The Dare

"We're here!" Grandma shouted as if we were at the World Cup.

"Yay." Beth pumped her fist into the air and gave me a tired smile.

Poor girl. She was probably just as tired as I was. It wasn't as if that flight had been something made out of dreams. It had been hell, hell on earth. And it truly had made me question my desire to procreate.

"I'm so hungry I almost ate the three-week-old candy I found at the bottom of my purse," Beth murmured so only I could hear her.

"What? No sharing?"

"It had fur on it." Beth sighed. "Fifty-fifty chance I would have died from some sort of fungus poising."

"More science." I sighed. "Hot."

"Fungus. Always hot."

"Where's the damn boat?" Grandma put her hands on her hips and stomped down the dock, while I closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose.

Grandma yelled obscenities into the night sky, but I wasn't paying attention, because Beth had somehow managed to lean against my shoulder, and my shoulder had decided in those brief seconds that it liked being leaned on. So I stayed, paralyzed by her touch, debating whether or not I should put my arm around her or just stand there like a limp idiot.

"You kids stay here. This is just…" Grandma didn't finish; instead she continued yelling and walked off down the beach, cell phone in hand.

Beth didn't move. Instead, she leaned further against me while I closed my eyes and let the smell of the islands permeate my senses. The air was thick with the humidity of flowers. For the first time in two years, I felt semi-relaxed.

That is until a horn sounded in the distance.

I blinked a few times as a boat. Scratch that, it was more like a freaking yacht. Of course, when dealing with Grandma Nadine what else could I expect? The woman didn't do small, in any capacity, so if the Titanic suddenly rose from it's watery grave and made it's way across the ocean to our destination, yeah, I wouldn't even blink. A the yacht got closer it was harder and harder not to look away. I'd always had a thing for them and this one was beautiful. Stark white with its lights reflecting off the water. I could retire on it and live comfortably for the rest of my life. The side said Titus Enterprises, maybe we were having di

"I think that's our ride," I whispered in Beth's hair, shamelessly allowing myself a few deep breaths.

"Hmm..." she answered and started walking down the dock.

I blindly followed, Hypnotized by the sway of her hips as she made her way down toward the water.

The captain helped her into the boat. She was tired, but I was at least still functioning.

"Where are you going?" I asked.

"Are you Jace Brevik?"

"Yes?"

"And Beth Ly

"Yeah…"

"Great!" He clapped his hands together. "I'm your captain. Your grandmother is going to follow in the next boat. She said something about needing to use the restroom again, so I was given the go-ahead to drop you kids off so you can eat."

"Food." I grunted. "Fine, how far away is it?"

The captain gave me a fu

"Alcohol." I nodded. "Score."

"Right, because that hasn't caused us any problems in the last twenty-four hours," Beth joked sleepily.

Ignoring her, I grabbed two paper cups and went to the little mini-bar at the back of the boat. Filling both cups to the rim with the pink juice, I grabbed a bag of Maui Chips to share with Beth and returned to where she was sitting.

"Eat." I handed her the chips.

"Food!" She snatched the chips from my hands and opened them.

"You respond like this to all types of food, or is it just junkfood, like chips and cookies?" I laughed.

Beth closed her eyes and slowly placed a chip on her tongue then closed her mouth and started chewing. Who the hell ate chips like that?

"All food," she said, still chewing. "I love salt."

Well, that explained the weird chip placement. She reached for another chip and did it again. I swore and looked away. What the hell was my problem?

I lifted the rum punch to my lips and took a sip. The liquid was cold and sweet, but not too sweet. It had a hint of ginger and basically tasted like heaven after that flight.

"It's pretty." Beth sighed, drinking her punch.

"What is?"

"The sky. The hotels. The water." Beth pointed to the shoreline as all the hotels of Waikiki Beach lit up the dusk night sky. "I've only been here once. I promised myself I'd come back after graduation, but then I got a job, and you know how that goes. Ten years later you wonder why you haven't ever taken a vacation."

I snorted. "Know what that's like."

"Anyway." Beth cleared her throat., "I've been thinking."

"That can get you into trouble."

"I know." She played with the half-empty cup in her hands, twirling it around a few times before leaning back against her seat. "I know this situation isn't ideal. I know you have a lot going on. But, I think this is what I needed. A vacation. To get away for a bit. I'm just sorry that you got drug into it."

I threw my head back and laughed. "Honey, it was my own damn fault. I actually said yes to Grandma." Shrugging, I continued. "I was, uh, supposed to hit on your sister and get her to like me. There was a certain wager going on between Grandma, Kacey, and Travis. They wanted someone good for Char, and Grandma wanted to win the wager. Clearly, Grandma succeeded. Jake and Char seem happy."

"So you are still a white knight, sweeping in just in time to save the day." Beth sighed.

I, in turn, panicked. "What do you mean? White knight?"

"I remember." She broke a chip in her hand and popped it in her mouth. "Senior year. You were at prom with your cousin."

My palms got sweaty all over again as I rubbed them on my pants and waited for what was next.

"You swept in and danced with me when I was pouting all by myself."

I laughed. "Believe me when I say, there was nothing white-knightish about your rescue."

Her face fell. "What do you mean?"

"Truth?"

She nodded. "I thought you were really hot."

The sound of Beth's laughter filling the crisp night air may as well have been a damn explosion inside my chest — I would have been happy to listen to her laugh all night.

"Thanks." She smiled. "That made my night."

"That's a shame." The word were out of my mouth before I could stop them. "Because as far as compliments go, it was pretty shitty. I hope that you've been told that you're more than hot. I hope guys use the big words with you. You're a big words type of girl."

Beth's smile tightened; she shrugged and looked away. "Char says Jake gives good compliments. It's sweet."

With a frown, I set down the cup. "You don't seem convinced that it's sweet at all. If anything, your entire body just slumped further into your chair, and your shoulders fell forward. Don't you like Jake?" Personally I thought he was a spoiled ass, but he was working on it, and I respected him for that.

"It's not that."

Beth shook her head and stared down at the damn cup in her hands. Irritated, I grabbed the cup, forcing her to look up.