The song ends and Heather drops to her knees in front of us. "My turn.” She flips the coin. “Tails.” She spins the bottle. It makes an entire rotation before stopping at Arnie. He jumps up and does a victory dance, kicking sand all over everyone. I open another bottle of water and take a long drink, swishing it around, replenishing the moisture that is missing from my mouth. Nick sits down beside me and I offer him the water.

“No, I’m good.” He smiles and his jaw tightens. He rolls his neck and focuses on Arnie. He looks different to me somehow. Like Matt just peeled a layer of skin off of him and I can see something that wasn’t apparent before. Or maybe I could and I just didn’t want to believe it.

"Heather—I dare you to kiss Dani,” Arnie announces with an evil grin plastered on his face.

I choke on a mouthful of water. What did he just say? My eyes shoot across the fire. “French kiss," he clarifies, so there will be no arguments.

I look at Heather. She seems unaffected by the dare, like she was expecting it. "I'm down," she proclaims.

Everyone’s eyes move in my direction. I instinctively look to Nick, who’s smiling at Arnie as Heather crawls over to me like a cat in heat. She arches her back and licks her lips in an effort to win over the boys. She stops in front of me and sits up on her knees. “Well, are you in?”

I look at the guys, who anxiously await my next move. I clear my throat and take one more sip of water.

“I knew she wouldn’t do—” she starts to say, but before Heather can finish her sentence, I grab the back of her head and kiss her. Her lips are small and unsure. I am definitely the aggressor. She tried to one-up me, and I beat her at her own game! I hear a rumble of moans as I move my mouth over hers. She finally yanks free to a roar of cheers.

She recovers quickly and forces a smile. "You little slut," she sneers before crawling back to her spot.

I receive a high five from Arnie and a quick kiss from Nick.

"Your turn," Heather says and holds out the coin.

I snatch it from her and flip it in the air, watching carefully to make sure it lands in my palm. Tails—another dare. The group is silent as I spin the bottle. It makes two rotations before landing in front of my worst nightmare—Arnie. The guys get excited at the possibility of some more girl-on-girl action. My teeth chatter out of control as I wait for him to speak.

Arnie isn’t smiling. He isn’t laughing. He’s so serious it gives me chills. "Dani, I dare you to kiss Matt.”

Before I can respond, Matt is on his feet. "No way dude, that's just wrong!” Matt says all the right things, mounts the perfect argument. He says all the things I should say, but I don’t say anything.

"If you want to be a punk, then you shouldn't play." Arnie looks directly at me. "K, back me up here."

K shakes his head. "No way, this is Nick’s rule.”

All eyes turn to Nick. His face is expressionless.

"Nick," I say quietly and reach for his hand. I need to know what he’s thinking.

Nick pulls his hand free and runs it through his hair. "Arnie's right, we decided to play.”

“That’s bullshit,” Matt yells. "Arnie made up his own dare!"

I reach for Nick again. This time he takes my hand and squeezes it tight before letting go.

Matt drops to his knees beside Nick. "Dude, it’s not right.”

Nick stares into the fire, rolling his beer bottle between his hands.

“Man up, Matt. Nick said it was cool. Hell, I’d kiss her.” Arnie laughs as he punches Matt in the back.

“Then you should’ve kissed her instead of running around here naked, dipshit!” Matt chucks a handful of sand. Arnie turns away and takes the brunt of it on the side of his head. He doesn’t respond to Matt’s hostility. He just puts his arm around Heather and smiles. Heather might as well be screaming with joy, it’s so obvious she wants this to happen. If I kiss Matt, all gloves are off. Anything goes. So much for Heather being my ally.

“Nick, you’re seriously cool with this?” K isn’t really buying Nick’s calm exterior. Neither am I.

"Yeah, it doesn't mean anything, right Matt?” Nick locks eyes with Matt.

Matt looks at Nick then looks at me. “Nope.”

My jaw drops. Is this really happening? I should object. I should say something. But I don’t.

Nick turns to me. "Dani, don't worry about it." He pats my hand. “It’s just a game.”

I look from my hand in Nick’s to Heather. She’s got a front-row seat to my humiliation.

"Alright. Nick ruled—do it," Arnie demands.

My eyes dart from Heather’s traitorous glare to Matt. He looks at Nick then back to me and suppresses a smile. He rubs his hand over his face as if he’s wiping the grin away. My heart races at the small evidence of betrayal that crosses his face. He wants to kiss me.

I can pretend to be upset, disgusted, and embarrassed, but inside I have a small smile of my own. I make my away around Nick to kneel in front of Matt. The only sound in the air is the crackling fire and the pounding, relentless waves crashing behind me. Matt lifts his hand to my cheek and my lips part. I close my eyes as he leans in and places his mouth on mine. Glorious sensations flood my body. His tongue slips into my mouth and I open my eyes. It’s strange to see someone other than Nick so closely, but I’m grateful it’s Matt and not one of the other guys. After a few seconds, Matt opens his eyes and jerks away, like he just woke from a bad dream. We quickly break apart and look around, waiting for someone to speak. Nobody does. They looked stunned, like they can’t believe we went through with it. I know I am. We return to our spots on either side of Nick. I don’t have the courage to look at Nick. If he’s hurt, I don’t want to see it. If he’s angry, I can’t deal with it. I figure it’s best to sit back and avoid any further despair.

The game is less light-hearted now. The fun and laughter are gone as we all silently plot our next move. Nick flips the coin—another dare.

How many dares is that now?

He spins the bottle; it makes two turns and lands on me. I look at Arnie, already feigning boredom as he leans onto Heather's shoulder and pretends to fall asleep. I don't want to be responsible for slowing the pace of the game. Other than having sex with Nick in front of everyone, I can’t think of anything else I can do to make Arnie happy. I rack my brain for movies I've seen, trying to pull something from my subconscious. Unfortunately, my brain is mush at the moment. Then it comes to me. My heart sinks as soon as I realize what I’m about to say. I cover my face with my hands and grind my teeth.

I don’t want to do this. I have to. I have no choice. It’s just a game.

"Nick.” I look at Arnie when I say his name, waiting for his reaction. He raises an eyebrow at me and snickers when I hesitate. “Nick, I dare you to kiss me and Heather at the same time."

Arnie’s mouth forms an ‘o’, then he looks at Matt. They fall back into the sand, bulldozed by my dare. K even looks impressed. I finally turn to Nick. He runs his hand through his hair and smiles at the boys. His casual demeanor enrages me. His arrogant grin infuriates me. After he’s done fixing his hair, he looks at me, leans in close, and whispers, “I love you.”

My mouth falls open. He loves me. Nick Marino loves me. I don’t even have time to respond. Heather quickly appears at Nick’s side. I won’t dare let her get the first move, not now, not with the boy who loves me. I kiss Nick on the cheek and slowly make my way to his mouth. Heather follows my lead on the other side. We time it perfectly and meet at Nick's lips. He makes a few movements with his mouth but lets us do the rest. Nick runs his hand down my back and pleasure floods my body, until I feel Heather slide her tongue across Nick’s lips. I back away in disgust, allowing her full access to his mouth. When I see his lips reach for hers, I pull Nick away. “That’s it!” I point for Heather to move back to her side of the circle and resist the urge to slap the smug look off her face. Then I take Nick's face in my hands and give him a long, deep kiss. The guys whistle and cheer me on.