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“Of course he did,” mumbles Ryan. He keeps his arm around my shoulder and leads me back into the pasture.
Logan stands beside Chris and wears a crazy grin on his face. “Do you still have those bungee cords in your Jeep?”
“Yes,” Ryan answers hesitantly.
An excited gleam that frightens even me sparkles in Logan’s eyes. “Great. Let’s go. ”
Chris and Logan head toward the parked cars. I nudge Ryan when he stays still. “Go. ”
He traces circles on my arm. “It’ll only be a few minutes. ”
“It doesn’t bother me if you want to hang with your friends. ”
The sincerity swims in his eyes. “But I’m leaving you alone. ”
“Not sure if you noticed, but sometimes I prefer to be alone. ”
Ryan flips his hat back around, leans down, and his kiss warms areas that sweatshirts can’t touch. The second his lips leave mine, he pulls his baseball cap off and places it on top of my head. He laughs as the bill falls forward and covers my face. Not wanting him to take it back, I spin it and wear it backward. “You have a big head. ”
“Naw,” he says. “You’re just small. ”
With pride, I watch Ryan stride across the pasture. He’s a natural athlete with his broad shoulders and strong arms. My heart dances.
For the next ten days—he’s mine.
“I can’t believe you let Ryan put that hat on your head. He sweats in it. ” Gwen emerges from the darkness and I immediately think of my fear of demons waiting in the shadows, ready to grab me in the dead of night.
“It doesn’t bother me. ”
“If I was you I’d want to hide my hair too,” she says, standing unusually close to me.
I’m going soft if she thinks she’s safe speaking to me that way. Allison would love this chick. They share the same awful taste in clothes. “I remember pushing you to the ground and making you cry in elementary school for fucking with Lacy. ”
“I remember you wearing the same damn dress with holes and those pathetic ribbons. ”
She stares at my wrist, then at my jeans. “I see your tastes haven’t changed. ”
“No,” I say. “But Ryan’s have. ”
Her face reddens and I smile. Damn, I really enjoy being me. I give her credit—Gwen quickly rejoins the game. “Look, I’m trying to be helpful. Rumor at school says Ryan is only with you over a dare. Ryan and his friends take dares very seriously and he’d string you along in order to win. Don’t get me wrong, he’s a good guy, but he’s a guy, you know? I would hate to see you take a fall once the dare’s complete. ”
My entire body tenses. It’s the truth. He did ask me out on a dare, but I’m not a dare anymore. I’m not. “Wow, Gwen. Thanks for your concern. Is this where you ask me to braid your hair and then we’ll giggle about getting to first base with a boy?”
Gwen twines her golden ha
ir around a finger. I should bring her over to Scott as Exhibit B for why I hate blondes. “I’m trying to be your friend, Beth. ”
“If you wanted to be my friend, you wouldn’t have tried to slip your tongue in Ryan’s mouth last Tuesday when you cornered him after baseball practice. ”
Blood drains from her face and I darkly chuckle to rub in her embarrassment. She didn’t think he would tell me. “Do I sound like a dare now?”
“Why haven’t you dropped out of the homecoming court yet? They’re going to take yearbook pictures next week, so this would be the time to leave. ”
“I’m not dropping out. ” I’ll be leaving soon, but I won’t drop out. Ryan wowed me and I lost the dare. I have ten days to keep my word to him.
Gwen eyes me coolly. “I thought you didn’t want the nomination. ”
I shrug. “I changed my mind. ”
