“I double dare you.”
Chapter 3
Please don’t let her be tall enough….
Please don’t let her be tall enough…..
Please don’t-
“You’re in line one,” the guy controlling the ride said, gesturing for her to get in line one and destroying her hopes that she wouldn’t be allowed on this ride.
Swallowing nervously, Marybeth forced her feet to take her the rest of the way. Less than thirty seconds later, she found herself standing in the first line with Darrin whistling a cheerful tune behind her.
“It could be worse,” he pointed out as she stood there, watching the roller coaster that she would most likely die on today race through a loop.
“Shut up.”
He chuckled as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her back against him. “I could have double dared you to ride every rollercoaster in the park, twice.”
And he still could, she reminded herself as she stood there and accepted the comfort that he was offering her. As she watched the car full of screaming people race up another incline and-
She realized that she really was going to die today.
“I still could,” he whispered, kissing her cheek.
“Could what?” she asked, struggling to focus on what he was saying, but it was difficult with all that screaming.
“I could still double dare you to ride all the rollercoasters,” he whispered seductively in her ear.
“And I could kill you in your sleep,” she said, making the bastard chuckle.
“You could…” he said, letting his words trail off with a chuckle.
“I hate you.”
“I’m feeling another double dare coming on.”
Sighing in defeat. “I wish that I’d never let you talk me into playing this game in the first place.”
“You were the one that started this game,” he said, lying his Bradford ass off.
She scoffed at that, because if there was one thing that she was sure of, it was that this game that neither one of them had the good sense to stop playing was all his fault. She was just the idiot that couldn’t stop playing, and she really wished that she could stop, but she just couldn’t. Not when she got such joy out of double daring his ass into doing something ten times worse than the dares that he gave her.
“Perhaps I should refresh your memory?” he suggested as he brushed his lips along her jawline while she watched with dread as the now empty car rolled slowly towards them, signaling her doom. “I believe we were eight when you double dared me for the first time.”
She snorted at that even as she leaned back, savoring his touch. “You double dared me the first day that we met.”
“Yes, but you were the one that decided to make it a game.”
She opened her mouth to argue, only to shut her eyes with a pathetic groan as she sagged back against him in defeat, because he was right. The reason that she was now standing in line, patiently awaiting her death was her own fault.
“You dared me to eat a big bowl of worms and dirt mixed with that moldy white stuff that we found in the back of your mother’s fridge,” he reminded her just as the empty car came to a stop in front them, presenting her with the very first row.
“You could have said no,” she muttered as the small gate blocking her way slowly opened.
“I could have,” he agreed, sounding thoughtful before he added, “but then I’d miss moments like this.”
“I hate you,” she mumbled, swallowing nervously and sending up a silent prayer as she once again forced her feet to take her where she didn’t want to be.
“You love me,” he said, chuckling as he helped her step inside the car.
“No, I really do hate you,” she said solemnly with a nod as she closed her eyes and waited to be reunited with Porky, her beloved hamster that died when she was four after she may have given him a huge slice of double chocolate fudge birthday cake.
Darrin’s long-suffering sigh as he buckled her in made her want to kick the bastard, but that would require her to open her eyes and she refused to do that until she was back on solid ground again.
“You hate me?” he asked as she registered the sounds of the harness being lowered.
“Yes!” she hissed, hating him with every fiber of her being at that moment even as she blindly reached out and grabbed his hand, deciding that if she was going to die then she was going to do it holding the hand of the bastard that she loved.
“Then I guess I have no other choice,” he said, sounding putout and instantly putting her on the defense.
Her eyes flew open as she turned her head to face him. “Darrin, don’t do-”
“I double dare you,” the bastard said, cutting her off and sealing his fate, because if she survived this day, which wasn’t looking likely, she was going to kill him!
*-*-*-*
“Separate rooms,” Marybeth mumbled, still looking a tad bit green.
“We have two rooms on the second flo-”
Darrin cut her off by holding up a hand. “One room is fine.”
“Two…,” Marybeth said, pausing to close her eyes as she noticeably swallowed, “please.”
The woman working behind the desk sent him a questioning look. “Would you like one room or two, sir?”
“One,” he said and when Marybeth opened her mouth to try to get out of spending the night in his arms, he slapped his hand over her mouth and stressed, “Just one room.”
She glanced at Marybeth, but when Marybeth didn’t say anything, mostly because she was too busy trying to slap his hand away, the woman focused back on her computer screen. “I have a queen, two doubles and a king with-”
“We’ll take the king,” he said, cutting her off, hoping to rush this along before Marybeth-
“Ow!” he snapped, pulling his hand away and trying shake off the sting as he glared down at the small woman that adored him. “Stop pinching me!”
“We,” she said, practically seething with rage, “are no longer speaking.”
“Shhh, it’s okay, darling. I know that you really don’t mean it,” he said in his most condescending tone as he reached over and petted her on the head, loving the way that her face turned bright red with rage.
She opened her mouth, probably to call him an asshole, but all she managed to get out was a choking sound, her rage too strong to form a coherent word at this point.
Not that he could blame her.
He really couldn’t.
As he pulled out his wallet and handed over his ID and credit card, he couldn’t help but wonder if daring her to go on the elevator drop ride five times in a row after she ate that hot dog had been too much. When she reached past him and took the keycard from the desk clerk and stormed off, leaving him to carry her bag and follow after her, he decided that she was just being unreasonably cranky.
*-*-*-*
“Trevor and Zoe took the kids home,” Darrin said as he walked into the small bathroom and leaned back against the counter.
“I thought they were staying overnight,” she said, deciding that she liked the world a whole lot better with her eyes closed.
Yeah, keeping her eyes closed was definitely the way to go, she decided when the world stopped spinning and shaking. She slowly exhaled, willing the dizziness and nausea that had been plaguing her since she stumbled off that first rollercoaster to go away. She lowered herself in the tub and draped the wet facecloth over her eyes.
“Yes, well,” Darrin said, chuckling, “it seems that they have their hands full with the kids double daring each other to do something incredibly stupid every five minutes.”
With a groan, she lowered herself in the water until her chin was touching the hot water. “Shit.”
“They’re not too happy with us right now,” Darrin said as she felt him trace her jaw with his fingertips.
No, she didn’t think that they would be. They were normally very good about not double daring each other in front of kids. Not that she was tak
ing any of the blame on this one, not after the hell that the bastard had put her through today. She was terrified of rollercoasters, fast rides, heights and especially those rides that suddenly dropped you from three stories up and the bastard had double dared her to go on every single one today and the kids had unfortunately been there to overhear a few of Darrin’s dares.
True, she could have simply said no and probably should have, but they’d been doing this for so long now that it would have felt wrong to walk away. Besides, she’d get him back. She always did and it would be ten times worse than what he’d put her through today. She just wouldn’t be doing it now when every fiber of her being demanded that she curl up and die.
“Do you want me to get you something?” he asked softly as he removed the facecloth from her face.
“My own room?” she asked even though she would kill him if he abandoned her during her time of need.
He chuckled as she felt his soft lips press against her forehead. “Not happening. What else?”
She sighed, making sure to sound properly putout as she said, “A Pepsi.”
“Your stomach’s upset?” he asked as he gently placed his hand over her stomach.
She opened her eyes just wide enough so that she could glare at him.
Just glared.
“Fine,” he said, smiling as he leaned down and brushed his lips against her firm ones as she continued to glare at him, “I’ll go get your Pepsi.”
She continued to glare at him as he left the bathroom. Once he was gone, she grabbed the facecloth, dunked it in the bath water and placed back over her eyes as she waited the Grim Reaper to come for her…or for her Pepsi, whichever one came first.
Chapter 4
“Come on! Don’t be like that!”
“Go. To. Hell,” she bit out, stressing every word as she rolled over onto her side and got more comfortable as she read on Darrin’s iPad, determined to ignore her brother.
“I said that I was sorry!”
She rolled her eyes, because he hadn’t apologized and probably never would. “Go away!”
“What if I told you that I had Black Jack’s pizza?”
“Oh, shit!” she gasped in terror, jumping off the couch and racing to the door, praying that Darrin hadn’t heard him, because even though she was pretty pissed at her brother right now, she really did love him. She had the door thrown open and was dragging her brother, pizza and all, inside before she slammed the door shut, wincing at the noise and praying that Darrin hadn’t heard it.
“He’s not here,” Jake said, chuckling as he shifted the pizza boxes and appetizer bags in his arms so that he could hold out the six-pack of A&W root beer to her.
“His truck wasn’t outside?” she asked even as she slowly reached up and turned the lock on her door, flinching when the action produced a soft clicking noise that was bound to give them away.
“No,” he said teasingly as he gave up on waiting for her to take the soda from him and placed the six-pack on the coffee table.
“You wanna eat in here or in the kitchen?”
Licking her lips nervously, she reached up and slowly turned the deadbolt, something that she only used in dire emergencies. Cringing when the lock made a louder clicking noise, she froze on the spot and listened. When she didn’t hear anything she turned around and mouthed the word, “bedroom,” and gestured for her brother to move his ass.
Rolling those baby blue eyes of his, courtesy of their mother, Jake walked upstairs. She picked up the six-pack and looked around, making sure that there wasn’t any evidence left behind like a napkin or one of those coupons they usually slapped on the pizza boxes. When she didn’t find anything that could give them away, she grabbed the small bottle of perfumed air freshener that her mother had bought her as a housewarming gift seven years ago and liberally sprayed the living room and stairs as she made her way upstairs, praying that the obnoxious smell was enough to keep Darrin from finding out what they were doing.
“That shit stinks,” Jake said, taking the air freshener and six-pack of soda from her and placed them on her bureau, freeing her hands so that she could shut and lock her bedroom door behind her.
“Mom gave it to me,” she said absently as she checked and then double-checked the lock.
“I think she gave me the same bottle a few years ago,” Jake murmured thoughtfully as he looked at the bottle. “I’m pretty sure that I gave it to an ex-girlfriend.”
“Probably,” she absently agreed as she considered stuffing a towel against the bottom of the door.
“Let’s eat,” Jake said, chuckling as he threw his arm around her and-
“What the hell happened to your hand?” she demanded, noticing for the first time that two of the fingers on his right hand were in splints.
“Huh?” Jake asked, glancing down at his fingers as he shrugged it off. “Just decided that I needed a new accountant.”
“I thought the guy you tried setting me up with was your accountant,” she pointed out, allowing him to lead her to the bed.
“Was is the operative word,” he said with a wink as he waited for her to climb on the bed.
“What happened?” she asked, shifting closer to the edge of the bed to make room for the pizza and Jake.
“Nothing that you need to worry your pretty little head about,” he said mockingly as he reached over and patted her on the head, an annoying habit that he’d picked up from Darrin.
Rolling her eyes, she grabbed one of the heavy-duty paper plates off the pizza box and tossed the other one to him. She reached down, opened the box and realized that Darrin might very well kill her on this day.
“The Monster,” she said in a reverent tone as she reached for a thick slice that held every delectable topping known to man.
“I figured this would make up for the other day,” he said, helping her load the impossibly thick slice of pizza on her plate.
“It doesn’t,” she said, taking a bite of pizza and groaning when the buttery crust and toppings competed for attention in her mouth, “but it’s a nice start.”
“What will it take to earn your forgiveness?” he asked, grabbing a slice of pizza for himself before he shut the cover and provided them with a table.
“Well, besides a root beer?” she asked, giving him a pointed look that had him rolling his eyes and getting off his ass.
“Yes, besides a root beer,” he said, grabbing the six-pack and walking back to the bed. As he sat down he handed her a can.
“You could stop trying to set me up with your loser friends,” she suggested, hopefully.
“My friends aren’t losers,” he said around a large bite of pizza, groaning in pleasure.
That was true. His friends and the men that he normally tried to set her up with weren’t losers, but the last one definitely had been. Seriously? What kind of loser was willing to pay for sex?
“And the last guy clearly doesn’t count,” he said firmly.
“Fine,” she said, taking another bite before she added, “Then just stop trying to set me up. I’m fine.”
“Are you going to marry Darrin?” he asked offhandedly as he popped the small piece of crust in his mouth.
“We’re just friends,” she mumbled as she took a big bite out of her pizza, but this time the delicious flavors were lost on her and all she wanted to do was throw the pizza and Jake out of her apartment so that she could avoid this conversation, the same one that they’d been having for the past five years since Jake had caught them-
Well, what he’d caught them doing wasn’t important.
“He loves you,” Jake said, reaching over and taking her hand into his to give it a reassuring squeeze.
Double Dare Page 5
