Triple Dare

“Come on, Ivy.” He had no idea why, but he felt an instant, overwhelming desire for her to agree, as though some stupid dare would bring them closer together again. And why did he care about that anyway? She’d be out of town faster than a flashover as soon as her dad was on his feet again. It would be safer for both of them if he just kept his distance. So why couldn’t he? “For old times’ sake.”

“No way. I’m not a kid anymore. I’m a professional, with a reputation to uphold.”

“I promise it won’t be anything illegal.”

“Yeah, right.” She dragged the toe of her sneaker through the grass.

“Or harmful.”

“Says the guy who made me drink an entire jar of pickle juice.” Ivy grimaced. “And then eat all the salt at the bottom of the pretzel bag.”

Yeah, Cade remembered that one. She’d puked her guts out. For hours. He’d felt terrible about it, not that he’d let her know. “Give me a break. I was thirteen.”

“Which only means you’ve had seventeen years since then to come up with something even more diabolical.”

Any snarky response Cade could have come up with was preempted by his cell phone ringing. He pulled it out of his pants pocket, knowing—and dreading—what was coming.

“Shit.” He pressed Reject, turned the damn thing off and stowed it back in his pocket.

“What’s wrong?” Gabe crossed to a pile of wood on the opposite side of the fire pit, picked up a log and tossed it into the flames, making sparks fly into the cool night air. “Your mother after you again?”

“Nah.” Cade glanced at Ivy, wishing he didn’t have to air his dirty laundry in front of her. He drained his beer, then opened the cooler next to his chair, dropped in the empty and pulled out a fresh bottle. “Sasha. She keeps texting and calling. Even showed up at the station this afternoon bearing brownies.”

He grabbed another beer from the cooler and held it out to Gabe.

Gabe took it and returned to his seat. “The guys must’ve loved that.”

Yeah. They’d never let Cade live it down. They were already calling him Brownie Boy.

“Can I have one of those?” Ivy pointed to the cooler. “And who’s Sasha?”

“Cade’s girlfriend.”

“Ex-girlfriend,” Cade amended, opening a bottle and handing it to her. Their fingers brushed and he felt a flicker of something electric pass between them. “As of two weeks ago.”

His date with Sasha the night of the photo shoot had been their last. Not that the session had anything to do with their breakup. It was pure coincidence he’d picked that night to call it quits.

Wasn’t it?

“Do I know her?” Ivy wrinkled her nose. “I don’t remember a Sasha from high school.”

“She’s a few years younger than us.”

“That’s an understatement.” Gabe snorted. “She’s barely legal.”

“She’s twenty-one,” Cade said through clenched teeth. “Almost twenty-two.”

“Let me guess.” Ivy swung her legs sideways over one arm of her chair and took a slug of beer. “The checkout girl with the—”

“Never mind.” Cade cut her off with a glare. “That’s not important. What is important is no matter what I say, she won’t leave me alone.”

“There’s your problem.” Gabe, always the analytical one, rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “You know the old saying about actions speaking louder than words.”

“Sure.” Cade popped the top of his beer and took a long, slow sip. “But what’s that got to do with Sasha?”

Gabe crossed one Sperry-clad foot over his knee. “You need to show her you mean business, not just tell her.”

“Show her how?”

“By dating someone else.”

“Like who?”

“I don’t know.” Gabe lifted a shoulder. “You’re the local ladies’ man. You tell me.”

“Yeah, well, that’s the problem.” Cade picked at the label on his beer bottle. “Stockton’s not all that big. I’ve sort of exhausted the dating pool.”

“Hello.” Ivy waggled her fingers at him. “Available female here.”

“Huh?” Cade couldn’t have heard her right. She did not just offer herself up to him like a virgin sacrifice.

“I volunteer as tribute.”

She did.

He continued to stare at her, not sure how to respond. Gabe, on the other hand, had no such problem. He burst into hysterical laughter.

“What’s so funny?” Ivy pressed her lips into a thin line.

“You?” Gabe choked out between laughs. “And Cade? You might as well be brother and sister.”

Only Cade didn’t think of her that way, not anymore. And that was exactly why he didn’t want to go out with her. Couldn’t go out with her.

“Look, Ivy, I appreciate the offer but...”

“But what?” She crossed and uncrossed her legs over the arm of the chair, giving him a tantalizing glimpse of creamy flesh under the hem of her shorts. “Are you chicken? Afraid you’ll succumb to my many charms?”

“Not exactly.” Liar.

“Hang on.” Gabe grinned over the lip of his beer bottle, his laughter finally contained. “The more I think about it, it’s actually pretty perfect. You don’t have to really go out. Just show up somewhere Sasha will be and pretend you’re a couple. That should be enough to get her to back off.”

Great. Pretend dating. Being together and not at the same time. “I don’t know...”

“Come on, man.” Gabe’s grin widened. “What have you got to lose?”

His mind. His heart. The only family he’d ever known if things got serious and then they crashed and burned.

“Tell you what.” Ivy’s tone softened. “Consider it my way of satisfying the dare.”