“Jozy, I’m really sorry.” Maddie touched my shoulder. I couldn’t look at her. I didn’t want her to see the tears. “Do you really believe in love at first sight, or is it just the Valentine’s Day atmosphere?”
“You didn’t see his eyes,” I mumbled, trying not to remember his eyes, his touch, his scent. “He is such a nice guy. Everything that Jasmine wanted to do, he had planned. His Valentine’s plans for her were so selfless. He wanted her to have a special day and I ruined it for him.”
“No you didn’t.” Maddie was good at trying to make me feel better, but it wasn’t working.
“Yes I did. What if Jasmine was waiting for him like they had planned? What if Jasmine is the girl of his dreams and he’s the guy of hers?”
“We can ‘what if’ things all night long, but it won’t change what really happened.” She was right. “I should’ve never dared you.”
“No you shouldn’t have.” I tilted my head towards her. “The funny thing is, he never wished me a Happy Valentine’s Day.”
It made me wonder that if in the back of his mind he knew I wasn’t really Jasmine, but wanted me to be her.
“Happy Valentine’s.” Maddie held a box of chocolates up with the one-hundred dollar bill in the air. “You deserve this, and more.”
“I don’t want it.” I shook my head. My hair was curlier than ever from when I had thrown off my mask when I was on the slope in pain. “Well, maybe a couple of chocolates.”
Maddie grinned, and ripped open the box. We stuffed our mouths with two each.
“I might deserve most of the money from your goofy dares, but not this one. He was worth the pain and suffering. And I can’t say I regret taking that dare.” I stuffed my mouth with a caramel one this time.
“Am I really?” Benjamin walked through the hospital door with a bundle of red roses and get well balloons. Abraham was right behind him.
“Benjamin?” I ran my fingers through my curls trying to make somewhat of a decent appearance, and wiped my mouth free of any leftover chocolate.
“Yea, yea.” Abraham, following Benjamin through the door and smacked him on the back. “I found this guy bellied up to the bar at Brew Ha Ha when I got to work. He told me all about this little gal who sounded vaguely familiar. It sounded like Maddie had her hands all over it.”
“Let me explain.” Maddie put her hands in the air. “Jozy always takes one for the team. She never puts herself first, and I knew she needed to get out and have fun.”
“No, let me explain.” I fluffed up a few pillows behind me.
“First, I need to tell you something,” Benjamin bent down and whispered in my ear, sending chills all over my body, “Jozy, Happy Valentine’s Day.”
“I’m so sorry.” A tear fell down my cheek, leaving a hot trail. Benjamin brushed it away with his soft hand. “I never meant for it to get. . .”
“Shh… His warm lips caressed the side of my face. “If it hadn’t, then I wouldn’t have fallen in love with Jozy. I knew there was something wrong, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. Jasmine wasn’t for me or I wouldn’t have fallen for you the first moment I laid eyes on you.”
“What?” Now I was confused and felt like he was playing me.
“I was supposed to wait for Jasmine outside of the Brew Ha Ha.” He ran his hands through his hair. “But I saw you walk in and somewhat hoped you were Jasmine. So I went inside to wait. Then Maddie said your name was Jasmine and I wanted it to be. I felt like it was fate.”
“But what about Jasmine?” It didn’t seem right for him to stand her up.
“When I went back to my room tonight, I went to my profile on Date.com to delete it. She had left me a message saying she got cold feet and she wasn’t really the girl that she had been pretending to be and she was sorry.” He chuckled. “Sound familiar?”
“So you aren’t mad at me?” I waited anxiously for his reply.
“Mad?” There was relief in his voice. “No. I was hurt that you felt like you couldn’t be honest, but relieved when I knew that you were the one I was meant to meet.”
A moan of ecstasy escaped from me as his lips recaptured mine, more demanding this time.
“Are you happy?” he asked. A twinkle of moonlight coming through the window caught his eyes as he looked at me.
“Yes,” I gasped, fighting back the tears of joy.
I was blissfully happy, joyfully more alive than I had ever been, and it was all because of a dare.
A Note From The Author
Thank you so much for reading my novel. I’m truly grateful for the time we have spent together. Reviews are very important to an author’s career and I would appreciate it if you could take a couple minutes of your time by clicking on the click below and leaving a review for my novel. Thank you so much, and I hope we continue to meet in the world of books. ~Tonya Kappes
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About The Author
International bestselling author Tonya Kappes spends her day lost in the world of her quirky characters that get into even quirkier situations.
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The Dare Me Date (A Small Town Romance Short Story Series) Page 3