Kiss My Sass [Books 1 & 2]

[book 2] chapter twenty-two: truth or dare

WE CONTINUED PLAYING truth or dare as we waited for the power to return. Some notable dares included sending Niko off in the middle of the storm to get us pizza, Leila drinking a surprise concoction created by Brenton using only ingredients in his mini-fridge, and me doing a headstand until my next turn.

"James hasn't been picked on yet," Niko pointed out after Vanessa had finished her dare of chugging a two-litre bottle of diet coke in ten seconds. James, who was currently massaging my head which was sore from the headstand, stopped and looked at everyone in surprise.

"Truth or dare?" Holden asked him.

"Truth. I don't do dares," he answered.

"Come on, doc, don't be a wuss," Holden taunted.

I sat up straight when I felt James tense up and I looked between them. Behind the teasing, there was quite some tension between these two. "Dare," he said in a low voice.

Holden pretended to think of a dare. "I dare you to kiss Leila."

Everyone looked at him in disbelief. Of all dares that was what he came up with?

"Come on, I think we've had enough kissing for one day," Niko said in an attempt to mitigate the situation.

"I don't have to," James told me, but when all eyes were on me I didn't want to seem like the overprotective and jealous girlfriend, so I shook my head. Hell, Brenton didn't make a scene about Holden and Amber so I shouldn't either.

"Go for it, it's just a dare," I said.

James shot me a wary look but he slowly walked over to Leila and kneeled in front of her. He gave her a peck so fast I nearly missed it when I blinked.

"Come on, that's hardly a kiss," Holden criticized. "Even Amber got more action from Vanessa."

James turned to look at me, awaiting my instructions. "It's just a dare," I repeated.

He faced Leila and leaned in slowly to kiss her. She instantly wrapped her arms around him, running her fingers through his hair as she kissed him back. My focus zeroed in on them as I watched them kiss, my eyes bulging when I saw her mouth open wider. Was she using her tongue? The dare was supposed to be just a kiss. And why was James still kissing her? They did the dare, they should have been done by now. After the agonizingly long kiss, they finally pulled apart, both of them breathing hard. After seeing that kiss it was impossible for me to believe James only saw her as a friend. No one kissed their friend like that.

James returned and flopped on top of his beanbag chair, acting as nothing had happened. When he saw me staring he chuckled and poked my nose. "Your face is all red. You look like a little tomato." I didn't know whether to feel better or worse that the effects of the brownie hadn't completely worn off of him yet.

"I'm just going to grab some water." I stood up and used my phone flashlight to go upstairs and get a bottle of water. When I returned back down, Holden was in my seat talking to Brenton.