“Um...”
My gaze wandered over the heads of the people sitting in the sand, their attention on me. A bonfire shot out sparks in the middle of the crowd, smoke billowing up toward the dark summer sky. My two best friends were watching me on the other side. Trina and Mandy made jerky hand movements, their faces trying to impart some kind of advice. My brow wrinkled as I cocked my head to one side and tried to translate.
“Ugh, get on with it already, recruit,” Savannah spat, looking down at her blood red nails as if she’d like to cut me with them. “It’s not rocket science.”
A smattering of laughter followed her insult. I felt my cheeks burn as I took a deep breath and blurted out, “Dare!”
From the defeated expressions on my friends’ faces, I knew I’d picked wrong. Savannah’s face lit up, her eyes glittering with anticipated cruelty. I sunk into myself, wrapping my arms around my torso, and waited for the pitch. Maybe she’d make me eat a mud pie again like she did when we were five years old. I could handle that one.
“Let me see...” She prowled through the people sitting at her feet, her steely eyes never leaving my face. “What should I make you do, recruit? You are aware that if you chicken out, you get cut from the team? You can’t run from tradition.”
I gulped, hoping the fear I felt in my gut didn’t reflect on my face. “I know the rules, Savannah. I’m not a freshman.”
“No, you’re not.” She stopped in front of me, adjusting the straps on her extremely low cut bikini top. “You’re a senior.”
She said it as if it were a dirty word, although we were both in the same class. Still, I held her gaze until a smile quirked on her thin lips and she looked away.
At that moment, a ruckus drew the attention of everyone at the party. Three muscular boys had picked up a fourth and were carting him toward the shoreline.
Just as it was a yearly tradition for the cheerleaders to put on a game of truth or dare, the senior football players would soak their freshman recruits. Bursts of laughter and violent swears reached my ears as they tossed the poor freshman into the water with a giant splash. The seniors high-fived and flexed for their audience, their muscles gleaming in the pale moonlight.
I couldn’t help but drool a little bit. Receivers Nick Winston and Peter Meadows were hot in their own right and many of the girls in my class followed their Instagrams with borderline stalkerish intent. But it was their ringleader who really caught my attention.
Collin Preston was the senior quarterback and all-around bad boy. He had a way of entering a room as if he didn’t have a single care in the world. His dark hair would fall seductively into his molten chocolate brown eyes and all the girls would swoon. His half-cocked grin was legendary for disarming even the harshest of teachers at Rock Valley High.
He’d moved here in our sophomore year to live with foster parents. This bad boy came packaged with a loud motorcycle, a playboy reputation, and a preference for leather jackets. Pretty much any father’s worst nightmare. I was sure we’d never spoken a single word to each other, even though we shared several classes. But I was okay with that. Sometimes, it was safer to look than to touch.
“Do you mind? We’re trying to play a game here?” Savannah’s voice held a hint of flirtation as she cocked her hip and placed a hand on the waist of her cutoff denim shorts.
“Not at all,” Collin replied haughtily. He wore a pair of dark swimming trunks and nothing else. The tattoo of an eagle on his broad chest did nothing to distract from the beauty of his washboard abs. “We’re just about finished taking the babies for a swim.”
“Perfect.” She blinked her heavily mascaraed eyes. “Then, why don’t you join us?”
There was definitely hesitation on Collin’s part as his gaze flickered over the bonfire crowd. I felt the tiniest bit bad for him. No one resisted my cousin for long. She had ways of bending people to her will. Still, he waved his hands in front of his chest and took a step backwards. “No, I’m good.”
“Come on, give me your truth or dare V-card, Collin.” She pouted her lips perfectly. I immediately wished I could replicate that kind of expression. She must’ve stood in front of a mirror and practiced until her lips bled. “I promise, I’ll be gentle.”
It was nice to have the attention off of me for a minute. I took a step backwards, hoping that if I put a little distance between my cousin and me, she might forget I existed.
“No.” Collin shook his head, spraying lake water. “I’m definitely out.”
“Fine.” Savannah’s eyes hardened as a red hot alarm went off in my head.
I knew that look. It was the look that said she was about to go on the rampage. Anyone and everything would be trampled in her wake.
I’d stuck around for a few minutes of the game. That was long enough. Time to get out of here and back to my guitar. My fingers itched to try out a new chord progression that had been playing in my head all day. I’d pick music over a lame high school party any day of the week.
“I dare Audrey to kiss Collin,” Savannah announced loudly. She shot me a look of savage hatred. “Seven minutes in heaven. Bathhouse shower. Lights out.”
My stomach dropped into my feet. She knew just where to strike. I’d made the mistake of confessing to her our sophomore year that I’d never kissed a boy. She probably thought I was still a loser who hadn’t kissed anyone.
She would be correct.
I shot Trina and Mandy a look of desperation. Trina’s face was scrunched up like she wanted to cry for me. Mandy, on the other hand, appeared about ready to claw Savannah’s eyes out. But they both knew I had to do this. Especially if I wanted a slot on that cheerleading team.
My gaze moved to Collin where he still stood, his chiseled jaw flexing in anger. He was staring Savannah down, his shoulders taut. His eyes flicked to me and then back to her. I grimaced, wondering if the idea of kissing me was so repelling that he’d storm off. I wasn’t exactly like any of his usual conquests. He seemed to prefer glamadons with big hair and short skirts. Certainly, none of them would have shown up at the yearly beach party in a lifeguard swimsuit and shorts that covered up all of the goods. Not like me.
“Well?” Savannah met his challenging gaze head on. “Are you going to leave our poor sweet Audrey hanging, or are you chickening out?”
Our poor sweet Audrey. Ugh. As if she cared for one second about me.
“I’m not a chicken.” His voice was like a growl.
“Good.” Her attention moved to me. “Move along, cousin. Don’t keep him waiting.”
My knees wobbled as I took the steps to the beach house, one by one. Part of me prayed he wouldn’t follow. That he would laugh off her challenge and walk away. But the sound of foot steps behind me made my heart thunder. And when he opened the door to the bathhouse for me, my throat nearly closed up.
“Time starts now,” Savannah called from the beach. “Better get those lips moving!”
“Get inside,” Collin said harshly, with a curt nod of his head.
I gulped, scooting inside as quickly as my feet would carry me. The bathhouse was dark except for the silver moonlight coming through the push out windows lining the top of the east and west walls. If memory served me right, there were three shower stalls to my left. Infamous make out spots for those who didn’t care about the eight-legged guests creeping in every corner. A long dark wooden bench stood against the wall on my right and three porcelain sinks, one cracked in half, lined the opposite wall. The floor was sandy and damp under my bare feet. I stepped lightly, praying that I didn’t step on something creepy and crawly.
Collin shut the door behind us and threw me a frown. “You’re Savannah’s cousin?”
I shrugged. It wasn’t like I could choose family. I would’ve gladly traded her for one of Nicki Minaj’s alter egos or even actress Bella Thorne at her worst.
“Great. That’s great.” He frowned and his eyes searched the dark bathhouse. “All right, let’s just get this over with.”
Those
weren’t exactly the words a girl liked to hear when she was preparing to get her first kiss. I might not have been in the position to be picky, but I could muster up enough nerve to set some ground rules.
“First of all, my name’s Audrey. As in Audrey Hepburn, the greatest actress of all time,” I said forcefully, hoping he didn’t hear the quiver in my voice. “And if we have to do this, all hands must remain off the swimsuit at all times. No getting greedy. And I’d like to take it slow, if you don’t mind.”
He looked at me really for the first time, his eyes narrowing in amusement. As I returned his stare, his gaze moved south to rake over my body. I felt my skin flush at his attention, but knew it was probably too dark in the bathhouse for him to notice.
“You’re practically wearing a nun’s habit for a swimsuit,” he said with a deep chuckle. “Where exactly am I supposed to touch you?”
My cheeks burned. I looked down at my suit, shaking my head. “I’ll have you know, this was my lifeguard swimsuit three summers in a row. It’s not a nun’s habit. A nun would die before putting this on.”
He arched an eyebrow and grinned at me in the most maddeningly cocky way I’d ever seen. Suddenly stepping closer, he placed a hand on the side of my neck and sunk his fingers into my curls. “Well, there’s no swimsuit here.” I gasped as he ran the knuckles of his other hand slowly up my arm, eliciting an alarming amount of goosebumps to flare along my skin. “No swimsuit here.”
I was out of my league. There was no question. Collin Preston was legendary for his hookups. He’d probably made out with half of the girls in Rock Valley. The moment his perfectly proportioned lips touched mine, he’d know I was as inexperienced as the nuns he joked about.
“Just take it slow, okay?” My voice was quiet and pleading.
“Slow?” His gaze flicked to my lips. I felt a bolt of electricity spark in my gut. He leaned in closer, his minty breath mingling with mine. “I’m not sure I’ve ever done slow before, Audrey-the-greatest-actress-of-all-time.”
I bit my bottom lip, fear competing with my sudden desire to be devoured by him. The fear won out. “It’s just that, well, a girl doesn’t like to rush her first kiss and I figured slow might be better.”
He pulled away suddenly, his fingers untangling from my hair. Shock filled his eyes. “Your first kiss? Are you serious?”
My chest felt splotchy and itchy. I mentally berated myself for blurting such an intimate detail aloud. Must work on gluing mouth shut. Permanently.
“Yes...”
Swearing, he took another step away from me. “I can’t do this.”
Embarrassment flooded my face and I wrapped my arms tightly around my torso. Was it really so bad to be a complete kissing virgin? At one time, even Collin had been a newbie.
“If I’m really so repulsive to you, maybe you should sneak out the back way,” I said, resentment shooting from my eyes. “This might come as a shock to you, but not every girl is dying to kiss you. I’m only here because my cousin is Satan incarnate and I have to do what she says to get on the cheerleading team.”
He tilted his head to one side and his mouth fell open in surprise. I felt a strange satisfaction at having shocked Collin Preston into silence. I was sure he didn’t do that often. But his look of shock was quickly erased by the return of that cocky half-grin.
“Is that so?” He reclaimed the space between us, until my back pressed against the wall and I had nowhere left to retreat to.
“Yes...it is.”
The breaking of my voice probably gave me away. Deep down, I knew I wouldn’t actually mind tangling lips with him. Even with a reputation like his, I wouldn’t be able to say no.
Why did he have to be so gorgeous?
“Hmmm, then we’d better do something about that, Audrey.” He reached up and with the pad of his thumb, slowly traced along the cupid’s bow of my upper lip. His gaze never left my mouth. With a heavy breath, he licked his lips and leaned in closer.
I momentarily closed my eyes, feeling my knees wobble. If he kissed me, I was pretty sure I was going to melt into a puddle right there on the bathhouse floor, along with the sand and lake water.
But he didn’t kiss me. Instead, he smudged his thumb across my lips and then rubbed it on his own mouth. As I sent him a questioning look, he had the audacity to wink at me and then riffle my curls with his hands.
“What are you doing?” I demanded, the strength returning to my legs.
“I’ve got a reputation to uphold.” He shrugged. “And you’ve got a cheerleading team to join. I figured we could help each other out.”
Grabbing my wrist, he pulled me toward the bathhouse door and shoved me through. Whoops and hollers erupted from the beach as I blinked blindly in the spotlight that had been placed on the bathhouse. Running my hand over my head, I tried to smooth down my messy hair and hide my blushing cheeks.
Collin came sliding out of the door behind me. There was an undeniable red smear of my lipstick across his mouth. The cheers from our classmates grew louder. He ran past me and down to the beach, where he exchanged fist bumps with his fellow teammates. Savannah watched him go with a withering glare, her hands firmly planted on her hips.
It seemed that for the moment, I’d finally escaped her wrath. Despite Collin’s methods, my spot on the cheerleading team was safe.
As I retook my seat next to the bonfire, my attention wandered again toward Collin and his buddies wrestling up the next freshman to dump in the lake. I couldn’t help but wonder what it would’ve been like to actually kiss him. Probably awful. Cocky guys like him were all talk and no real action. I should’ve been thanking my lucky stars we hadn’t actually done anything.
Collin must’ve felt my stare because he turned at that moment and our eyes met. He gave me a scandalous wink, which made my whole body flush once again. I glared at him and then tore my gaze away, determined never to go down that road again.
He could keep his precious reputation. I had bigger things to worry about for my senior year at Rock Valley High.
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About the Author
Lacy Andersen is the author of several series, including the Billionaire Matchmaker, the Monstrana Paranormal Romances, Faking Ever After, and the Rock Valley High series. When not writing or dreaming up stories to tell, Lacy is busy running after her kiddos, watching Netflix with her husband, or reading the latest releases. She has a serious addiction to cotton candy, loves to compete in any type of game, and is currently planning her next trip around the world.
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Cowboy Crush : A Small Town, Enemies-to-Lovers YA Romance (Sweet Oak Teen Ranch Book 1) Page 19
