I Dare You, King

by Sophie Stern

  Me fucking Parker is a horrible, horrible idea.

  I should move on to someone else, someone I don’t have to work with. I should move on to someone who won’t make my panties melt off my body with just a look, with just the right words. I should move on to someone who doesn’t make me question everything I know about myself, about the world.

  I should move on.

  But a dare is a dare.

  “It’s a pretty good company,” Stephanie agrees. She doesn’t work for AeroKing. She’s a real estate agent and one of the best around. She makes a shitload of money and she’s not afraid to throw it around. It’s why she drinks $75 bottles of wine. Personally, I’m fine with the $4, bottom-shelf, more-juice-than-alcohol kind of wine.

  “But?”

  “But a dare is a dare,” she says, echoing my own private thoughts. “CEO or not, you know the stakes. How are you going to do it?”

  “Do what?”

  “Seduce Parker.”

  “I don’t know.”

  “You’ll have to make it good,” Stephanie says. “I have a feeling this one is worth putting effort into.”

  I have a feeling she’s completely right.

  She holds up her glass and looks at me.

  “To adventures,” she says.

  “To Parker,” I say.

  Then I chug the rest of my wine and stare at my empty glass.

  What the hell have I gotten myself into?

  2––––––––Rose

  AeroKing is one of the top engineering firms in the state, if not the country. It’s nestled downtown in a historic brick building that’s been completely renovated and remodeled. Ten stories of pure perfection overlook the best parts of the city, and I’m lucky enough to get to work on the top floor.

  Right next to Parker King.

  When I walk into work Monday morning, I move quietly through the busy lobby and take the elevator upstairs. Sometimes when I’m bored or feeling like I don’t get enough exercise, I’ll do something crazy, like take the stairs. Most of the time, though, I just suck it up and ride the elevator with whoever else is trying to get to work.

  I’m a very social person, but I’ve never managed to figure out what you’re supposed to say to people in elevators, so I always just pretend to look at my phone. Everyone else seems to have the same idea, so maybe that’s proper elevator etiquette after all. I don’t know.

  Stepping off the elevator, I move through the reception area and stop at the desk.

  “Good morning, Heather,” I say with a smile.

  “Lollipop?” She holds out a piece of green candy.

  “No, thanks,” I say slowly.

  “Try it,” the newly-single receptionist says. She smirks. “Suck on it.”

  “I don’t want to suck on the lollipop,” I frown at the receptionist. She’s holding it out by the stick, offering it to me. Heather has been having a lot of fun since she broke up with her boyfriend last month. The breakup was a mutual thing that they were both totally comfortable with. In her words, “it was time to move on.”

  “It’s delicious,” Heather says. “You should try it. Just try a taste.”

  “Absolutely not. It’s not professional to suck on lollipops at work.” I’m biting back a laugh, though, and we all know it.

  “You can suck on other things at work,” Heather says.

  “You can suck on anything,” Diane, one of the engineers, walks by.

  “You two are insatiable,” I say, throwing my hands up.

  “Insatiable or incredible?” Heather licks the lollipop slowly.

  “I say incredible,” Diane swipes a couple of lollipops from the jar on the desk and disappears down the hall to her office. As one of the few female engineers in the office, she’s learned to hold her own pretty damn well. She also doesn’t give a fuck what anyone thinks of her, which is one of my favorite things about her.

  “Lollipop?” Heather offers once more, and I finally take one, tear the wrapping off, and shove it into my mouth. “It’s good, right?”

  “Yeah,” I manage to mumble despite the candy lodged in my mouth. “It’s pretty good.” Too good. Too bad sucking on it makes me think of sucking on other things, and that’s not something I need to be thinking about right now.

  I do not need to be thinking about sucking on anything right now. The only thing I need to do is figure out how the hell I’m going to follow through on this fucking dare from Stephanie.

  Seduce Parker.

  That’s it.

  Seduce him. Kiss him. Sleep with him. That’s not so bad, right? It’s not such a bad thing. He’s attractive and he’s nice. He’s funny and smart and attentive. He’s a good friend.

  The best friend.

  He might be the sweetest male friend I’ve ever had, but then again, that’s the problem, isn’t it? People always say you shouldn’t date your friends because it’ll ruin your friendship. They always say you shouldn’t date people you actually like, people you enjoy being around. That’s how people end up with losers, in my opinion. If you won’t date your friends, you end up dating people you have absolutely nothing in common with. You choose people who don’t have your best interests at heart. Then when you break up, at least you haven’t lost a friend.

  It’s a safe way to play, at least according to Heather.

  Stephanie disagrees vehemently, though.

  “Best friends make the best lovers,” she always says. “Because when you’re comfortable with someone, when you deeply care about them, the relationship actually has room to grow. Besides, when you’re comfortable with someone, the sex is better.”

  Maybe she’s right.

  Maybe she’s right and I’m wrong.

  Maybe I should have asked Parker out a long time ago.

  Maybe I should have been braver.

  Something tells me she knows all of this and that’s why she’s pushing me, pressuring me to make a move now. She knows we’re friends, and she knows that I’m scared of ruining the relationship. She also knows I have a tendency to engage in destructive relationships.

  Maybe she knows I’m ready to grow the fuck up.

  “So, how’s the world of dating?” I ask Heather, silently enjoying my candy. Soon I’m going to have to head into my office, but I’ll happily put that off for a few minutes. Once I’m in there, everything is going to become real. I’m going to be faced with the decision to make a move on Parker or to let sleeping dogs lie.

  “Good,” she says. “I forgot how much fun dating can be.”

  “You and Brandon were together a long time, huh?”

  “Four years,” she says.

  “Wow. Really long time.”

  “A lifetime,” she agrees. “But you know, dating has been a really eye-opening experience. Things are really different now.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “There’s just an app for anything,” she says. “Dating now is like ordering food. You want chicken? You can have chicken. You prefer fish? That’s fine, too. Oh, you’re into dessert menus? There’s one of those.”

  “I don’t understand a single thing you just said.”

  “I just mean that no matter what your preferences are in a partner, you can find someone who will meet those.”

  “As far as looks are concerned?”

  “As far as anything is concerned,” Heather pulls out her phone and shows it to me. “Look,” she says. “I’m bi, so I have apps for finding guys and apps for finding girls. Some apps let me find both. I love to hike, so I’ve got a dating app for other people who like to hike. I’ve got one for professional gamers, too.”

  “Are you into eSports?” I ask. Heather is absolutely adorable, but I never would have pegged her as the gamer type. She’s got long, straight blonde hair and a big smile, but I would have pegged her as a cheerleader: not a gamer.

  She laughs.

  “Oh yeah. Big time. I stream every Friday. Here,” she writes down a username on a piece of paper and hands it to me. “You c
an watch me stream this weekend if you want. I’ll be playing some new games and even having some giveaways.”

  I look at the piece of paper.

  Yeah, I’ve definitely been out of the dating scene for way too long.

  “Okay,” I say.

  “Are you in the market?” She asks, propping her chin on one hand.

  “For what?”

  “Girls. Guys. Anything.”

  “Maybe.”

  Not really.

  The only person I’m in the market for is Parker King, and I think it’s safe to say we all know he’s not going to go for someone like me. My excitement from the weekend has worn off and now that I’m back at work, I’m very aware of how I compare to the usual girls that he dates. Parker likes girls who are...well, who are like Heather: totally put-together.

  Totally perfect.

  “You should check out Turntable,” she says, motioning to her phone again.

  “It’s a dating app?”

  “Yeah,” she tells me. “And it gives you the chance to meet some great new people. Even if you aren’t looking for anything serious,” she says gently.

  “Okay, I’ll take a look.”

  The phone rings and Heather motions for me to wait a minute as she answers it, but I instead motion to my own office and she nods. She gives me a little wave goodbye as she answers the phone.

  “AeroKing Technology. Heather speaking. How may I help you?”

  I walk over to one of the side hallways and head down it toward my office. There’s a big window in the hallway that overlooks a small pond and several gardens. There’s a park nearby, too. It’s absolutely stunning and standing here, looking outside always makes me smile.

  Except today, when I look out at the beautiful scenery, I can’t help but think about everything that happened over the weekend.

  So, I made a promise to Stephanie I might not be able to keep. So what? It’s just one dare. If I mess it up, it’s not a big deal. I’ve followed through on every other dare, and even if I can’t actually seduce Parker, it’s not like I didn’t follow through. It’s not like I was too scared to try or anything like that.

  No, it’ll just mean that I failed this time. I tried my best, but it didn’t work, and we weren’t just meant to be. No big deal. No big deal at all.

  Even as I tell myself this, though, even as I make excuses, I realize that I’m trying to pussy out. I’m trying to find reasons I can’t possibly do this. I’m trying to find any reason that I can’t seduce the man I’m in love with because, well, I’m in love with him.

  I’m just a coward.

  Parker and I have worked together day in and day out for years. He’s had a few girlfriends and I’ve had a few boyfriends, but neither one of us has been in a serious relationship since he ended his relationship with Janine two years ago. He was totally and completely in love with her and she destroyed him.

  I don’t even know if Parker understands just how broken and damaged he is inside now. I don’t like to look at him and think that he’s messed up, but when someone betrays you so deeply, it’s hard to get over that, if not impossible.

  When Janine crushed Parker’s heart, she took a lot more than their relationship from him.

  She took his hope.

  I don’t know if that’s something he can ever get back.

  I still remember the night he found out, still remember the look on his face at the gala. He caught them together, not even in bed, but it didn’t have to be. They were kissing in a corner and thought they were being discreet, but he saw their shared moment.

  He saw them together and something inside of Parker changed that night.

  He told me what he saw and then Parker and I went home. I drove him back to my place because I didn’t know what else to do. He cried so much that night. He shook, sobbing, and I held him for hours. I held him all night. By the time he fell asleep, it was the middle of the night, and I didn’t know what to do. It’s not like there was anyone I could call for him. Parker King doesn’t have friends. So, I put a blanket on him and tucked him in with my stuffed unicorn, and then I went and slept on the couch.

  When I woke up the next day, I felt excited and anxious to have him in my home. Yeah, it’s a tiny little place. It’s much too small for a big guy like him, but I was so happy to make him coffee and just spend some time together, but a quick peek in the bedroom showed that he was gone. He had left while I was sleeping without a word, without a note.

  Not that I could blame him. He’d been through hell. He needed time to heal. I understood that, and I still do.

  We never talk about that night.

  We never talk about her.

  We don’t have to.

  When I reach the end of the hallway, there’s a small waiting room. It’s sort of a secondary lobby. This one is just for people who are coming to visit Parker, so it’s a lot quieter than the one where Heather works just outside of the elevator. Christina, the receptionist, sits guard outside of our offices. Today she looks like it’s much later than 8:02. She has dark circles under her eyes and she looks tense.

  “Good morning, Rose,” she says with a tight smile. Christina’s dark brown hair is twisted up in a tight bun and despite her cheery tone, I can tell something is wrong. I just don’t know that I’ve had enough coffee to deal with whatever it is that’s upset her.

  “Christina,” I say, stopping at her desk. I’m still holding the lollipop in my hand. I realize this suddenly and drop it in the trash bin beside her desk. “What happened?”

  Without a word, she jerks her head toward Parker’s office. The door is closed, but I know he’s in there. Parker doesn’t arrive after 7:00. He’s always the first one to work and he’s usually the last one to leave. He takes his job very seriously, and that’s part of why he’s so successful in everything that he does.

  “He’s in a mood,” she says. “He told me to cancel all of his morning meetings,” Christina looks worried. “I have no idea why or what happened, but I didn’t do it, Rose. We have the meeting with Thomas and Johnson today and we can’t miss that.”

  Thomas and Johnson are launching a new airline company and we want to supply their parts.

  No, scratch that.

  We need to supply their parts. It’s a huge contract and a huge deal. Why would Parker cancel their meeting? Something must have seriously upset him for a blatantly terrible call like that.

  “I’ll talk to him,” I promise Christina.

  “The meeting is in half an hour,” she says. She frowns. “You need to get him to go, Rose, and you need to do it fast.”

  I nod and take a deep breath before reaching out to knock on the door to his office.

  So much for trying to seduce my boss. This morning, I’ve got bigger fish to fry.

  3––––––––Parker

  After two years of radio silence, I finally heard from Janine.

  Well, more specifically, I heard from her mother, who called to tell me the news this morning.

  Two years of nothing.

  Two years without closure.

  Two years without an apology.

  Two years.

  And then this.

  Despite the fact that we’re no longer together, despite the fact that we’re no longer in love, and despite everything she’s done to me, I’m reeling with the news and I feel like I can’t breathe. Everything feels tight and strange. It feels unbelievable. I think about her mother’s words and I wish they weren’t true, but I know that they are.

  Dizzy.

  I feel dizzy.

  I loosen my tie and pull on it, tossing it to the floor of my office. It’s a bright red line on an otherwise black space. The carpet is one I chose specifically because I thought black carpets exuded confidence.

  How fucking stupid is that?

  Now I don’t feel confident.

  Not at all.

  I feel nothing.

  Grace’s call came through when I was already in the building. If she’d caught me at
home or even in the car, I wouldn’t have bothered coming in today. Christina could have canceled my meetings for a month. That’s how little I can function right now. I would have been perfectly happy to spend the day staring at the wall and feeling...nothing at all.

  Not justified.

  Not relieved.

  Not even sad.

  Just nothingness.

  I used to have a heart, but Janine worked her magic and made sure that I was unable to feel anything ever again. Seeing her in my best friend’s arms was fucking terrible. It was more than that. It was unbearable.

  But I’m not at home.

  I’m at work.

  I’m here.

  And I have to face my day, whether or not I actually want to.

  Whether I like it or not, I’m the face of AeroKing and it’s my job to make sure the company keeps running. I don’t get to have a bad day or a hard day or a difficult day. I don’t get to take a vacation or a break or a rest. I have to keep going because the company has to keep going.

  For ten years, AeroKing has been my life. It’s taken my heart and my soul. It’s been my passion. When I left the military, I chose to take my father’s place on the throne that is AeroKing. I’ve worked my ass off to make this company thrive, grow, and flourish. I’ve given up everything to make sure that this company was and is a never-ending success.

  On days like today, though, I wonder if it’s worth it at all.

  I wonder if it’s worth giving up everything to build a company that’s incredible.

  My cell phone vibrates, and I pull it out of my pocket. Shoving it on the desk, I let it sit there for a good, long moment. I don’t need to look at the message to know that it’s from Grace. She’s probably sending me more information, more details, but I don’t want them. Right now, all I want is a fucking break, and I wonder if I can keep going.

  Suddenly, my head feels heavy. I drop it in my hands. My heart is pounding, my chest aches, and I like a college student after $1 beer night at the local dive.

  She’s gone.

  Janine is just gone.