“Okay,” she says. “Here goes.” After taking a quick breath, she says, “Do you find Jasmine attractive?”
Crap. There’s no doubt that I think Jasmine is extremely attractive, but that’s not the same as wanting to date her.
“Yes,” I begin, “but—”
“No, buts, Drake. It’s a yes or no answer. That’s it.”
I glance at her and notice her shoulders are tense and have climbed upward.
I should have lied.
Desperate to qualify my answer, I open my mouth to speak.
“Your turn,” she whispers.
ASHLEY
This game’s not going exactly as I’d planned.
Why did I make my first question about Jasmine? To torture myself? To hear Drake admit that he thinks she’s hot? Should I ask him if he’s kissed her?
I give a small shake of my head.
I don’t want to know.
“Truth or Dare?” he asks.
I glance at him, scared to share my feelings—especially now that he’s confirmed his attraction to Jasmine.
This game was your idea, Ash. Don’t chicken out now.
I wipe my suddenly sweaty hands on my shorts. “Truth.” Then I look at Drake’s face.
Keeping his expression impassive, he asks, “Do you want to date Jonathan?”
I answer without hesitation. “No.” That was too easy.
Self-satisfaction curves his mouth. “Your turn.”
“Truth or Dare?”
He hesitates. “Truth.”
Why the hesitation? Is he afraid I’ll find out how he really feels?
Wanting to take advantage of the opportunity—what if he chooses dares from now on?—I scramble to come up with a good question.
What do I really want to know?
We walk along the trail, side by side, as I consider the question.
Do you still love me?
There’s no way I’m going to ask him that, and I hear myself ask, “Have you ever thought about kissing Jasmine? Ever?”
Why did I ask that? Do I enjoy humiliating myself?
DRAKE
What is it with her and her obsession with Jasmine?
I consider my answer.
If I’m completely honest, I’ll say yes. But it was just a passing thought and I had no intention of following through so why admit to it now? What would that prove?
“Drake?” Ashley asks with a sidelong glance.
I know I’ve taken too long to answer, and if I tell her No she won’t believe me.
You should have answered immediately, like she did with your question.
I think about her answer to my question about wanting to date Jonathan and I hold back a smile. I’m beyond happy to hear her admit she doesn’t want to date him.
“No,” I say, despite my conviction she won’t believe me.
ASHLEY
I don’t believe him, and now I know the truth—he’s attracted to Jasmine and he wants to kiss her.
Then why did he come to see you in Vegas?
The discrepancy throws me, and I wonder if I’m making a false assumption. I decide not to give up on him yet.
“Truth or Dare?” he asks.
I’m not ready to confess my feelings just yet. “Dare.”
Disappointment sweeps over Drake’s face, but he quickly recovers. “Let’s pick this game up after lunch.”
Sounds good to me—I’m ready for a break from this emotional roller coaster. “Okay.”
The soaring canyon walls shade the trail, helping to mitigate the growing heat, and I gratefully sip my water. “These Camelbacks are great,” I say. “They make a huge difference.”
“Good. I was hoping you’d like it.” He smiles a bit uncertainly. “We’ll have to use them in Reno.”
The promise of his statement makes my heart leap, and I smile in return. “Definitely.”
We see a few other hikers, and eventually we find a pleasant spot to stop and eat. I sit on a rock and eat the sandwich, chips, and fruit Drake brought, impressed with his planning.
“I’m glad I haven’t had to take out my first-aid kit on this hike,” he says with a smirk.
“Me too.”
His gaze travels to the bandage covering the scrape from my fall the previous night. “How’s your knee?”
“It’s fine. It hardly hurts at all.”
With a dubious expression, he says, “Maybe I should change the bandage. It’s gotten kind of dirty.”
As much as I’d like him to touch me, I’m not quite ready to allow him that privilege. “We should wait until after the hike.” To soften the sting of my refusal, I add, “It’ll just get dirty again.”
“Okay.”
We talk about safe topics while we finish our lunch, then after packing up our trash, we adjust our Camelbacks and start hiking back the way we came.
“I’m not used to this heat,” Drake says as we walk along.
I laugh. “Yeah, it’s a bit warmer than Reno.”
After a few more minutes he turns to me with a mischievous grin. “Are you ready for your dare?”
“Hmm. By the look on your face, I’m not sure if I should say yes or no.”
He cocks his head. “Too late to back out now.”
“Okay. What is it?”
“Next time we see some people, you have to sing at the top of your lungs.”
My face immediately reddens as I imagine how embarrassing that will be. “What?”
“Do you accept my dare?” he asks with a grin.
If I say no, my penalty will be to have to kiss whatever he says. That could be a good thing or a bad thing. I glance at him, and when I see the smirk on his face—like he’s certain I’ll turn down his dare—I speak with more confidence than I feel. “Yes, I accept your dare.”
A look of surprise comes into his eyes and I’m glad I said yes. Maybe no one will come along and I won’t have to do it. But after only a few minutes two men about our age come around the bend.
“Ashley?”
I look at Drake and see his eyebrows raised like he’s daring me all over again. After a sideways glance at him, I break into a rousing version of Row, Row, Row Your Boat, and as the men pass us, they give me a funny look.
I’m sure my face is bright red, but I finish the song anyway, then look at Drake again and see him laughing.
Proud that I’ve completed the dare despite my fears, I smile in triumph.
Thirty-Five
DRAKE
“I passed that dare, right?” she asks.
I get my laughter under control, but inside I’m disappointed to know how eager she is to avoid any kind of kiss I might have suggested. “Yeah.”
“Good.” She pauses. “Truth or Dare?”
I don’t want to screw things up by giving the wrong answer again. “Dare.”
She nods, then glances around before walking over to the canyon wall and staring at it a moment, then she turns to me with a grin.
“What?” I say, curious what she’s going to have me do.
She steps away from the wall and points to a fist-sized hole. “Stick your hand in there and leave it inside for ten seconds.”
An image of poisonous spiders and scorpions crawling onto my hand jumps into my mind, and I recoil slightly. Then I think of Ashley’s determination to avoid failing a dare, and I think, Two can play at this game.
“Okay,” I say with more confidence than I’m feeling, and I walk over to where she’s pointing.
ASHLEY
Drake stares at the hole a moment, then he leans down and peers inside, but I know it’s too dark in the depths of the hole for him to see anything.
Maybe he’ll turn down the dare and I’ll have to tell him to kiss something. The thought brings on a shiver of anticipation.
He glances at me and licks his lips, then says, “Here goes nothing.”
Amazed that he would actually do it, I watch as he straightens his fingers and slowly slides his hand into the hole up
to his wrist. Anticipating something horrible inside that will bite him, I rethink whether this dare was a good idea.
“One,” he begins, “two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten.” Without warning, he lets out a strangled cry as he yanks his hand back.
Horrified that something has bitten him, I loudly gasp as I press my hand to my mouth and my eyes go wide. I try to see the damage, but he cradles his hand against his chest.
“Let me see,” I say in a voice laced with worry, feeling horrible for giving him such a dangerous dare.
Then I hear him start laughing and I know he’s tricked me.
“Gotcha,” he says with a grin.
Relived, yet mad, I shove him, but he doesn’t move. “Not funny,” I say, annoyed that he fooled me.
“Actually,” he says as his laughter slows, “it was really funny. You should have seen your face.”
“You wouldn’t think it was so funny if something had actually bitten you.”
He nods. “That’s for sure.”
“You passed your dare,” I say, wanting to move on.
“I know.” He smiles. “Truth or Dare?”
I decide to live on the edge. “Truth.”
“All right. Do you think we should date other people?”
This one’s easy, but am I ready to admit he’s the only one I want to date? If he knows, will he take advantage of the information?
Come on, Ash. It’s Truth or Dare. Be honest.
With the slightest hesitation, I say, “No.”
He nods, but doesn’t give a clue if he agrees.
Did I give too much away?
Then I realize how I can find out. “Truth or Dare?”
His lips lift into a tiny smirk. “Truth.”
Now I’ve got you!
“Do you think we should date other people?”
He speaks with complete surety. “No.”
The confidence in his voice makes me giddy. He only wants to date me. My irritation at his trick vanishes as hope surges through me.
“Truth or Dare?” he asks.
This game’s getting interesting.
“Truth.”
His voice deepens. “May I kiss you?”
My lips part, my skin flushes, and desire pools deep inside me. Yes, a million times yes. There’s no denying what I want, and my voice comes out as a whisper. “Yes.”
A smile slowly forms on Drake’s mouth, and after we both stop walking, he takes a step towards me. With a whispery soft touch, his fingers stroke the curve of my jaw as his gaze locks with mine. “Are you sure?”
Inexorably drawn to him, I lean into his hand. “Yes.”
His smile widens and his hand slides behind my neck, holding me captive. Empty space stands between us, but he doesn’t attempt to close it. Instead, he bends towards me, slowly, slowly.
In anticipation of his mouth touching mine, my eyelids flutter close and my lips part. A moment later his scent envelops me, his hand tightens on the back of my neck, then finally, finally, his lips press against mine.
I sag towards him, but he’s standing far enough away that my body doesn’t touch his, and I stumble forward, breaking our kiss. To keep from crashing into him, I instinctively throw my hands out, and my hands end up on his hips, and my face against his rock-hard chest.
DRAKE
I catch Ashley as she stumbles into me, her soft body pressing against mine.
“Careful,” I murmur into her hair as her scent surrounds me.
Her warm hands cup my hips, and without thinking, my hands go to her waist, steadying her. In all the commotion her shirt has shifted, exposing her skin, and the moment my hands touch the smooth skin at her waist, she jerks away from me like she’s been burned.
“Sorry,” she says as she straightens.
When I kissed her, I felt the wanting in her lips, and I know I’ve waited long enough.
It’s time to make my move.
“There’s nothing to be sorry about,” I say under half-lowered lids.
“I . . . I didn’t meant to crash into you.”
I smile. “It’s okay. You didn’t hurt me.”
She laughs, and I hear the nervousness behind the sound. Her hand flutters to a loose strand of her hair, which she pushes behind her ear.
“I do have one problem though,” I say, my voice semi-stern.
Her eyes widen, like she thinks she’s done something wrong, and I hold back a smile.
“What?”
“When you so rudely fell against me,” I say with a tone of mock-scolding, “I wasn’t done kissing you.”
Her mouth forms an O, but she doesn’t reply.
Thirty-Six
ASHLEY
The look in his eyes is unmistakable.
He’s going to kiss me again.
A thrill of powerful desire thrums through me, and when he takes my hand and leads me to the canyon wall, I wonder what he’s going to do. A moment later I find out.
He turns me so my back is pressed against the cool, smooth rock, then he places his hands on my hips, leans close to me, and murmurs, “I don’t want you to fall again.”
At the clear desire in his eyes, and knowing I’m trapped between him and the canyon wall, my knees go weak, and I’m glad he’s holding me up. “No,” I whisper.
His eyebrows rise. “No? You don’t want me to kiss you?”
My heart is a jackhammer in my chest, and my body is eager for his touch. “No, I don’t want to fall.”
A mixture of relief and humor crosses his face, then as one hand gently grips my hip, the other lifts my chin, forcing my eyes to meet his. It’s as if I’m gazing into his soul, and at that moment I know I can trust him and that I was wrong to ever doubt him.
“Drake,” I murmur.
His lips twitch in a smile before his mouth descends towards mine. I snake my arms around his neck, pulling him against me as all barriers between us fall away. And when our lips touch, it’s as if a fire has ignited inside me, a fire that I’ve kept banked for nearly two weeks, and I kiss him eagerly, passionately, wildly.
A groan vibrates in his throat, and I know he feels it too.
My longing for him overwhelms me and I want to crawl inside his skin, but a moment later voices approach us and I remember we’re in a public place. With reluctance, I gently push against his chest. His mouth releases mine, and my lips feel bruised and swollen.
“What’s wrong?” he asks.
“People are coming.”
A smirk lifts one corner of his mouth. “So?”
I smile, happier than I’ve been in a while. “So, I don’t think we should be making out right where everyone can see us.”
He chuckles. “You’re probably right.” He takes a step back, then we take a moment to collect ourselves before we begin walking.
Neither one of us mentions what just happened, but it’s all I can think about.
Desperate to break the silence, I ask, “What else do you have planned today?”
“You’ll have to see.” Then he smiles. “I think it’s your turn, by the way.”
I’ve gotten what I’m after with our game. “Do you still want to play?”
“It’s up to you.”
I smile. “Maybe later.”
A few minutes later we arrive at his Jeep.
“The air conditioning’s going to feel good,” I say as Drake opens the passenger door for me and the interior air hits me like a blast furnace. “Whoa. It’s hot in here.”
He laughs. “I thought you liked the heat of Vegas.”
“Just because I’m from here doesn’t mean I like the heat.”
“Fair enough,” he says with a laugh as he gets in the Jeep and turns on the engine. A moment later we head back the way we came.
“That was a good hike,” I say.
“Yes, and no one got stuck.”
I half-smile. “Except me in the mud.”
He laughs. “Oh yeah. There was that.”
I’m sticky and
dirty. “I can use a shower. Will you take me back to my parents’ house so I can change?”
He glances at me. “I have a better idea.”
Curious, I ask, “What is it?”
He grins. “You’ll see.”
Smiling in anticipation, I say, “Okay.”
On the drive back to Vegas we talk about the beauty of the hike, although neither one of us mentions our intense kiss, and when we reach the outskirts of town, I wonder where Drake’s going to take me.
A short time later we pull up to a hotel and I ask, “Is this where you’re staying?”
“Yes.”
A valet opens my door and helps me out as another one opens Drake’s door. After Drake steps out, the valet drives away in the Jeep. A moment later Drake is by my side. I want him to take my hand, and when he does, a burst of pleasure radiates inside me.
“Shall we go in?” he asks.
Clearly we’re going to his room, and though I’m not sure what his expectations are, I’d like to see where this day leads. “Yes.”
He leads me through the lobby, where a waterfall cascades down a wall, then into an elevator. The feel of his hand holding mine warms me, and I’m thrilled that we’re spending the day together.
When we reach his floor, he leads me to his room where he unlocks the door, then holds it open for me.
I walk across the marble floor, then, drawn to the view outside his window, I walk down the few steps to the sitting area. Spread out below the hotel is a huge golf course, the grass a dark green despite the summer heat.
“What do you think?” he asks.
“Nice view.” Then, as I think of the view from his office and from his house in Reno, I turn to him with a grin. “You like your views, don’t you?”
His gaze is locked on me. “I like this view.”
I gaze back at him, and the memory of being pressed up against the canyon wall while he kissed me senseless sweeps over me, and I want nothing more than to be in his arms.
Drake and Ashley: The Complete Story Page 44
