Triple Dare (Sterling Shore 7)

I need a moment to breathe without inhaling Corbin Fucking Sterling.

Now, what did I do with that tequila?

CHAPTER 2

CORBIN

“She’s still pissed at you for triple daring her to dump Knife?” Maverick asks.

“Blade,” I correct him, and he chuckles while handing me a much needed beer.

Damn Ruby Kross. She’s back. And I’m fucked. Well, not in the sense that I’d like to be fucked.

She’s been the best and worst thing that has ever happened to me since Kindergarten. I never should have talked to her. Never should have become her friend. Or I should have gotten out back when it was still so innocent and I thought girls were the reason for warts.

Well, I guess they could still be the reason for certain types of warts…

“You’re drifting,” Maverick says, waving a hand in front of my face while releasing an exaggerated sigh. “As always, you’re getting lost inside your head. Ruby does this to you, so admit you fucking love her so I can help you out.”

Immediately I tense. He knows better. This territory is way off limits.

“I need a drink,” I say, putting down the full beer and going to the fridge to get another one.

“Damn it,” he chuckles. “What has you running from this conversation every time? You two dated. It’s not a big secret. Just tell me what the hell happened! I’m dying to fucking know. The mystery is getting old.”

Well, he can go to hell. No way am I ever telling anyone what happened. Not even Ruby. It’s better to let her believe the lies than to fuck us up with the truth.

But now that she’s in town, I also won’t ever be touching any other girls.

Christ, I haven’t even been able to look at a girl in that way in… months. I’ve tried. I’ve tried hard. But it’s like my body has known Ruby was returning and refused to allow me to indulge in any other woman.

I’m apparently never getting laid again. I might as well join a monastery.

“Just tell me what the hell is going on. Do you want to be with her or not?” Maverick presses.

Sighing, I glare over at him. “I’ll say this, and it’s all I’ll divulge. It wouldn’t matter if I wanted to be with Ruby ever again. Believe me when I say I burned that bridge a long fucking time ago.”

When I fuck up, I fuck up real damn good.

CHAPTER 3

Ten years old…

RUBY

“Do it or hand over your box,” that jerk says, smiling as he hands me the carton of eggs.

I’m so getting grounded for this. No way does my mother not find out I climbed out of my window and—

“You’re stalling, Ruby,” Corbin adds, still grinning like the ass he is.

“Just wait until my turn,” I growl, turning to look at Mrs. Craig, our English teacher that we call Mrs. Devil.

It’s not imaginative, but it serves a purpose. The woman is pure evil, and she’s about to get a sunny-side-up surprise.

“You know you love me.” He winks as I glare at him, then I turn around to pay attention. A girl’s gotta prepare for her life to be over, after all. And once my mother finds out about this…

Mrs. Devil climbs out of her car, and we watch like stalkers as she goes into her house. With light steps, I rush across the yard, running as fast as I can as my heart pounds in my ears. The second I reach her car, I start slamming eggs all over her front windshield.

Then… I hear someone yelling.

Of course someone is yelling! It’s a suburb with no privacy!

I hate Corbin.

“You! Stop!”

My stomach lurches, but I force myself to throw the remaining three eggs as footsteps pound the pavement of the sidewalk.

“Run!” Corbin yells from somewhere close by just as I launch the last egg.

I drop the carton and turn to run, but two monstrous hands snatch me up, and I groan as the guy holds me still. When he starts talking on his phone, I know he just called the cops.

Damn Corbin.

Payback will be hell.

***

Eleven years old…

CORBIN

“I hate you for this!” I hiss, staring at her like she’s lost her mind.

I honestly thought she would recant this triple dare. I expected her to wait until the last minute, but that minute has come and gone, and now it’s clear she intends to make me see it through.

She smirks, proving she’s as evil as I’ve always said. “You can always hand over your box,” she says without any emotion.

Maverick is going to make fun of me for the rest of my life.

“You know you love me,” she says, still laughing as I finish pulling on the most embarrassing outfit in history.

“Just wait until my next triple dare,” I mumble, coughing when something sparkly starts spraying all over me.

“You look so pretty,” she giggles, and I choke on more glitter as she continues to spray me down.