Chapter 4: Beach Dares and Stolen Glances

After moping around campus for a month, Mariah suggested we go out for a change of scenery.

We went to the beach—I love the ocean.

There were lots of people, including Carter.

Come to think of it, I hadn’t seen him since the museum trip.

We had a barbecue on the beach. Later, someone suggested playing Truth or Dare.

One bottle, and everyone was in.

Mariah volunteered to spin the bottle.

After a round, everyone loosened up and got wild.

Shouting, “I’m everyone’s favorite little cutie!”

Kissing the nearest guy.

Hugging a stranger.

Carrying the first guy on your right.

Everyone got excited.

Then the bottle pointed at me.

Mariah wanted to go easy on me, but someone else jumped in: make eye contact with a guy for a full minute.

Not hard, but… who to pick?

I looked around. My first instinct was to pick Carter, but he just sat there, not even looking up, so I chickened out.

Besides, we’d had a fight recently. We hadn’t talked in a while. Guess you could call it a cold war.

So, I pointed toward a senior I knew. Just as I was about to say his name, Carter suddenly stood up and walked over. “I’ll do it.”

“Ooooh—”

Everyone started teasing us.

Mariah winked at me.

Even before we started, my face was burning.

Ugh, this damn weather—it’s so hot.

When we started, Carter had to lean down a lot to meet my eyes. I tried to stand on tiptoe, but he pressed down on my shoulders. “Don’t.”

Then he bent down further.

Time passed slowly. I couldn’t hear the noise around me at all.

All I noticed was—

His eyelashes were so long.

His eyes were so bright.

His bangs seemed longer than before.

My mind was blank, just staring.

A minute felt like forever.

Suddenly, Carter smiled, his eyes full of joy.

I could even see the faint dimple on his cheek.

The sea breeze lifted his hair, and he just smiled at me out of nowhere.

I felt a strange panic, blinking and counting down the seconds.

Finally, Mariah called, “Time’s up!”

I relaxed and sat back down. Carter sat next to me.

I figured with so many people, it’d be ages before it was my turn again, so I planned to slack off.

But the next spin landed on Carter.

I watched him, ready for drama.

“Truth or dare?”

“Let’s keep it simple. Truth.”

“Who was your first wet dream about?”

Everyone whooped. “Playing that spicy, huh?”

Mariah shrugged. “Sorry, that’s what he drew.”

He muttered, “…Hard pass.”

After a three-second pause, he pleaded, “Can I switch to dare?”

Everyone agreed.

“Blow on the ear of the girl farthest from you for ten seconds.”

And the farthest girl was me.

The second I heard the dare, I tensed up, nearly in tears.

Who was being punished here, him or me?

Seriously.

“Okay?”

Carter asked me, “If you don’t want to, I’ll…”

He gritted his teeth. “I’ll just answer the question.”

“Is that okay?”

He saw my face, hesitated, then took it back.

I knew it.

Of course Carter wouldn’t be that nice. I shouldn’t have asked.

Whew.

The first time he blew, I instinctively clenched my fists.

It was… a lot.

Thankfully, ten seconds wasn’t that long. I survived.

After that, I watched the bottle like a hawk, praying it wouldn’t land on me—or Carter.

Whew.

After the barbecue, everyone started singing.

I found it too noisy and my mind was a mess, so I told Mariah I was heading out for a bit.

She told me not to go too far. I promised I wouldn’t.

I walked until I couldn’t see them anymore, then sat on the sand. The sea breeze cleared my head.

My hair blew in the wind. I sensed someone sit beside me.

It was Carter.

He handed me a drink. “Don’t catch a cold out here.”

I took it, popped the tab—psssht.

Carter sat next to me and smiled. “But even if you do, I don’t have a jacket to lend you.”

I took a sip and glanced at him. He was in shorts and a T-shirt. I had a tank top under my jacket. He was dressed lighter than me—he should be the one worried about catching cold.

“Don’t worry, I’m not that fragile.”

Carter just smiled.

We sat quietly, watching the sea, the waves, the moon, the sand.

Letting the night breeze wash over us.

It was peaceful and comfortable.

Just as I was about to doze off, Carter spoke. “Still mad at me?”

I rubbed my eyes, remembering our argument.

It wasn’t much of a fight. He’d scolded me over the phone for moping in bed all day, skipping classes and meals, and I ended up crying. He didn’t know I cried.

Then I blocked him.

“Did you really like him that much?”

In the long night, he sighed, “I’m just curious—what did you like about him?”

Maybe I was tired. I sprawled on the sand and muttered, “He’s good-looking. Isn’t that enough?”

“Be serious.”

“During orientation, I couldn’t get one move right. The instructor made me sit aside and think about it.”

“I sat on the steps, watching everyone else train. I don’t know if it was the sun or what, but I just started crying.”

That’s when Lucas Bradley came over. He held an umbrella for me, handed me a tissue, sat far away, didn’t say a word, just kept me company all morning.

My face was buried in my knees the whole time—I didn’t dare look up.

When he left, I peeked at him. That’s when I remembered his name.

Lucas Bradley.

“That’s it?”

“Yeah. The more I got to know him, the more I realized how great he was, even if he had no idea who I was. I just liked him—a lot.”

I mumbled.

I thought I heard the waves, and as I drifted off, I missed Carter’s soft reply: “If only I’d met you first.”