“Ricardo, it’s your turn,” my stepsister says, taking the attention off herself.
“Thanks, chouchou. I pick dare.”
I snort. “Of course.”
His eyes peruse my face. “You know it.”
Adrienne glances between us before focusing on Ricardo. “I dare you to look into Charlotte eyes and tell her two things you like about her—”
“And one you can’t stand!” Gul cuts in.
“Gross,” Cal grumbles.
Genevieve busies herself with putting on a new layer of lip gloss.
I’m not entirely surprised at Adrienne’s dare. My sister is a hopeless romantic who wants all of us to be as blissfully happy as she is. I should have predicted she’d come up with mushy dares.
Ricardo laughs. “Are you trying to get me killed?” But he turns and locks eyes with me.
I have no idea why, but my heart is picking up speed as I look into his eyes. They’re amber brown with darker rims. Who knew making eye contact with the guy I hate could be so intense?
Taking my hand, Ricardo speaks. “Charlotte, I like how, when you care about something, you throw yourself into it with everything you’ve got.” His eyes flick over me. “And you’re so—
“Watch it,” I warn.
“I was going to say graceful,” he laughs.
A curl of pleasure unfurls in my chest. I stamp it down with vehemence.
“Now something you hate,” Gul says, prodding him.
Ricardo rubs his jaw, trying to hide his smile. He’s loving this.
I, on the other hand, have never felt so exposed. I can’t tell if he’s being honest, or screwing with me, and it’s throwing me off balance.
“Don’t take this personally, but you’re always wound so tight. You never relax. I always feel like I have to be on my game around you. I wish you’d let your guard down once in a while.”
Genevieve winces, and Adrienne only just stops herself from nodding in agreement.
Does everyone think I’m a tight-ass? It’s not a bad thing to be at peak performance all the time. I have expectations to meet. My parents’ and my own. I don’t have time for laziness. The idea that everyone thinks I’m wound so tight irks me, making me feel defensive. “I can’t let my guard down, especially so you can feel better about yourself. I don’t compromise. You have no idea how much pressure I’m under from my parents, and with my goals for myself. If I relax, that gives someone else the opportunity to do something better than me, get there before I do, and that’s not acceptable.”
I scoot away from him and cross my arms. Annoyance at his honesty flares hot in my chest, even as guilt enters the equation. Just because I was feeling attacked doesn’t mean I should poke at Ricardo. Even if I do hate him. I huff out the steam that has gathered in my head. It’s just a game, but I have a feeling I’ve just played into Gul’s hands. If she wanted to rile me up, or provoke me into giving her something to gossip about, she succeeded. Stifling my frustration at Ricardo, I uncoil my muscles. If I stay clenched like this, my neck and shoulders will pay for it tomorrow.
“I’m not asking you to dim your light to stroke my ego, chère. I just want to have a little fun with my girlfriend. With you.”
Now I feel guilty for blasting Ricardo, but I refuse to look him in the eye, even if what he just said was kind of sweet.
When I glance up, everyone is staring at me.
“What?” I ask.
Genevieve clears her throat. “It’s your turn, Char.”
“Oh. Right. I pick dare.” I’m in the mood to run yodeling down the hall, or doorbell ditch Ms. Poppin, or something like that. That is not the dare I get.
When Gul leans forward to level my dare, she’s got a sly look in her eyes. “We’ve never seen you and Ricardo kiss. We want you to kiss right here, right now.”
“Yeah, kiss!” Adrienne exclaims, clapping her hands gleefully.
Cal wrinkles his nose. “I’m gonna go make popcorn. Let me know when it’s over.” He pulls himself out of his plush chair and shuffles across the room to the student kitchen. I look longingly after him, wishing I could excuse myself to make popcorn, but I can’t. If I balk, they’ll know something’s up. When Kenneth and I were together, I was a lot more engaged with him than I am with Ricardo, and I’m sure they’ve picked up on it. I do not want them to find out I’m faking this relationship to make Kenneth jealous. Surely giving Ricardo one tiny peck won’t be as bad as losing face, right?
Even worse, Genevieve is chewing on her lip anxiously. Turning to Ryou, she whispers something about needing a cup of tea, and follows Cal toward the kitchen. I stare after her, willing her to be okay with all of the shenanigans I’m putting her through by continuing my charade with Ricardo.
“We’re waiting,” Gul needles me.
I manage not to glare at her. Instead, I lean toward Ricardo and give him the quickest peck on the lips known to man. “There, we kissed. Ta da. Now you’ve seen it.”
It’s so fast that Ricardo doesn’t even have a chance to kiss me back.
“Boo, that was terrible,” Gul says, shaking her head in displeasure.
“Yeah, come on, Charlotte. This is truth or dare. It’s only fun if you actually do it, not just halfway.” Adrienne waves me back toward Ricardo.
I am going to kill her for this later.
My eyes narrow. Even though the thought of laying a real kiss on Ricardo has my body flushed with irritation, I never back down from a challenge. And Adrienne? She’s just thrown down a gauntlet. “You want a real kiss? Okay. Here, take a picture so you can look at it later.” I toss my phone into my stepsister’s lap, face Ricardo, and pull him toward me by the collar of his t-shirt.
“Whoa, you—”
I put my lips to his and kiss him for all I’m worth. My competitive streak rears its ugly head. No one is going to say I can’t kiss, especially when I’m put on the spot like this. I’m going to be the best at this, just like everything else.
It takes Ricardo a second to recover from the shock of my abrupt action, which makes me want to laugh, but I stifle it. Laughing while kissing would feel too intimate, somehow, like we were sharing in a secret. Which we’re absolutely not.
Then he’s matching me move for move, his lithe hand rising to my neck. After all this time, I half expected him to be a terrible kisser. You know, all that bravado as a front for lack of skill, but it’s not. Ricardo can kiss. Still.
Adrienne and Gul start hooting, so I cut the kiss off with one last peck. My signature move.
When I pull away, Ricardo’s got a dazed look in his eyes that he tries to hide by clearing his throat and looking away, but I catch it. I’ve gotten under his skin. Satisfaction courses through me. I have definitely won this round of whatever game we’re playing. Yeah, it’s definitely satisfaction. Not chemistry. That would be absurd.
“Wow,” is all Adrienne says. “I never saw you kissing Kenneth like that.”
“To be fair, we never really saw Kenneth,” Genevieve says, offering Ryou a steaming mug matching the one in her hand, and retaking her seat. She takes a sip, not looking at me.
Gathering himself, Ricardo smiles, pulling me against his side. “Kenneth’s got nothing on me, right, mon coeur?”