“Truth or dare, birthday baby?” Rick asked, flashing me one of his sexy-as-sin grins. Alas, he and I shared a preference for men. Not each other.
“Nope,” I said. “Not playing.”
“But I have the best dare for you,” Rick said, a wicked glint in his dark eyes. I’d been on the receiving end of his dares several times over and knew better than to accept.
“Nope,” I repeated. “My birthday, my rules.” That was a thing, right? Yeah, it should be. “I’m making it a thing.”
“What thing?” Amie asked, then shook her head, waving me off. “Ignore her, Ricky. She’ll play. You know she will. Our Claire Bear can’t deny a dare.”
“Oh my God.” I couldn’t believe we were even talking about this. “We’re twenty-one, guys, not sixteen.”
“Are you saying we’re too old for truth or dare?” Brittany sounded aghast. “I’m not too old for anything.”
“Oh, we know, B,” Rick said, patting her hand. “We know.”
“And what’s that supposed to mean?” she demanded, giving me a headache.
“You know what it means, baby girl.” He pretended to toss his nonexistent hair, the gelled spikes on his head not moving an inch.
“No, I don’t kn—”
“All right,” I cut in, not wanting to be in the middle of a banter-fest on my birthday night. “I choose dare.” Because it was the only way these two would shut the hell up. “What do you want me to do, Rick?”
“Him.” He pointed to a boy—no, a man—in a leather jacket at the bar.
My jaw actually dropped. “What?” He was so out of my league that we weren’t even playing in the same field. And I didn’t feel that way due to a lack of confidence. No, I considered myself pretty enough, a solid B on the charts. But that man was drop-dead gorgeous in a bad-boy-rocker kind of way. Strong shoulders, lean waist, gorgeous white-blond hair.
I drew my thumb against my lower lip. Yeah, he was the kind of male women dreamed about, the type who could wreck some lady parts in the bedroom. Or, at least, that was what his confident exterior exuded.
As if he sensed my perusal, he glanced my way, causing me to duck my head.
“Yeah, him,” Rick said, a grin in his voice. “He’s been checking you out all night, Claire baby. You need to go lay one on him. That’s my dare.”
“You want me to kiss him?” I couldn’t help the squeak in my voice. “At the bar?”
“Wouldn’t be your first time,” he pointed out. “What was the guy’s name? Justin? Jack?”
“Jeremy,” Amie supplied.
Rick snapped his fingers. “Jeremy. That’s it. You had no problem sucking his tongue right out of his mouth. I want to see you do that to our gorgeous dude over there. Mainly because I wa
nt deets. I’m betting he’s the dominant type, the kind who takes charge of the kiss and teaches your mouth a good lesson or two.”
“Oh God.” My face was on fire, my head already shaking back and forth. “Give me a truth instead.”
“Nah, this is a good dare.” He took a swig of his beer and relaxed into the booth, his free arm going across the back over Brittany’s slender shoulders. “I dare you to kiss the blond bad boy. And then report back.”
“If you don’t do it, I will,” Amie cut in, my bestie’s eyes taking on an adoring gleam as she studied the bar. “He’s hot.”
Rick snorted. “I love you, A, I do, but the only one at this table with a shot is our Claire Bear. He’s had a hard-on for her all night. Trust me. I’ve been watching.”
“Really?” I asked, suddenly feeling far too sober. “He’s noticed me?”
“Oh, yeah, constantly.” Another sip. “Seriously, go over there and say hi. See what happens. It’s not like you’re dating anyone, C.”
I pressed my clammy palms to my exposed thighs, my skirt feeling a bit too short for comfort. The man had returned to his drink, his broad back to me again. Even from behind, the guy oozed sex appeal. Amie was right. He was definitely hot with a capital H. “I don’t know,” I said. “I need another drink or five for that.”
The hoop through Rick’s brown brow glistened as he arched it. “Since when is this sort of dare an issue for you?”