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And just—ouch. He’s so hot it’s physically painful. He’s got that broad linebacker’s chest, sculpted and strong. I squeeze my thighs a little tighter to relieve the pulsing pressure and turn my attention to shuffling cards instead.
“Uh—yep. That’ll do.”
Donovan gives me a look. He doesn’t have to say anything—we speak without words, and right now, he’s saying, You’re shameless, Kenzi.
Yeah, yeah. I know. But I’m eighteen and a virgin, and this is as close as a soft-bellied, splotchy-faced girl like me is going to get to the sun, so he can put up with it for a night.
We go another round, but this time, my luck has turned. I grumble as I turn over my cards—a high seven—and Donovan bursts into laughter.
“Your tell is so bad!” he says.
I scoff. “What tell?”
“You touch your earlobe,” he says and then does it, rubbing his ear between his thumb and finger. “Every time you lie.”
“Ugh. You two suck.” Which is about when I realize I’m out of clothes to take off. All I have are my panties.
“You don’t have to take them off,” Donovan says, reading my mind. I hear the concern in his voice—he doesn’t want me to feel pressured to strip in front of them.
And this is one of those decisions, right?
Go the safe route. The predictable route. End the game, go home to Pearl and Four, and eventually leave Hannsett Island completely. Maybe forever, if Pearl and Four get divorced before summer comes back around, which is a high probability.
And even if they don’t? Jason is going to college. Donovan and his ship are going who knows where. I may never see them again.
I make a decision. I shrug, playing it cool. “Rules are rules.”
Then I remove the blanket, stand from the bench, and move my hands to the band of my panties.
“Wait,” Jason says. Then he crooks his finger. “Come here. A woman should never have to take off her own panties.”
I’m surprised by my own brazenness as I stride forward and stand in front of him. Jason looks up at me, and…something shifts in those blue eyes. He looks like he wants to devour me. His hands slip up my legs, and he hooks two fingers underneath the sides of my panties. He doesn’t pull them down right away, though—instead, with his eyes still locked on mine, he gently kisses my thigh.
“Is this okay?” he asks.
My throat is so dry with want, I almost don’t have the ability to conjure up words. Then an idea possesses me. I rake my fingers through his soft black hair.
“Truth or dare?” I ask.
He smiles. “Dare.”
“I dare you to take them off…without ever looking away from my eyes.”
His eyes sharpen at the challenge. “Can do.”
Jason slowly rolls my panties down my legs. I should feel shy, but I don’t.
I feel like—maybe for the first time—I’m completely in control.
Especially because those brilliant blue eyes don’t leave mine, not for a second. Not even when I’m completely naked in front of him.
“Truth or dare, Trouble?” he asks me.
“Truth.”
“How badly do you want to kiss me right now?”
Now my cheeks get hot. This is what being exposed feels like. “Um…badly.”
