Balance (Off Balance 1)

“Same thing. Truth or Dare.”

I chuckled to myself. Avery wasn’t afraid of much. “Dare.”

A wicked smile spread across her face. “I dare you to make out with Hayden,” she said, proud of her dare.

I looked over at Hayden and his eyebrows nearly popped off his head.

I knew what Reagan was doing. She was trying to hurt me. But what she didn’t know was having Avery kiss Hayden wouldn’t hurt me in the least. I considered Hayden a really great friend and nothing more. Though, it was clearly obvious she didn’t see that.

Before anyone could say anything, Avery jumped to her feet and crossed over me to Hayden. She dropped her knees to the sand in front of him, whose blue eyes were filled with shock as he sat motionless. I knew from experience he wasn’t a prude, or a virgin, yet he sat stone-faced still.

Avery didn’t hesitate and grabbed Hayden’s cheeks, pulling his face to hers. Just before she pressed her lips to his, he glanced my way for consent. I knew he was being nice so I smiled in return. Knowing Avery, she was going to put on a show just to piss Reagan off.

His eyes stayed on mine for another second or two longer until they closed shut and he kissed her back. I watched, along with the rest of the group, in silence as the dare went on a little longer than we all expected. Avery climbed onto Hayden’s lap, his eyes stayed shut as his brows lifted high on his forehead again. He wrapped an arm around her lower back and threaded the other through her windblown hair and kissed her the way he once kissed me. With passion and intensity.

Someone cleared their throat and the kiss abruptly broke apart. Hayden’s lips were flushed and swollen, his eyes wide as Avery climbed off him and resumed her seat next to me, like she didn’t have a care in the world.

I shifted my eyes over to Reagan and took joy in her expression. She was seething over her dare backfiring on her.

I smiled from ear to ear.

“All right,” Avery said, rubbing her hands together. “Who’s my next victim?”

“Adrianna, come here,” Kova said, gesturing me over with two fingers. I’d been at practice for three hours now working on bars. Only another hour or so before I could break for lunch and I couldn’t wait. I was waterlogged from the beach yesterday, so any break I got was essential.

“Yes?”

He lifted my hand to his face and scowled. “I cannot stand the sight of your wrists. Go in my office and in my desk drawer, there are a pair of wristbands for you.” He looked square in my eyes. “Wear them.”

I flattened my lips and nodded. Kova had a way of making something so small feel like such a big issue. My wrists were fine.

“Hey, Ave,” I said, smiling from ear to ear as I stepped into the cold lobby. She had slept over and came to watch my practice before she had to drive back to Palm Beach. Having her around for the past twenty-four hours had been really good and I was going to miss her dearly when she left.

“What are you doing?” she asked, sitting in a folded metal chair, her cell phone in one hand.

I shook my head and rolled my eyes, holding up my wrists. “Apparently this bothers my coach.”

She looked at me, perplexed. “Your hands?”

“The sight of your wrists offends me greatly,” I said in my best manly Russian inflection. Avery sat motionless for a moment until she erupted with laughter.

“Are you serious?” she asked, grinning.

I raised my brows, nodding. “He doesn’t like how I wrap my wrists and has new wristbands for me. I just need to grab them real quick.”

Her brows scrunched together, her chocolate eyes zoning in. “Fish lips has new gym gear for you? He bought them?”

I laughed, shushing her with a finger pressed to my lips. “Don’t say that too loud,” I whispered.

Avery looked around the bare lobby. “Stop being paranoid, no one else is here. Would you rather I say Coach Kissable instead?” She looked over her shoulder and through the glass at Kova, who was making his way across the gym. “In person, he really does have some nice lips, not to mention, a seriously rocking body. I could almost see his muscles. But does he always look like he’s mad at life?”

I glanced in her direction, locking eyes with Kova. “For the most part. How long will you be here for?”

She looked at the time on her phone. “Not much long—”

“Come on, Ria. You are on a roll and I do not want to break it.” Kova barged into the lobby, cutting off Avery. Surprisingly, he wasn’t mean about it, and his unexpected compliment rendered me speechless. Kova rarely remarked positively on my practice, but I noticed he’d been doing it more and more lately.

The sound of a chair sliding across the floor broke my slacked jaw stare.