Page 10 of The Dare

“Oh, dahhhling… Kiss me! Make me yours!” I gasp, pretending she’s the man of my dreams, making my mom lose her it with laughter with both of us clowning around.

After some more girlish cackling and plenty of side comments about the ratio of girls to men on this train, it’s really time to go.

Suze grabs me, and practically drags me out of my seat.

“I’m coming, I’mcoming,” I say, yanking the sleeve of my cardigan back.

I’m already regretting this.

Suzanna knows how shy I am around other people, and I have no idea what she’s got planned with some random guy either.

I don’t like it, but at the same time, I’ve never felt so thrilled by anything in a long time either.

My life for the past few years hasn’t exactly been an adventure.

We both move from the lounge through an empty sleeper carriage, all the way up near the front of the train into first class.

Technically we shouldn’t be up here, but with so few people about it doesn’t seem to matter.

And by the time we get near his suite, I can tell this guy’s the only one traveling first class.

Suze’s grip on me returns.

She knows me too well, and I’m already dragging my heels as we get closer to what I know must be his suite.

I can smell a faint, very masculine high-end cologne.

It’s deep and rich, but not overdone.

It smells like nature, like a man who knows what he wants, and it gives me a feeling inside that I know I could never deal with on my own.

Wow.

I’m in love with this guy and we haven’t even—

Suze’s rushed on up ahead, urging me with a silent but flapping hand to come see as she suddenly slows and starts to creep up to the only open doorway along the wide passage.

With double sleepers as individual suites, the whole of first class seems roomier, even though the train’s still the same width as economy.

I wonder what it feels like to travel, first class, anything… even a train.

Looks pretty comfy to me, but I don’t have much time to soak in the atmosphere.

Suze is looking like she’ll burst if I don’t join her.

I feel myself growing cold. My mouth is like a sandpit and I feel a tremor shudder through me.

I can’t do this.

It’s too much.

Unable to convey it to Suzanna, it’s not just my nerves that have me suddenly out of whack.

It’s something else, something I can’t put into words even in my own mind.

It feels like if I see this man. If I go along with Suze’s stupid dare, my whole life will change, or something unstoppable will be set into motion.

It doesn’t just frighten me, it scares the shit out of me. Almost like I’ve lived this moment before or know what’s going to happen next.