Triple Dare (Sterling Shore 7)

A familiar Camaro comes into view, and my brow goes up in confusion. A familiar Camry is parked just in front of it, and I see Rye’s personal garage hanger is open, exposing all three of his vehicles.

Jogging up, I find Ruby and Brin both inside. Ruby is pouring something into a funnel that Brin is holding. Brin is also holding a long, clear tube that is connected to the funnel and ending inside the vents.

“What are you doing?” I ask, forcing both girls to squeal and jump like guilty little children. Something flies out of the container Ruby is holding, and she panics, putting a lid on it as Brin fumbles with the hose and funnel.

“Are those… ladybugs?” I ask, confused as fucking hell.

Ruby nods, grinning.

Brin starts blowing the tube, and I watch in fascinated confusion as the bugs slowly get pushed through the hose and into the vent.

“Brin is an evil genius,” Ruby announces, her eyes alight with more mischief than I’m comfortable with.

“Don’t even think about it,” I grumble as she helps Brin pour more bugs into the hose.

“Speaking of bugs… Is mine getting fixed?”

I nod as I force my eyes back to Ruby. “Yeah, and I need a ride. So good thing you’re here.”

Brin coughing, hacking, and spitting interrupts whatever Ruby was going to say, and we both turn as Brin clutches her throat. Her wide eyes look up at ours, turning a little green.

“I just ate a bug.” Ruby bursts out laughing, while I roll my eyes. “Why do I always forget I can’t suck when I should be blowing?”

She’s serious as she resumes her task, but I open my mouth to jump on that statement. Nope. Too easy.

I let it go instead, because Ruby seems to be enjoying Brin’s company too much, and that has my attention. We need far, far away from…

“What the hell is that?” I ask, looking at the gallon buckets with sealed lids that are off to the side.

“Wolf piss,” Brin states matter-of-factly, as though it’s completely normal to say something like that.

I slowly pull Ruby away from the crazy girl, and Ruby snickers while putting the ladybug container down.

“See you later,” Ruby chirps, waving at Brin as I continue to pull her away.

I don’t know if crazy is contagious or not, and I sure as hell don’t want Ruby catching it if it is. Wolf piss… Yeah, fuck that.

“I’ve just realized our April Fool’s Day is incredibly boring,” Ruby tells me as we reach her car, and I groan while silently cursing the prankster couple from hell.

Just as we sit down in her car, something pinches the fuck out of me, and I yelp while frantically digging around in my shirt. That’s when I find the damn ladybug stowaway, and I glare at Ruby.

“This fucker just bit me!”

She rolls her eyes while taking the little dotted thing away from me and freeing it like it isn’t a flying menace.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” she says, cranking her car. “They don’t bite.”

“They do! It just bit me.”

Sighing as though she’s bored, she pulls away from the curb.

“Do yourself a favor and don’t tell anyone you’re scared of ladybugs.”

“I’m not scared,” I say a little too high-pitched. Immediately, I clear my throat, and in a lower, much more manly tone, I repeat, “I’m not scared.”

She sucks at hiding her grin, but she at least tries.

“Of course you’re not.”

“I’m fucking not!”

“Mmhmm.”

“It’s your fault I got bit. You had the ladybugs.”

“That’s not my fault,” she says with a shrug. “Brin brought them. I was just helping her.”

“You let some fly away.”

“That’s not my fault. You scared me.”

“You made me bring your loud-ass fucking Bug to Rye on a day when you knew I wanted to stay away from him.”

She starts to speak, but grins first. “That I did.”

I yelp again when something attacks my armpit, and struggle to take my shirt off. There’s another one!

“This isn’t funny,” I growl as she laughs. I curse when the bug goes into hiding and I lose sight of it.

Paranoia has me clenching my ass cheeks and shifting my eyes all over the vehicle so the damn spotted demon doesn’t catch me unaware.

“If you say so. I have a feeling you’re going to love my next triple dare. Hurry up and use yours so it can be my turn again.”

That doesn’t sound good.

At all.

Fucking Rye and Brin.

Why did I ever become friends with them?

CHAPTER 35

RUBY

The curtain pulls back, and Corbin steps in. Immediately his eyes zero in on Gene… whose pants and boxers are down around his ankles as I finish up the tattoo on his thigh.

“What the damn hell?” Corbin demands.

Gene jerks, forcing me to quit buzzing away on his thigh, and he covers his crotch with both hands while wrenching his head around.

“Do you mind?” Gene seethes, looking every bit as menacing as my father when he’s pissed.