Dare You to Kiss the Quarterback (Rock Valley High Book 1)
Page 19
I wanted to agree with what she was saying, but my eyes found Mason again as he entered the double doors of the school. The way he was walking, as if the weight of the world lay on his shoulders, made a spark of pity flare inside my heart. He said he was having a rough day. I could give him the benefit of the doubt, even if he had all the warmth of a prickly pear cactus.
“Anyway, forget about him and answer me this,” Mandy said, looping her arm through mine and tugging me forward. “How much do you think Audrey will want to kill us if we start a campaign for her for homecoming queen?”
I side-eyed her, falling into step. “Are you sure you want to risk that? She’s got Collin now. He’s strong. And muscular. He’s like a built-in bodyguard. I’m pretty sure he could take you down if she asked him to.”
“That’s only if he can catch me.” She grinned. “Bad luck for you. I’ve seen you run. You don’t stand a chance.”
She shoved me playfully as we made our way to the school doors. Not far behind us, Audrey and Collin were walking hand in hand, too busy staring at each other with stars in their eyes to notice us talking about them. Warmth burst in my chest at the sight. I’d had my worries about our senior year, but everything seemed to be falling into place. Not even today’s events could wash away that feeling.
And as I reveled in that warm feeling, I felt the pull of someone watching me. My eyes scanned the crowd and settled on Mason Finnick leaning over the water fountain, dead ahead. Our gazes met and I smiled at him. Mandy would’ve elbowed me for being nice, but I believed in second chances. Even if he was the rudest guy I’d ever met.
But apparently, Mason was impervious to even my most charming smiles. He stood up and wiped the back of his hand across his mouth, glowering at me for a second, before turning abruptly on the heels of his Nikes to stride off to class. As I watched him go, a strange feeling stirred in my gut, like someone had released a jar full of lightning bugs in my stomach. I couldn’t be sure if it was disappointment in finding out that my smiles didn’t actually have superpowers or if it was because of Mason himself. Either way, I had to let it go for now.
No, I wasn’t going to worry about someone like Mason Finnick. He might have decided to believe that everything was terrible about this day, but he was wrong. We had love on our side. Collin and Audrey were proof of that.
And I would’ve dared him to tell me any differently.
Thank you for reading!
Did you love this book? Do me the greatest favor in the world and go rate it on Amazon. Seriously — it’s the best tip you could leave for an author.
Much love,
Lacy
Keep reading for an excerpt of the next book in the series, Trina’s story – Dare You to Date the Point Guard – and order it here before it returns to full price.
Excerpt From Dare You to Date the Point Guard
Chapter One
A cancer ward wasn’t exactly where most teens chose to spend their Saturdays. At least, not for most of the kids at my school. Rock Valley High had it’s fair share of jocks, nerds, and emos. We also had gamers, mangas, populars, and the normals.
And then there was me – Trina Frye.
The person who spent study hall in art class, walked around all day with paint in my hair, and volunteered at the cancer ward on the weekends. But those other kids didn’t know what they were missing.
“I’m so bored.” Charley looked up from her Glamour magazine at me, her deep brown eyes blinking slowly. She tilted her head and gave off one of the most pathetic sighs I’d ever heard. “Can’t we do something fun?”
I leaned forward and pushed my dark, curly hair out of my face, excitement coursing through my veins. The sketching pad with Charley’s likeness on it that I’d been drawing fell out of my lap and to the floor. “We could stalk Jennifer Lawrence online and see how much she spent on her wedding.”
Celebrity stalking was Charley’s hobby. At least, while she was getting chemo treatments. This was her sixth round and it was my job as a hospital volunteer to help her through it the best way I could. Maybe I couldn’t keep her from feeling sick as those chemicals entered her body. And maybe I couldn’t keep her beautiful black hair from falling from her head. But I could stalk celebrities like the best of them, and for Charley, I would do it with all of my heart.
Charley sat back in her recliner, her lips pulling down into a frown. “Nah, I’m not really in the mood. We need something better to do. Something...a little bit naughty.”
Her eyes canvassed the hospital room as I gulped. Naughty wasn’t on my radar. As a senior in high school, I had plans. More specifically, my parents had plans for me to go to Northwestern University and then med school. Never mind the fantastic art school in Chicago I’d obsessively googled over the past year.
I couldn’t tell how many times they’d lectured me on how my decisions today affected my future. Art was just a hobby. And everything on my rap sheet would affect my career path. Charley was just a freshman. She didn’t understand.
“I’ve got it,” she said, adjusting her IV line to reach for my empty Coke bottle. Setting it carefully on the floor, she looked up at me and grinned. “You still don’t have a boyfriend, right? How about a little Spin-the-Bottle? You go first.”
I laughed and glanced down the rows of reclining chairs. At least five other recliners were claimed by cancer patients. Old Mr. Richard at the end, with the shiny head and disapproving grunts. Sweet Lilly, who made the world’s best chocolate chip cookies and was the granny everyone wished they had. Plus, three other middle-aged folks. A few nurses stood at the station across the room, but other than that, the pickings were slim.
“I’m not sure there’s anyone in here that’s boyfriend material.”
Charley rolled her eyes and adjusted her black baseball cap that hid the remnants of her hair. “Just spin, Trina. Don’t be lame.”
“I’m not lame,” I replied, shaking my head. “Cancer is lame.”
She rolled her eyes again, but a hint of a smile played on her lips. “Yeah, yeah, cancer is lame. I’ve heard that soundbite more times than I can count. Now, spin it before I change my mind and decide we have to do karaoke instead. I’ve heard you sing, Trina. I’m pretty sure your singing would kill everyone in here quicker than the cancer.”
“Hey, now.” I plastered a hand to my chest and pouted. “I devote my free time to help distract you from your treatments and this is how I’m treated? What did I do to deserve such a verbal thrashing?”
She forced out a laugh. “Let’s not pretend you don’t volunteer at the hospital just to get your parents off your back about med school.”
“Pssh.” I waved my hand dismissively at her. Maybe part of that was true. My parents certainly had put on the heat lately about med school. I couldn’t really blame them. They were both doctors with stellar reputations. It was up to me and my baby sister, Beth, to carry on the family name. But that wasn’t the only reason I volunteered and Charley knew it. “That’s just an excuse. I did nothing to deserve your wrath.”
She huffed and then gave me an ornery grin. “Honestly, you smile too much.”
“Why is that a bad thing?”
“Because, no sane person in the world is as upbeat as you. It’s just unnatural.”
This time it was my turn to grin. It wasn’t the first time I’d heard that. And it wasn’t the first time Charley had accused me of being too perky, but I just rolled with it. Perkiness was how I was born. It was in my DNA.
Bending down to grab the bottle, I gave it a spin. The plastic Coke bottle spun on the linoleum floor and fell into an achingly slow pace until it finally stopped. We both twisted in our seats to see who it had landed on and I broke out into a giggle.
“I’m not kissing Mr. Richard. He’s older than my dad.”
“Fine.” Charley leaned back into her chair once again. “Spin again. This time, make it count. I can’t go back to reading last month’s magazines. My brain is going to turn to mush.”
Mason Finnick drifted through the door of the chemo ward as if he were Superman bursting out of a phone booth. He was Rock Valley High’s newest star basketball player, a recent transfer to my senior class, and the darling of all the baby jocksters. He had a broad chest, chiseled jaw, and athletic arms. His dark brown hair was trimmed and tossed with just enough finesse to make me doubt that it just lay naturally that way. Despite his recent rocket to the top of Rock Valley High popularity, he always wore the same brooding expression on his face. A deep frown that told everyone to keep a wide ten-foot radius.
His sudden and unexpected presence in the cancer ward had me wondering if he knew someone getting treatment. It would definitely explain his sour attitude.
“This is perfect,” Charley spouted, sitting straight up in her seat for the first time all day. Energy poured into her once pale face. “Him. You have to kiss him.”
“Nope.” I shook my head violently and grabbed her abandoned Glamour magazine to rifle through the pages. “Not happening. Let’s redo that quiz on which hairstyle is best for my face. I think I could totally pull off bangs.”
“You can’t quit.” She splayed her hands and pointed at Mason as he made his way over to the nurses’ station. Desperation seeped into her voice. “He’s eye candy. He’s the G.O.A.T. He’s Mason Finnick. You can’t quit on me now, Trina Frye.”
I eyed her over an article about the danger of breast implants. “How do you even know his name? He just transferred in and you haven’t been to school this year because of the chemo. How do you know who Mason Finnick is?”
“Every girl in a hundred square miles of Rock Valley knows about our new point guard,” she said with a dreamy sigh. Her eyelashes fluttered. “Just because I have cancer, doesn’t mean I’ve fallen off the planet. Freshman year is a make-or-break kind of year. If I don’t keep up, I’ll get left behind. Mason Finnick is high school royalty. You’ve got to kiss him. For me. I’m living vicariously through you.”
I smiled at her and shook my head. Mason and I’d met only once before today and it hadn’t gone so well. He was immune to my charms. A total raincloud on my sunny parade. I doubted that he’d want to talk to me again, much less kiss me. Not even Charley’s help-me-I’m-sick puppy dog eyes could make that happen.
“Fine.” She crossed her arms tightly over her chest and jutted out her chin. For a moment, she looked much younger than a fourteen-year-old freshmen in high school. She looked more like a little girl, in the fight of her life. “I triple-dog-dare you to go and talk to him. Mason Finnick is the closest I’ll come to having a celebrity visit during my chemo. The least you can do is stall him so I can drool over him a bit.”
Okay, so maybe her puppy dog eyes did do the trick. I couldn’t say no to that innocent request. So I stuck out my tongue at her and pushed up out of my folding chair to walk across the room. Mason was leaning against the nurses’ station, dressed in a simple outfit of light-washed denim and a white tee. He said something to the nurse on duty and drummed his long fingers on the countertop. She nodded back before jumping up from her seat to rush away.
As I neared, nerves began to dance inside my stomach. It was an unfamiliar feeling. I never got nervous talking to a new person. Pressing my hand to my stomach, I willed myself to pull it together.
Mason Finnick was just another guy from our school. Okay, maybe he was a little rough around the edges, but I was sure that beneath that tough exterior was a soft, gooey center. It didn’t matter that he was intimidatingly hot. Or that he was taller than I remembered, even towering over my five-foot-ten inch height, and smelled like sexy man shampoo. He was just another guy. A guy who needed friends and people who cared—
“What do you want?”
I stopped dead in my tracks, staring blankly at Mason as he looked me up and down with those steely blue eyes. His deep voice had caught me off guard, his tone far from friendly.
“Well?” The muscles in his jaw twitched impatiently and he tilted his head to one side. “Did you need something? The nurse just went to find someone.”
“N-n-no, I’m fine.” I ran my tongue over my lips, suddenly feeling like I’d come down with a case of the flu. Aches, chills, and sweaty palms. Definitely the flu. “I just came over to say hi, actually. I’m Trina. We’re in the same year at school.”
His eyes narrowed suspiciously. He glanced over my shoulder at the recliners and chemo patients. No doubt, Charley was watching us both like a hawk.
“You came over to say hi?” He gave me a disbelieving look. “Just because?”
“Well, not really.” I laughed into my hand, thinking about Charley’s shenanigans. That girl kept me on my toes. Even on the bad days. During the worst of the chemo treatments, she always had a way to liven up the day. “My friend and I were playing this silly game with an empty Coke bottle. You know, spin-the-bottle? And it landed on you.”
His eyebrows shot up and he huffed. “So what, I’m supposed to kiss you now? Some girl I’ve barely met. Is that how it works?”
“No, no, no.” I waved my hands in front of my chest. Embarrassment exploded in my gut. “It was just pretend. My friend settled for making me come over to say hi. So...hi.”
His gaze seemed to take in every inch of my face. I returned his stare with an uneasy smile. Dumping a bucket of ice water over my head would’ve been preferable to this awkward moment. Having Mrs. Drew give me an F on my latest painting in art class would’ve been better. Anything, rather than standing here and squirming under Mason’s heavy gaze.
“Why are you here?” he asked suddenly, lifting his chin. “You sick?”
I shook my head, glad to move onto a new topic that didn’t involve kissing a stranger. “No. Just volunteering. I do it during my free time.”
Amusement flashed in his dark eyes. Leaning toward me, he gave off a humorless chuckle. “What are you? Some kind of teenaged Mother Teresa?”
Blood pooled into my cheeks. Either Mason truly had a heart of steel or something about me bugged him. I couldn’t understand his reaction to me. Never in my life had someone been so rude for no reason. I pressed my chilled hand to my heated face and took a shallow breath.
“I’m just here to help make this hospital stay go as quick as it can for my friend, Charley.” I glanced over my shoulder at her. As I suspected, she was watching us over the top of her magazine. Her baseball cap couldn’t hide the interested gleam in her eyes. This was better than watching reality TV for her. I looked back at Mason and shrugged. “You’d understand it if you were sick. These people have been through the very worst in life. If I can make them smile, it’s all worth it. Every single second.”
His eyes glittered with dark emotion as he stared at me for another long moment. It was like having a nuclear warhead aimed at your forehead. I shuffled my feet and smiled at him, feeling a strange sense of warmth burst in my gut. And when I thought I could take it no more, he tore his gaze away and turned back to the nurses’ station.
“Well, I’m just here to meet my mom,” he grumbled. “She’s a nurse and her lunch break is coming up soon.”
I couldn’t believe my ears. Apparently, Mason Finnick had a heart after all. And a mother who he took out for lunch on her breaks. He wasn’t just a robot.
“Okay, well, have fun,” I said, my feet itching to make a sudden retreat. Charley could stuff her silly games. This had been one of the two most awkward moments of my life. And both of them involved Mason Finnick. He was like a bad penny. “See you around school, then.”
“Tell your friend I hope she gets better soon,” he said in a low voice. Turning to look at me again, he grimaced and ran his hand through his hair in
a sexy smooth move that I knew would have Charley swooning into her recliner. “And I’m glad she has someone around to help.”
A beaming smile made its way onto my face. Maybe Mason wasn’t so bad after all. All it took was a little chipping away of the wall from around his heart. And I’d done it, with just a few simple hellos. That’s all it took. Just someone who cared enough to say hi.
All of that goodwill dissolved as Mason made a face at me and rubbed his chin. “Why are you smiling at me like that? Has anyone ever told you that you look a little crazy?”
Immediately, the grin melted from my face and my cheeks returned to feeling blazing hot. Squeezing my eyes shut, I turned on my heels and took a steadying breath. The best way out of this situation was just to walk away. But as I took my first step, I heard the unmistakable start of a deep chuckle behind me.
“See you later, Mother Teresa.”
I sighed and turned back to him. “It’s Trina.”
“Alright, then.” I could’ve imagined it, but I thought I saw the left side of his mouth curl into the tiniest hint of a smile. “See you, Mother Trina.”
With a mumbled thanks, I nearly tripped over my own feet and then headed back toward the chair next to Charley. She pelted questions my way, but I kept my lips glued together until I was sufficiently hidden behind my sketch pad. And when I dared to look over the top of the pad once again, I watched a pretty woman with long dark hair and a kind smile walk toward Mason and pull him into a hug. She led him toward the exit, her arm still wrapped around his waist.
It wasn’t until they were nearly through the door did Mason look back at me, our gazes meeting. Blood rushed to the tips of my ears and I hurried to hide myself once again.
“Way to stay cool, Frye,” Charley said in a dry voice.
I shot her a look, feeling totally undone by the previous five minutes. “That’s the last time I play any kind of game with you. No more spin-the-bottle. No more truth or dare.”