold on me,” he eventually said, and reluctantly, I did. My hands slid down his arms, until his hands were curling around mine and I was still somehow miraculously floating. “Look at you. I bet I could let go and you’d swim on your own.”

  I immediately landed on my feet and let go of his hands, not missing the disappointment on his face. I ignored it and instead wanted to push him for more Kyle information.

  That’s why I was there, right? Not only for lessons but to learn everything he knew about Kyle.

  “Does he have a girlfriend?” I asked.

  Jake frowned, looking confused. “Who? Me? No, I don’t.”

  My heart flipped. Yeah, I liked knowing that way too much. “Not you. Kyle.”

  “Oh.” His expression switched. Now he was irritated. “No. He never has girlfriends.”

  “Wait a minute. How do you know?” It’s not like Jake and Kyle were good friends. Yeah, they seemed friendly, but Jake had been at camp only a month longer than I had. How would he know much about Kyle?

  “He told me so.” Jake looked away, a warm wind suddenly washing over us, making his hair flutter over his forehead. “I think our lesson is done for the night. Don’t you?”

  “Um, okay. Sure.” I ignored the disappointment that filled me and made a mad dash for the ladder, climbing out of the pool as quickly as I could and grabbing a towel so I could wrap it around me. Jake remained in the water, drifting closer to the deep end, and I watched him, frowning when he still didn’t get out of the pool. “Aren’t you coming out?”