The Dare (22 page)

"Married." How the hell was I going to talk
my way out of this one? "You see, Dad, the thing is…"

Tears welled in his eyes. Holy shit. Was he
crying?

"I'm sorry." He sniffled. "I've just been so
worried about you. I know you're so worried about your career.
Hell, you wore a suit to school when you were in sixth grade."

"It was for career day," I grumbled.

"I know, son." Father slapped me on the
shoulder. "It's just, now it finally seems like you have everything
you've ever wanted. All you have to do is grasp it. Aall you have
to do is say yes."

"Yes?"

"To your future." Father's smile grew. "Now,
what were you going to tell me?"

I should have said something. I should have
told him the truth. Hell, I'd been honest all week with Beth. Why
was I suddenly having issues now? Oh right, because telling him the
truth would wreck him. And in turn, it would wreck me, because then
he'd know it was possible I wasn'tt the man he thought I was.
Because I'd stayed with a girl under false pretenses, lying to the
world, and then accepted a dare in order to get her to lie to the
media about her reasons for being with me.

I was an ass.

And he was looking at me like I was the
perfect son. He was looking at me like I'd always wanted him to
look at me.

Which was why I found myself saying, "I'm
just happy you could make it for the big day."

Royally Screwed:
When
the only way out is death.
See also:
Grandma Nadine.

"He was in on it, wasn't he?" The agent
smirked.

"Ah, you're getting to know me to well,
Gus."

"You tricked the grandkids and somehow
convinced a judge to lie to his own flesh and blood. You both must
have been desperate."

"The desire for great-grandchildren is strong
in grandmas and apparently grandpas. Just ask Mr. Brevik and his
lovely wife."

Beth

"He's been gone for a really long time." I
played with the straw in my drink and kept my eyes trained on the
beach for any sign of Jace.

"Why do you care?" Char asked in an innocent
voice. "Something you want to tell us?"

Kacey grinned shamelessly. Char joined in.
And both men fell silent as all eyes burned holes through my
person.

"Jace!" I all but yelled when he came walking
up with his father.

But something was off. He looked… he looked
almost guilty… and sad. Why would he be sad? Immediately, I blamed
myself. If I hadn't made him go along with the challenge to stay…
If I hadn't bribed him with his career and the whole prostitution
rumor… Was I so wrong to want the fairytale? It had basically been
handed to me on a silver platter. So what? I took it! You hear me,
God! I took it!

"Welcome to the family!" Mr. Brevik pulled me
into a tight bear hug.

I almost puked my drink all over him. Family?
Whose family was I joining and why the hell was he so excited about
it?

"We're so happy to have you. My wife will
soon be joining us to celebrate."

"Is it your birthday?" I asked lamely.

"And a sense of humor!" He elbowed Jace in
the ribs. "You've really hit the jackpot on this one. And, my
dear," he turned back to me, "what incredible work you've been
doing for GreenCom."

"Work." I nodded. "What does that have to do
with family?"

"There she is!" A loud southern voice
interrupted my confusion and Jace's guilty face. A woman of about
five two came barreling toward me. She had bright blond hair and
giant sunglasses. Had she not been wearing white, I would have
thought she was Grandma. "My daughter!"

"I think I'm confused," Travis whispered
behind me.

"I've always wanted a girl! And now I have
one. Oh, this is just the best news I've had all year! It truly got
me through that horrid plane ride. Oh, who am I kidding? If I have
a stroke tomorrow, I'll die happy, knowing our son's settled down
with such an accomplished woman!"

"Who's getting married?" Jake asked
innocently as he took another sip of his drink.

"Is someone dying?" This from Travis.

"Cheers!" Mr. Brevik shouted. "To Jace and
Beth!"

Grandma magically appeared out of thin air
with a tray of drinks. "I just love it when things fall together,
don't you?"

Slowly, I turned to Jace.

He basically had the words
Guilty
Bastard
written across his forehead as he made his way over to
me and pulled me in for a tight hug, whispering in my ear, "I'm
sorry."

Those two words may as well have been a knife
being stabbed into my heart.

No proposal for boring Beth. No, just an
apology. That's what I was. An apology, caught up in lie after lie
after lie. And it was all my fault. All because I was reaching for
something I never deserved in the first place.

"I'll fix it, just not now," Jace
continued.

So when was he going to fix it? Before or
after we walked down the damn aisle?

Everyone lifted glasses into the air, but
suddenly it was too much. I wanted to run
—
needed an escape.

"I'm just going to go use the restroom." I
forced a smile and barely made it to the ladies' room without
bursting into tears.

It was all wrong.

This was not how the story was supposed to
go.

Boy meets girl, boy falls for girl, boy
marries girl. Never once in the story is he supposed to meet girl,
tell her he can't like her, admit he'll never marry her, then marry
her anyway to save his damn career.

"Honey?" Grandma's scent enveloped me,
followed by her arms. "Oh honey, I was afraid you'd be upset."

"Then why did you do it?" I wiped the tears
from my cheeks. "Give me one good reason."

"He's your match," Grandma said honestly.
"I've known him for quite some time. He's lonely, Beth. He's
afraid, but he likes you, possibly loves you. Don't deny that
you've seen glimpses of what you could have together. I know about
high school."

"Don't you get it?" I grabbed a paper towel
and dabbed my eyes. "This isn't high school.This is my life!"

"Is that why you compare every man you meet
to him?"

"Who told you that?"

"Your sister."

"Damn her." More tears streamed down my face.
"And why did she tell you?"

"You aren't the only one with struggles. She
had a hard time fitting in the family, always feeling like second
best. It made me wonder why you felt the same way. Funny, how we
all want someone else's life and always think we're worse off than
everyone else in the room."

"Your point?"

"I want you to wear red."

"Like a harlot?"

"No." Grandma pulled me into an embrace.
"Like the brave, courageous, beautiful woman you are. Let Jace pull
that out of you. Love always asks us to take a chance, and I won't
lie to you, sugar. You may fail. But wouldn't you rather try and
know you failed than wonder for the rest of your life what would
have happened had you taken a little leap?"

"Grandma," I choked on the thick tears in my
throat, "my love life isn't a game. I feel like you've ripped out
my heart, handed it to Jace, and now everyone's just waiting to see
if he's going to keep it or throw it into the ocean."

"Why wouldn't he keep it, sweetie?" Grandma
kissed my forehead and smiled warmly. "What use would the sharks
have for it?"

I rolled my eyes and managed a small smile.
"He'll throw it, believe me. All he keeps talking about is how he
can't have me, how he'll walk away."

"I know men," Grandma whispered. "After all
God cursed me with loads of them. And I know how they think. I
imagine Jace is trying to convince himself more than convince
you."

"So where does that leave me?"

"I imagine," Grandma looked thoughtfully into
the mirror and fluffed her hair around her face, "it leaves you
exactly where you've always wanted to be."

"Stuck on an island with a lying politician?"
I joked. "Sorry, Grandma, that was never my fantasy as a little
girl."

"Of course not, sweetie. That was mine." She
winked. "Your fantasy has always been the white horse, the
fairytale, and the happily ever after. No story is ever the same.
How boring would that be? To always have a happily ever after? How
unoriginal." Grandma tucked my arm in hers. "I want magic."

The tears threatened again.

"I want mischief." she continued. "I want
madness. I want red dresses and red lipstick followed by starry
nights and fireworks. And Beth, I think you do too."

"You think I want madness?"

"I don't think it." Grandma patted my hand
and started walking away. "I know it. So what are you going to do?
Are you going to risk it all for him? Or are you going to walk away
from an opportunity to do the one thing that fairytale books don't
teach."

"What?"

"Fight for your man."

"I thought he was supposed to fight for
me?"

"How can he when you won't even show up for
the battle?"

My eyes narrowed as Grandma sauntered off
toward the crowd. I wiped my tears, pinched my cheeks, and
followed. Jace lifted his head and gave me a breathtaking smile.
With the ocean crashing behind him, he looked like some sort of
Greek god on vacation. Smile still in place, he stalked toward me,
his muscles glistening in the sun.

"Holy Thor," I whispered. "I'm going out guns
blazing." I smiled to myself. Good Thor, I'm going out with a
fight.

The number of steps I took? Three.

The number of seconds I waited before my lips
touched his? Two.

The amount of time it took for Thor, god of
Thunder to respond? One.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and held on
for dear life as he lifted me in the air and twirled me around.

"What was that for?" He set me down, his blue
eyes sparkling.

"My fairytale isn't over yet." I kissed his
mouth again.

"Who said it was?"

I shrugged.

His forehead touched mine. "I gave my word. I
don't go back on my word."

"I know that now."

"I'm sorry about… everything. I'll find a way
to fix it. I swear."

"Even if you don't." I shrugged. "The fun's
in the adventure, right?"

"Right." He cupped my face and kissed me
lightly across the lips. "But you deserve more."

"I have more," I answered honestly. "And it's
time you realized you can have more too."

With a deep breath, I took a step around him
and joined everyone else for drinks, wondering how in the heck I
was going to survive another three days without getting my heart
broken. Because after making the decision I've made, I was going to
fight until I couldn't fight anymore. And if he still walked away
in the end, I would let him.

"Interesting logic. Trickery and then seeds
of wisdom." The agent nodded thoughtfully.

"Well, I'm not so bad." Grandma shook her
head. "Had I set them to their own devices, they would have taken
years to get together. Now look at them."

"Right. Look at them. Both missing."

"I didn't say I had all the kinks worked out.
I am eighty-six."

"So you keep saying."

Jace

"I'm going to hell."

"Say hi to Jake when you get there." Travis
slapped me on the back and ordered a beer.

We'd decided on going to a luau instead of
doing a typical bachelor or bachelorette party. After all, the only
things we needed were pictures, and it was easy enough to convince
the parents that I wasn't interested in that sort of thing.

Beth seemed relieved.

Beth… Just thinking her name got me aroused
in all the wrong places. It made me want her, not just physically
but emotionally, which was ridiculous. I was three days into our
relationship, and it was a fake one at that. And here I was,
drinking my sorrows away and lying to not only my parents but the
world.

"For what it's worth," Travis slid a beer
toward me, "Grandma's two for two."

"Yeah, not helping." I took a long swig. "I'm
still going to hell for lying to everyone, and I doubt Jake will be
there, considering he's fully turned over a new nauseating
leaf."

"Right?" Travis laughed. "It's like he's a
new man."

"What about you?"

"Me?" Travis's eyebrows shot up in surprise.
"I've always been the good one, no changing necessary, other than
being so humbled by Grandma that I was an embarrassment to not only
myself but society."

"Ah," I winced, "that's encouraging."

"Sorry, your best bet is to marry her, fall
in love, and produce as many great-grandchildren as possible."

"Never." I pushed the beer away, suddenly
feeling sick to my stomach, "You know I can't, Travis. You know I
don't want to be vulnerable like that again. You know I don't do
commitment."

"Did you and Jake trade brains?" Travis
leaned in, "or are you high?

I pushed his chest and rolled my eyes.
"Please."

"It was two years ago, Jace. Move on. Let
yourself be happy."

"I know how to let myself be happy. I just
choose to do it without a woman by my side."

"Because you secretly prefer men?"

"Are we done here?" I rose, but Travis pulled
me back down into my chair.

"Look, I know it's only been three days. We
can easily fix the marriage so that it's not legal. Your parents
won't know the difference, but to the world you'll still be
married. You can go your separate ways once you land in Portland.
Beth can go back to her really fun life playing with diseases and
start herding cats. And you can go back to your insanely large
penthouse and big-screen TV."

"Well, when you put it that way…"

"Marriage isn't so bad, and I know you like
Beth. Hell, everyone knows you like Beth. And I, for one, know you
could love her."