Truth or Dare: A Sweet Romantic Comedy Collection by Laura Burton (free ebook reader for ipad txt) 📗

You’ve got one hour to post a sizzling makeout video online. Forfeit the dare and suffer the consequences – M.

Cameron

They say ‘time flies when you’re having fun’, but how did we get here so fast? We have less than an hour before our deadline.

I thought this dare would be simple.

Set up the camera. Make out with my best friend. Upload to the internet, and done.

I also thought that kissing Holly would help remind me that what we have is completely platonic. That our kisses would be like most of the others I'd done onstage; sterile, mechanical.

But the more I think about it, the hungrier I am to take Holly in my arms and kiss her until we both run out of breath. Maybe even longer, if that’s possible.

“I’m gonna go clean up,” Holly says. I clear up the empty containers from the coffee table and prop my phone up on a stack of books.

Holly returns just as I’ve completed setting up the scene.

“You opened the curtains?” she asks, with her perfectly shaped brows arched. I take a moment to admire the soft waves of her golden hair falling past her shoulders. I love the way her hair reflects the light and the delicate way her chest rises and falls with every breath.

“Oh.” I stop my staring and turn to look at the dark window instead. “You can see the city lights. I thought that would make a great backdrop.”

I look back just in time to catch Holly’s eyes roll. She doesn’t need to speak; I know what she’s thinking.

Typical Cameron, always gotta have the perfect stage.

I hold out my hand and gesture for her to come over. Her nose wrinkles as she giggles and joins me on the couch. Then she glances at my phone leaning against the pile of books and throws her head back with a laugh.

“That looks so professional,” she teases, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

“Do you have a tripod?” I ask. Holly shakes her head.

“I should have asked Michelle to leave hers.”

She slides onto the couch next to me and her thigh brushes against mine. The light touch obliterates any concerns about the camera set up and ignites a fire in my chest.

“So… How long are we going to do this? We never worked out what qualifies a makeout?”

I shake my head at Holly’s over-thinking. “I tell you what, whenever you feel like stopping, stop,” I say. I'm trying to sound confident but there’s a slight tremor in my voice. Holly appears not to notice though, and her stare turns vacant.

“I don’t think I’ll ever want to stop kissing you,” she says. Her words are as soft as a summer breeze, but they land on my ears like a hurricane.

“Neither do I,” I blurt, my face burning as I grin at her. Holly looks at me like the President just declared world peace. “Are you for real?” She grasps my hands and bounces on the couch with a squeal.

“What does this mean? We’ve been best friends for… Well, you know, ages,” Holly says, her eyes misty.

“Well, yeah…” I reply. Right now, the blood has drained from my head and I can't find words to form a sentence.

“Okay, let’s get this over with, and then we need to talk,” Holly says. She lets go of my hands to look at my phone, and I feel like a vacuum has sucked all of the oxygen from my body. Suddenly it seems as though holding Holly’s hands is my only form of life support.

“Right, there’s loads of battery power, I’m pressing record in 3…2…1.” Holly returns to the couch and I grasp her hands like I’m drowning and she’s a lifejacket.

She stops smiling at the urgency of the move, or maybe it’s the intense look in my eyes that throws her off guard?

She probably thinks I’m worried about finishing the dare in time. But I don’t care about what Michelle will try to make us do if we’re unsuccessful.

I care about Holly. I want to show her that she’s my favorite person in the entire world.

Holly’s cheeks dimple and grow pink as we edge closer. She sneaks a glance at my phone, but we could be live on TV with the whole world watching us and it wouldn't matter to me.

I reach for the back of her neck and graze my thumb over her cheekbone to stop her from turning to the phone again.

I lean in to her ear and whisper, “Stop thinking.”

Holly nods a little. I weave my fingers through her hair and pull her in to me.

It feels like I have wanted to kiss Holly, and I mean really kiss her, for so long, I can’t remember not wanting to.

Flashbacks cross my mind. Some of them are fantasy. Some of them are real. Seeing her giggling with her friends on the field.

Slow dancing with Ben Knowles at our prom; her hair swept up, the elegant curve of her neck visible.

The summer she introduced me to Matt, her boyfriend from college. I wanted to send that guy off to the moon for just holding her hand.

A moan brings me out of my thoughts. I’m not sure if it’s from me or Holly.

But then she bites gently on my bottom lip, and we moan together. Her gorgeous floral scent washes over my soul, and I bask in it, caressing her shoulder.

We break apart to catch our breath. I cradle her face and nuzzle her nose with mine, pecking her on the cheek.

Recovered, Holly reclaims my lips with hers. We keep it sweet and tender, savoring this moment. Every brush of our lips, or tickle of her minty breath on my cheeks, makes my heart swell.

Michelle designed this dare to be scandalous.

But nothing about it feels wrong.

At work, I’m Mr. James, the drama teacher. To my parents, I’m the two-year-old boy who was obsessed with The Hulk.

But with Holly, I’m just me. All of me. I'm the good, the bad… and everything in-between.

I wrap my arms around her waist, never wanting