On a Dare

by Nadia Aidan

  "To think I—I,” her voice began to choke up. She'd been prepared to tell him how she felt, but he wasn't ready if he couldn't even trust her to stay away from her asshole of an ex-husband. If he couldn't trust her period. They'd been friends for years and it was a hard pill to swallow, realising that Dylan apparently didn't seem to know her at all.

  She shook her head, feeling like the biggest fool. “I really am stupid,” she whispered sadly and spun on her heels to bolt up the stairs.

  "Lena! Lena!” Dylan tried to grasp her arm but she easily shook him off to make it up the last five stairs, slam the door in his face, and lock it before he could say another word.

  * * * *

  "Go away, Dylan,” she shouted from the other side of her bedroom door.

  He leaned his head against the wooden frame in frustration and blew out a long breath. He was such a fool. He should have trusted her and talked to her before jumping to wild conclusions. He would never forget the look of pain on her face before she ran up the stairs, especially knowing that he'd put it there. He'd hurt her because he hadn't trusted in her judgment, but also because he hadn't trusted in her feelings for him. The pain in her eyes wasn't simply the disappointed look of a friend. It was more—much more.

  "Do you want to hear my terms for the bet?"

  His cheek smacked against the door, after what he figured was either her foot or her fist banged against it. “Shut up about that stupid bet. I don't care about that bet or your silly terms."

  He lifted his lips into a lopsided grin. Well at least she was still listening and hadn't retreated into her bathroom.

  "Okay, we can put the bet aside for the moment and talk about something else instead—"

  "I don't want to talk to you, Dylan."

  "Okay, but can you at least listen to me, if only to hear my apology.” Silence. He took that as a good sign. She was still there and she was listening.

  "First, I want to say I'm sorry for jumping to conclusions and running off like that. Not answering my phone and staying out all night was childish and I'm sorry. I should have trusted you.” When she didn't say more he took that as another good sign and continued.

  "I know you may not believe me right now, but I do trust you, because I know who you truly are Lena, probably better than anyone else."

  He smiled at the inelegant snort that came from inside the room.

  "It's true and you know it. I know when you're nervous you always chew on your lower lip and when you can't figure out a problem you call me, but if I am the problem you call Maia. Your favourite colour is red. You hate mornings. No matter how many times you stare at a menu in a Thai restaurant, you're going to order the Shrimp Pad Thai and you can't sing to save your life."

  The sound of her chuckling softly warmed him from the inside out. He was getting somewhere with her. “I also know you never hold a grudge and you have a hard time staying mad at anyone for long,” he said quietly.

  He could tell he was chipping away at her ice, but she was still angry. He decided to try another approach to make her understand what he was really trying to say.

  "You remember the night of my twenty-first birthday? The time we first kissed?” When she didn't say anything he tried again. “I need you to answer me on this, Lena."

  "Yeah. I remember. We were drunk. So what?"

  "You remember what I said to you?"

  There was a pregnant pause before she finally said, “Not really."

  "Yes, you do, Lena. Tell me what I said, Lena."

  "You said you loved me, but—"

  "That's not what I said. Tell me exactly what I said."

  He held his breath as several moments ticked by, and in his mind's eye he could see her squinting her eyes searching her brain for his exact words.

  "Um, you said something like you were in love with me—"

  "That's exactly what I said and—"

  "Who cares? That was so long ago and we were both drunk—"

  He struggled to rein in his temper at her flippant attitude. “I wasn't drunk, Lena. I was completely sober,” he whispered loud enough for her to hear on the other side of the door.

  The silence that stretched between them was almost as tangible as the door that separated them. He knew she was mulling over what his words meant, but he didn't want there to be any doubt in her mind about the meaning behind them.

  "Like you, I dismissed those words and convinced myself that what I felt was just a passing crush. You were my best friend. I figured I was confusing friendship love with romantic love. But I wasn't and I realised that on your wedding day, actually before your wedding day, to be exact, it was on the day you announced you were engaged to Jason. When you told me the news I felt as if my heart was being ripped out. I knew then what I felt for you went far beyond friendship. But I didn't reveal my feelings because you seemed so happy. When I saw how upset you got when I warned you not to marry Jason, I just decided that it was selfish of me to ruin your big moment out of jealousy, no matter how big of a creep I thought Jason was. I know now that I should have fought for you when you announced your engagement to him. It was a mistake to keep quiet. I only made things worse by marrying Michelle.” He balled his fists against the door. “Open the door, Lena. I'm trying to tell you that I love you but it's kind of hard with this piece of wood separating us."

  Silence stretched between them for several tense seconds, before he stumbled inside almost knocking her over, when the door abruptly swung open.

  "Oh, I think you did a pretty good job even with the door between us.” She beamed.

  Before he could say another word, she fell into his arms and kissed him soundly. They held each other tightly and he savoured the warmth of her body pressed against his. He reluctantly lifted his head from their kiss to smile down at her. “I love you."

  "You said that already,” she grinned. “Ouch.” She jerked against him. “What did you do that for?” She complained as she rubbed her hand over the spot on her ass where he'd pinched her.

  He arched a single brow. “I'm guessing you have something to say back to me?"

  She curled her lips into a mischievous grin. “Maybe."

  He palmed her ass again. His threat was clear.

  "Okay! So, I do,” she mumbled quickly as she tried to move out of his arms, but he held fast. She lifted her eyes to his face, all signs of teasing gone. “I think I fell in love with you from the moment that I met you. I know that's when my crush began.” She dropped her gaze to the floor, her expression guilty. “I married Jason because physically he reminded of you."

  He scrunched his face up in disgust. They really didn't look that much alike and he was just a little insulted that she thought so but he figured now wasn't the best time to tell her that.

  "I spent so many years nursing what I considered a futile crush that when Jason came along I saw that as my opportunity to exorcise you from my system. But it didn't work. The more time I spent with Jason, the more I ached for you. After awhile being with him just became unbearable."

  Something that Jason said chose that moment to resurface in his brain and he stilled. “Did you ever call out my name one night when you two were together?"

  Her eyes rounded and her mouth fell open before she quickly recovered. She flashed him an embarrassed grin. “Jason told you didn't he? I should have never stayed with him after I discovered he'd cheated on me, but I thought we could make it work. I thought we'd get past that, but I realized, too late, he just didn't have it in him to be faithful. That's also around the time I came to accept my feelings for you and with that I realized I just didn't want anyone else touching me but you. By unspoken mutual agreement we didn't come near each other again after that night."

  He knew he was a Neanderthal, but he wanted to beat his chest at that tiny bit of information. It was stupid, but when Lena married Jason he felt like he'd lost her to him. It was comforting to discover that even when she was with him, he still remained in her heart.

  "Don't look so smu
g about it.” She swatted him playfully against the chest. “You know to this day Jason thinks my infatuation with you ruined our marriage."

  He snorted. “Tell him to get a clue. He was fool and he ruined your marriage all on his own, but I'm glad he did.” He chuckled, tightening his arms around her. He rested his chin on top of her head. “Can I tell you a secret?"

  "What you're not done?"

  He lifted his lips into a smile. “You know Michelle was always jealous of you. She was convinced we were having an affair. One day she accused me of being in love with you and when I didn't deny it, she freaked—"

  "That girl was always a little high strung."

  "I felt guilty because I knew I married her for all the wrong reasons. I hated that I used her—"

  Lena pulled back away from him to hold his gaze, her expression incredulous. “Did you ever look at your bank statements while you were married? Trust me, you didn't use that girl."

  A grin spread across his face. “You have a point there. But I'm done talking about Jason and Michelle. They're both in the past, right where they belong."

  She nodded and leaned back against him with a deep sigh. “Dylan?"

  "Hmmm,” he mumbled, stroking his hands through her soft hair.

  "Promise me you won't get mad again, but I still want to hear your terms for the bet. You said it was about me and I can't help it but I'm still curious."

  His hand stilled in her hair and he leaned back to stare down at her. “Are you sure?"

  When she nodded enthusiastically, he smiled. “Close your eyes and open your hand."

  She gave him a suspicious look, before she finally acquiesced.

  He reached inside his breast pocket and pulled out the object. He'd had it on him since yesterday. When she cancelled their plans he hadn't bothered to take it out, especially since he had no place to put it anyway until he got home.

  He placed the small item on her outstretched palm.

  "Open your eyes."

  "What!” Lena stared down at the princess cut pink diamond ring that sparkled from the black velvet box that sat in her open hand, not quite believing she heard Dylan correctly. Her gaze flew to his face.

  "Dylan, you cannot be serious."

  He grinned. “But I am."

  "Let me get this straight. Since I lost I now have to marry you. Those are your terms?"

  "Yep."

  She stared at him open-mouthed. “You're crazy,” she finally said. “Who does this? Dylan I wanted your bike—"

  He shrugged. “But I wanted you. You can't blame me for having high standards."

  She scowled at his choice of humour. “Okay, wise guy. You do know what this means? I've never reneged on a bet and I don't plan to start now."

  "So I guess we're getting married."

  She shook her head in disbelief. He was really serious. He'd said his terms concerned her, but she'd never imagined this. He was truly insane. She tried one last time to make him see reason.

  "What are we going to tell our children when they ask how we got engaged?"

  He snaked his arm around her waist and pulled her flush against him, his eyes twinkling with amusement. He was getting a kick out of this. “We'll just tell them the truth."

  "That mommy lost a sordid sex bet to daddy and that he was too much of a cad to let her off?"

  A frown crossed his face and he shook his head, his eyes still glowing with laughter. “No sweetheart, we don't have to be brutally honest. We'll just tell them we did it on a dare."

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  About the Author

  Nadia Aidan lives, works and writes on the West Coast in the United States. Under her real name, Nadia holds a PhD in Political Science and Public Policy and by day she works as an Assistant Professor. She is the self proclaimed NEW FACE OF INTERRACIAL AND MULTICULTURAL EROTIC ROMANCE and writes across all genres, from historical, to fantasy/sci-fi to contemporary.

  In addition to writing erotic romances Nadia enjoys reading other authors, playing flag football, studying muay thai, working out, listening to music, scuba diving, and target shooting. Her other interests include collecting Top Cow comics, especially Witchblade and Tomb Raider. She loves professional football and soccer. Her favorite teams are the Washington Redskins and Manchester United, respectively.

  Nadia loves watching, reading about, and writing about strong, assertive heroines which is why she is an enduring fan of Fight Girls, Xena, Buffy, American Gladiators—New and Old, and La Femme Nikita!

  Email: contactme@nadiaaidan.com

  Nadia loves to hear from readers. You can find her contact information, website and author biography at www.total-e-bound.com.

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