I thought of the bruise under his eye after Kyle had gone after him...the blood on his lip...but none of that shit was my fault. Okay, maybe some of it was my fault…and sure, most of my interactions with him had been me teasing him and calling him names...but he'd teased me back!
All I'd done was kiss him.
And he'd kissed me back.
I'd spent way too much time since then trying to figure out why. Why Manson Reed?
It hadn’t been because his quiet, brooding looks had always scared me, and things that scared me were irresistible. It hadn’t been because behind that shy, withdrawn exterior I was certain there was a beast lying in wait. It hadn’t been because his lips were surprisingly soft, and when I’d kissed him he’d wrapped his hand around my throat, and my heart had fluttered for a second -
No. It hadn’t been because of any of that. At all. It was just petty high school shit that we were all better off forgetting.
“Who’s next?” Ashley laughed, sipping down the last of her drink. “Come on, who’s the next challenger?”
“I’ll give it go.”
My heart sank into my shoes. Manson had stepped up. Now that he was closer, standing almost directly in front of me across the table, I could see that he’d become muscular since I’d last seen him. He wasn’t bulky, but his biceps strained against the sleeves of his shirt and his chest was tight beneath the leather harness he wore. What was up with that harness anyway? What the hell was he supposed to be dressed as? Was it some kind of fetish thing?
“Uh, sure, okay,” Ashley sounded irritated. “Who’s your teammate?”
Manson shrugged. “Just me. Me against her.” He pointed at me. It was a struggle to keep my mouth from falling open. I hid my discomfort behind the best resting bitch face I could manage.
“Yeah, maybe you haven’t noticed, but we’re playing in teams,” I said slowly, sarcastically.
“Aw, scared you’ll lose if you play alone?” His voice was taunting, familiar. It was the same way he'd spoken to me in high school when he'd snap back at my teasing. Except now his voice was steadier. He was almost cocky in the way he carried himself, his mannerisms, his tone.
Dammit, he knew how to get to me.
I laughed. “Oh, honey, no. More like I’ll be bored with how easy beating you will be.”
“I take it you accept the challenge then,” he said, bouncing the little white ball on the table. “I mean, it’s an easy victory for you after all, right?”
My jaw clenched. I wanted to snap out something rude, but Daniel interrupted us.
“Woah, guys, if you’re gonna go one versus one, let’s make this a little more interesting!” He came up to the table, sharpie in hand, and began to write on our cups: a single word on some and nothing on others. As he wrote on one closest to me, I glimpsed what it said: DARE.
“Drink or dare!” he exclaimed. “Same house rules except if you make it in one of your opponent’s “dare” cups, they have the option to do your dare instead of lose the cup.” He smiled slyly. “Any dare you want. No boundaries.”
The crowd began to cheer, then chant, “Drink or dare! Drink or dare! Drink or dare!” It was exactly the kind of spectacle a bunch of shit-faced college students would love - and with that many eyes on me, I’d never live it down if I backed out.
“Fine,” I said, picking up my ball. “I hope you’re ready to be humiliated, Manson. Oh wait...but you’re already used to humiliation, aren’t you?”
The crowd rippled with laughter. They knew exactly what I was talking about. They all knew. Manson may have managed to get on Daniel’s good side, but that didn’t mean everyone had forgotten where he came from.
Manson just smiled as we went eye to eye. “So you do remember my name. I'm flattered, Jessica. Miss Popular remembers who I am, oh wow!” His voice was dripping with sarcasm. He lined up his shot, and said, “I guess I was such a good kisser that you can’t forget my name.”
Less people knew about that. Far less. But there were still murmurs and gasps of “oooh, shit!” from those who did know. I winced, instantly irritated as my face grew hot. That grin of his was unnerving - so unnerving that I missed my cup and lost the eye to eye. I swore softly. I couldn’t let him get under my skin.
“So how’s Kyle been, Jess?” Manson said as he lined up his first shot.
“I wouldn’t know,” I said sharply. “We’re not together.”
“Aww, too bad. Prom King and Queen didn’t get their happily-ever-after. What a sad world. Shocking, honestly.” His ball flew through the air and sunk - luckily not in a dare cup. I didn’t know what kind of dares he might come up with, but I didn’t want to find out. I guzzled down the cheap beer and set the cup aside.
“I was surprised to see you here, Manson,” I said, taking aim. “I didn’t know Daniel was extending invites to dogs.”
More laughter, even from Manson. The words bounced off of him like ping pong balls. The routine felt familiar. The longer we snapped back and forth, the more my heart raced.
“Everyone likes dogs,” he said, leaning down behind the cups so that as I aimed, I was forced to meet his eyes. He was so damn distracting - and creepy - with that one white contact in. “And those who don’t, well...only assholes kick a dog and expect not to get bit.”
“You still carrying knives around?” I tried to sound condescending, but my voice shot up in pitch.
“Always.” So serious. So damn serious. My hand shook, and the ball flew - made it in! A dare cup too! I folded my arms victoriously
“So what’s your dare, Miss Jess?” he said, looking at the cup musingly. “I might just take it.”
The crowd was shouting suggestions, from the mundane to the completely outrageous. Then Ashley leaned forward and whispered in my ear, and I smiled slyly.
“I dare you...to go inside, shove your head in the toilet, and flush it,” I said sweetly. His smile, that oh-so-cocky grin, faltered slightly. “You’ve had plenty of practice with that already, right?”
For a second, I thought he might actually do it. Instead, he downed the cup and set it aside. It still had the effect I wanted regardless: he'd lost his cocky grin.
“Oh, Jess,” he shook his head. “Jess, Jess, Jess. Don’t you know that you’re supposed to grow up after high school? We’re all adults here.” He tossed the ball and made it in. A dare for me too. “But I guess some of us really did peak in high school.”
“What’s your dare?” I snapped. There was no way I was losing this game - I would take whatever dare he gave me.
He didn’t even hesitate. He’d just been waiting for the opportunity to say it. “Kiss my boots.”
People gasped, laughed, and whistled. Ashley make a horrified noise behind me. I frowned. “So...what...just one little kiss?”
“Oh, no, no, no,” he chuckled, walking around the side of the table so I could see him fully, boots and all. “I dare you to get on your knees, get your face down to the ground, and kiss my boots for sixty seconds.” The horror on my face brought back that cocky grin of his. “Or you can pussy out and drink.”