The Dare: Sterling U: Book 1

by Amanda Ray

  After our game on Saturday we plan to go to his frat house and party like wild animals. Everyone and their mother are invited and I'm so ready to get wasted and blow off steam it's not even funny. This week has been hell and today with Scarlett's sass, although mildly entertaining, has only added to my annoyance of the week. Alcohol and hot chicks are just what every guy needs after a hockey game and I plan on taking full advantage, win or lose, after our game tomorrow. Let's just hope there's a girl at the party that grabs my attention and keeps it just like my little enemy.

  Chapter 3

  Letty

  You know when you've had a hard, long day at work, those days when you feel like you've been at the gym for hours and you come home dripping in sweat? And you take off your clothes like they're part of your body because they've clung to you for so long and you jump right into the shower. The warm water hits your cold, clammy body and you get that slight chill from the clean water rinsing off all the dirty, cold, sweat. That's one of the best feelings to me. I think I could get an orgasm off of that feeling. That tingle, that runs up and down my spine the minute the water touches my skin. The goosebumps that arise as the water runs down every inch of me. I love it. I crave it. That's why when I get asked to work a double or sometimes even a triple shift at the bar I don't really mind because I know when I get home I’ll get that feeling.

  Wade's is more of a bar and grill. The owner, Wade himself, came from Alabama. His southern drawl makes all the girls and some of the guys go bananas. Wade brought his southern routes with him, the bar- a classic looking country getup- has wooden floors with browns everywhere. The booths, the walls, the bar tops, it's as if down south they don't know that other colors exist. He claimed the perfect spot though and sits right in the middle of college central. Wade's is the perfect spot for everyone to hang out, drink, eat, watch sports and even ride a mechanical bull. Yup, after playing a round of darts or killing someone in a game of pool, you can, in fact, ride a damn mechanical bull.

  The amount of times the staff and I have had to pick up some drunken body off the floor after riding that thing is ridiculous. If I had a penny for every single time, I'd be able to pay my whole tuition with it. Lucky for me I wrote a killer acceptance letter and got an amazing scholarship, and since I don't make nearly enough to function, most of the time, the financial aid help pays the way for the rest. Doesn't mean I don't have to bust my butt to make money to live off of though. But I can't deny that I love my job.

  With its southern charm and amazing staff, Wade's is honestly one of the best places to be. The only thing I would change would be the random dance acts we have to perform. Yup. Wade decided that since one of his favorite movies is Coyote Ugly it would be oh so amazing-did you catch my sarcasm there- to have us get up on the bar and dance every time someone plays his special song. Thank God everyone is almost always obliterated that they never remember what the actual song is, otherwise everyone under the sun would be watching me on a bar dancing every night. I cringe at the thought. Don't get me wrong, I love dancing, but our uniform, if you can call it that, consists of nothing but skin. Short denim shorts and flannel shirts tied all the way up below our breasts, opened enough to see cleavage. The guys, yeah, they get to wear flannels too. Opened all the way to see their abs and jeans that hang so low you just want them to fall off. I think Wade relies on the whole sex sells thing.

  I step out of the warm shower and wrap a towel around my body, leaving my long dark hair hang dripping wet. With a huff I walk out of the bathroom and straight to the kitchen. My roommate, Savvy, is at the fridge getting a water bottle. "Hey babe, can you grab me one too?" She tosses me the water bottle and I guzzle it down, "Why is it still so damn hot! I mean jeez, it's freaking September. Relax mother nature!"

  Savvy laughs at that and rolls her eyes, "Yeah, I'm sure she'll get right on that. You know, right after dying from all the pollution. It's called global warming for a reason Letty." Now it's my turn to roll my eyes. "Well global warming needs to chillax because this shit is ridiculous. It's way too hot in here." I walk over to the thermostat and lower it. "Ugh, please. It makes all the guys happy because all us girls need to wear less clothing. I'm pretty sure men are behind this shit. They just want to see us naked all the time. If the world get's hot enough they'll ban clothes and you know what that means." She waggles her eyebrows at me suggestively and I can't help but laugh. She's right though, it's so hot that I don't even want to wear any clothes.

  "We still going out tonight?" Savvy loves going out, getting dressed up and partying maybe a little too hard. In other words she loves getting sexified to go tease some boys, her words not mine. I, on the other hand, don't really bother to get sexified when I go out. I figure if a guy wants to hook up with me then so be it but I'm not going to go out of my way to get dolled up just to get a guy to notice me. "Yeah. I'm down, I just need to take a little nap. What time and where?"

  "I'm thinking nine and maybe to go hit up one of the college dorms or a frat party?" I grimace at her suggestion but before I can open my mouth Savvy continues, "I know. I know. But listen, we can stare at all the hot guys and get free drinks and listen to decent music. Unless you want to go back to your job and hope for some guys to buy us a drink?" I sigh in defeat. She's right. There's really nothing around campus unless we want to drive an hour to go into Hartford but given that neither of us have a car, that uber ride would be ridiculous. So I'll suck up my pride and go to a college party. "Okay, fine. I'll nap until eight and see you then." Savvy smiles and nods before making her way to the couch to watch some tv.

  Savannah and I met at freshman orientation. We both drooled over the dean when he came to introduce himself to the new students and we've been friends ever since. She had hooked me in with her blunt, carefree personality, and insisted that everyone must call her Savvy but it wasn't until she admitted that she hated her family that I knew we'd be best friends forever. Yeah, I know that sounds strange, but her blunt, honest self had expressed things that I've never heard other people admit and she got me to open up in a way that I never had to anyone before. She's the only one on this campus, besides the admittance people, who know basically my whole story and I love her for it.

  "So, you got any family?" she had asked. I shook my head to answer, "Lucky. I've got a mom and a brother but sometimes I wish I didn't have any." I looked at her in shock, who says that? When she saw my gaping mouth she just shrugged it off, "We had child protective services drop by a few times, but they never found anything circumstantial. Sometimes I wish they did. I think my life would have been better if I was in foster care." She shrugged again as my cheeks began to flush. "No, you don't." I replied but she just looked at me, staring me straight in the eyes and said, "Yeah, actually I do. I think my life would be better if someone had taken me away, or if I would have just ran away." My anger grew and I raised my voice, "No. You actually fucking don't. Trust me. I would know." Her cheeks turned red and she shook her head, "I'm sorry if that offends you Letty and I'm sorry if your circumstances were less than ideal. I know that it can be super hard for people in the system. It's not all sunshine and candy-"

  "No, it's not even close-" I had cut her off.

  "- but you can't judge me for saying what I'm saying considering you've never been in my shoes either.” I cringed at her words. She was right after all. I knew what it was like to be in foster care my whole life but that didn't mean her situation was better just because she had a family. "You may have never felt loved or wanted being in the system but neither have I. I never felt loved or wanted or like I had a normal family and I wasn’t in the system. So don't think for a second that just because I grew up with something you've never had it means my life was so much better. You of all people should know that you never know what's going on behind closed doors. People can be very good at showing the world what they want it to see. And family isn’t always family. Sometimes they’re just people who share your DNA."

  Her words had stung. She was right and
we spent that whole night talking about everything. I told her things I had never told anyone and she had opened up to me like she never had with anyone else. We became best friends that night and decided to make it official by becoming roommates. Two years later and we're still roommates, except now, we're in our own apartment off campus and I'd be lying if I said I didn't love it.

  I awake from my glorious nap to find Savvy in my room throwing clothes from my closet onto my bed. "Well, hello there, sunshine. I'm picking out your outfit for tonight. If you're not gunna get laid then you're at least going to get someone to hook up with you for looking like sex on wheels." I chuckle and drag my body out of my bed to see her top choices. Savvy's got two options, a black bandage dress with red pump heels and high waisted jeans with a black lace bandeau top paired with black chunky booties. The latter would be my go to outfit but with the heat still ablaze, I understand why the dress is an option. I start to reach for the jeans and Savvy lets out a sigh, "How did I know you would choose that one." It's not a question, she just knows me too well. With another chuckle I start to get dressed. Savvy's already dressed in tight black high waisted shorts and a silver flowy tank that's tucked into the top of her shorts. The top is almost transparent and since she's not wearing a bra, I know the boys will be all over her tonight. Her light brown hair is tied up in a tight pony tail and hits just above her shoulders. When I'm done getting dressed I sit down at my desk and attempt to straighten my thick long hair, my dark waves might be my trademark hairstyle but tonight I feel like changing it up a bit.

  "Are you actually going to put on makeup tonight?" Savvy asks from the bathroom, her attention on her lips as she outlines them with red lipstick. "Probably just the usual." I can't see her but I know she's rolling her eyes at me. My go to makeup: Mascara and Chapstick. "Can we please try something new?! Come here." I roll my eyes and huff at her, but she's right. I should try something new. So I suck it up and walk over to the bathroom. She smiles at me and begins to trace my lips with her red lipstick, "Damn, girl. You're hot as hell!" I laugh and turn to look in the mirror but holy hell, she's right. I look good! "Alright, babe, I think we're ready to go. You got everything?" I grab my essentials and throw them in my back pocket before nodding, "Sav, where are we going anyway? Did you choose a spot or are we just gonna uber all over town?"

  Savvy locks the door behind us and we make our way outside to the uber before she says, "Yeah. We're going to a frat party. Mama wants a hockey player to ogle." She gives me a wry smile and I think my eyes almost fall out of my head, I roll them so hard. Great. Hockey players at a frat party. That can only mean one thing. Brooks is going to be there. Joy.

  Chapter 4

  Brooks

  We won! My body hurts but I'm too full of adrenaline to care. It was the first game of the season and we won! We've been working our asses off to get to this point and now that we’ve won the first game, it's only going to fuel us more to keep winning. We rode the bus back to campus on a high. We were already going to celebrate at Nate's frat house regardless of the game status but now that we won, we're going to be partying hard. My teammates' voices are loud and husky, you'd think for a group of hockey players who just left their all on the ice we'd be exhausted. But nope we're all acting like we just woke up and have the whole day ahead of us.

  "Yo, dude, I'm so pumped for tonight! Deeks told me they're putting a bubble machine in the pool and they got the hot tub set up,” Nate waggles his eyebrows at me, "And they made their famous punch and some jello shots on top of all the booze we got. Tonight's going to be epically Lit! You coming straight over or coming later?" I chuckle at Nate's excitement for tonight, it's not like we've never been to the fraternity’s parties before but every time we go out after we win it's like a completely different experience. Not only are we on cloud 9 from the game but it's like everyone around us is too. Including the girls. It's like we're celebrities and everyone wants a piece of us. I can't go two steps without girls coming up to me and touching me, asking if I have plans that night or if I want a congratulatory blow job in my car.

  I guess being a hockey player will do that for you, but the guys laugh when I say that because it's not anything different from my day to day. Nope. The moment they see me coming it's like a challenge of who's going to take Brooks home first. I'm not cocky but I'd be lying if I said it wasn't true. If I wanted to, I could have any girl I wanted. Most nights I do. What's a man to do when a hot girl is throwing themselves at you? You say, yes, please and enjoy all that God gave you, that's what you do. At least, that’s what I do.

  Tonight will be no different but tonight I'll want to celebrate harder. Drink more and do more. Maybe have two or three chicks in one night, or at one time. I can't wait to see what my options are. "Nah dude, I'm gonna go home and shower and shit and then I'll meet you there. Probably be there around eight or so. I'll help you guys out a bit, sound good?" Nate nods and nudges my shoulder, "So, who you taking home tonight, B?" All I can do is laugh, he knows me too well, "Anyone I want, Nate. You know this. Let's see what my options are tonight and I'll get back to you." With a slight nod he chuckles, "Sounds good dude. You know I'll take whoever." I shake my head at him before putting my headphones in to relax for the rest of the ride back.

  Nate's good like that, he'll make sure no other guy wants the girl he’s interested in because if they're even the slightest bit into her then he'll bow out. He'd rather his boys get what they want then have an argument or a fuss over a chick. So anytime we go out he sits back and watches us choose the girls we want to pick up and then Nate swoops in later for the rest. The other guys give him shit for it, call him a pussy, but I think it's admirable. He'd rather watch his friends be happy then get what he really wants, there's something to say about that.

  As promised I made it to Nate's frat house at eight on the dot. We moved the couches out of the way to make room for the people who like to dance and made space for the huge speakers by the window. The other boys set up the pool to make it look like a giant bubble bath and I helped clean out the hot tub because we all know that at some point some drunk ass kid is going to be in there trying to have sex and God forbid that drunk ass is me, I want to make sure it's at least clean. Nate's brothers clean the house and set out some snacks while I help Nate get the kegs ready and set out the red plastic cups. In the corner of my eye I see one of our teammates Kyle setting up tables for beer pong. "Yo, Ky, don't cheat with the place up dude! I'm gonna kick your ass later!" I yell over making sure he places the cups just right and not too close. He looks up and laughs, "Even with that advantage you'd still lose, B!"

  "Wanna bet?" I make my way over to him. The competitor in me wanted to kick his ass just to prove a point. "Tell you what, B," he snickers at me, "you beat me in beer pong and I'll play the dare game tonight." At this Nate wanders over to us. "Oh shit, kick his ass, B. This'll be good!"

  Ah, the dare game. The stupid game that's been around our campus since...forever. It's notorious around all of the athletes on campus. Like a secret game that only we know about. It's like your traditional truth or dare that you'd play in middle school, only there's no truth. And if you don't complete your dare, you have three punishments that you can choose from. 1) take a voluntary step down from your position on the team, 2) wax off every single piece of hair on your body while being videotaped doing so, or 3) streak in front of the Dean of Sterling U.

  All of which might not sound so bad but from previous game players, the consequences are REAL. If you take a step down from your position, you risk the chance of scouts not noticing you and letting down your team. We had a guy Brian choose punishment 2 and he cried the whole time they were waxing him, by the time they got to his balls he ended up quitting the team. And if you're ballsy enough and decide to take your chances running naked in front of the Dean, you risk the chance of getting expelled.

  So when someone wants to play the dare game, you better be damn sure you're all in. And me. I'm all in. I've never lost and I don't plan to
either, so when Ky mentioned it I smirked before saying, "Done." Only to find out that Ky has been working on his beer pong skills and whooped my ass before the party even started. So here we are, nine-thirty, the speakers are blasting and the house is filled, inside and out, with party goers everywhere and Ky has yet to give me my dare. "Come on dude, you're dragging it out. Just give me the fucking dare so I can get it over with!" He smirks at me and looks over my shoulder. I turn to see what's caught his eye and see a hot blond eyeing me up. "Hey there, Brooks." Her hand rubs up and down my arm, "Well, hello there, sweetheart. What can I do for you?" She leans forward, putting her perfectly round tits on my arm before whispering in my ear, "More like, what can I do for you?" The blond licks and bites my ear and I see Ky and the boys chuckling into their cups. Yup. This happens every night.

  I lean away from the blond a little before looking into her lust filled eyes, "I'm kind of in the middle of something, sweetheart. How about I come find you later and you can show me all that you can do for me with that tongue?" She smiles at me and bites her lip, "Okay, B. But you have to promise me one thing?" I almost laugh at this, because really? "Okay, I'll bite. What do I have to promise?" She looks me up and down, biting her lip again, "Don't go falling in love with me, okay?" I snicker and the boys full out laugh. The blond glares at them and then back at me. We've heard this from almost every single girl any of us has ever hooked up with, and guess what? None of us have ever fallen in love with them. So when this girl says it, you can't blame us for our outburst. "Okay, I promise." With that the blond walks off.