“You can start,” he says casually, as if there aren’t any ulterior motives at play.
And maybe there aren’t.
Maybe I’m paranoid.
It’s a game, I remind myself.
No biggie.
The sooner I get this over with, the quicker he’ll get bored and take off. I need to stay focused on that.
“Truth or dare?” Tiny ripples lap at my shoulders as a warm breeze wafts over my exposed skin.
“Truth.”
I search my brain for an interesting question, but nothing comes to mind. “What’s your favorite thing to do?”
He pretends to yawn, looking completely bored. “That’s easy.”
If he says sex, I’m out of here.
“Football.”
Everything inside me relaxes. That answer isn’t exactly a shocker. Ever since Beck could walk, he’s been tossing around a football with his brother. He started out with flag football before moving on to Pop Warner youth leagues. By the time he hit middle school, Beck was a star on the football field with a cannon for an arm. In ninth grade, he skipped playing freshman or JV and went straight to varsity as first-string quarterback. In college, he’s broken state records in total career passing yards, passing touchdowns, and total pass completions.
I blink back to the present when he asks, “Is that it?”
I jerk my head into a nod.
“All right, guess it’s my turn,” he says lazily, eyes turning flinty. “Truth or dare?”
That’s a no-brainer. If I choose a dare, Beck will come up with something to humiliate me with. I know how his mind works and I refuse to fall for any of his sly trickery.
“Truth.”
I expect a surface level question like the one I asked, but that’s not what I get.
“How many guys have you slept with?”
My heart stutters before beating into overdrive. “What?”
He enunciates the words as if I’m hard of hearing. “How. Many. Guys. Have. You. Slept. With?”
“I’m not going to answer that!” I sputter. “It’s none of your damn business!”
“You have to.” He shrugs as if this isn’t a stupid game he talked me into playing. “I’ve already answered your question, now it’s your turn to answer mine. Fair is fair.”
Heat floods my face. “I didn’t ask something so personal.”
“You could have asked me anything you wanted, and I would have answered truthfully. But you didn’t, and that was your choice.”
I glare, hoping he’ll laugh and tell me to forget it, but he remains silent.
“Tick tock, Mia. Answer the question.” His voice drops. “Are you worried I’ll tell people all your deep dark secrets?” He shakes his head. “I won’t. Anything you share stays between us.”
That’s not the point. I don’t give a rip if he cries it from the rooftops. What I don’t want him to find out is that—
“Answer the question,” he prods. “It’s not that difficult.”
I press my lips together.
“Mia—”
“One!” I groan as humiliation floods through me. “You’re the only person I’ve slept with. Okay? Just you.”
Ugh!
His eyes darken to a deeper shade of green as he treads water. “What happened with Arron?”
I glance away and jerk my shoulders, unwilling to reveal the real reason our relationship fizzled out. “I don’t know. Got busy with school.”
He cocks his head. “And there’s been no one else since?”
“You asked your one question,” I snap, face flaming with embarrassment. “You won’t get anything more from me.”
“Fair enough, your turn.”
Wait a minute…that’s it? He’s actually going to drop the topic of my limited sexual experience?
I’m as shocked as I am relieved.
“Can we end this stupid game?” I ask with a glare.
He shakes his head. “Not yet, we just started.”
I huff out an exasperated breath and grunt out the question. “Truth or dare?”
“Dare.”
I glance around the yard. “All right, I dare you to do a backwards flip off the diving board.”
Added bonus—it’ll get him away from me, so I have some much-needed breathing room to collect my scattered thoughts.
Beck is a lot to take in.
He glances at the blue springboard before flicking his attention to me. “That’s your dare? You want me to flip off the board?”
“Yup, that’s it.” Goose bumps prickle along my arms as I grow uneasy under the steady intensity of his stare. “After this, I’m going home.” Where I can avoid Beck for the rest of my life. Clearly this idea has backfired on me. Sadly, I’m no closer to getting over him than I was in high school.
“You can quit after your next turn,” he informs me with a smirk.
Grrrrr.
“Fine.” I stab a finger at the board. “Do your flip so we can get this stupid game over with.”
“You got it, sweetheart.” His powerful arms cut through the water as he swims toward the side of the pool. When he reaches the ceramic tile edge, Beck hoists himself out of the water. His muscles ripple and my mouth dries.
No one should be this devastatingly handsome.
It defies the laws of nature.
For now, I’ll silently enjoy the show and pretend heat isn’t pulsing to life in my core. Rivulets of water run down his back before continuing to his naked ass.