It Started With A Dare

Teyana’s POV

“Yes Jeremy, like that…” I moaned and breathed into nothingness as I chased the high, while imagining he was the one doing unspeakable things to me.

The erotica book lay open beside me on the sheets, pages still warm from where my free hand had been holding it. My other hand was dangerously between my virgin thighs, two fingers sliding through the slick heat I’d been working up for the last twenty minutes.

Jeremy Carter. He was all I saw.

My eyes stay closed as I let the fantasy take over. His dark blue eyes under the locker-room lights. The way his leather jacket hung off those broad shoulders. That low, bored voice that somehow always sounded like a dare.

In my head he wasn’t the emotionally distant god of Summer High who never looked twice at the quiet girl with the thick glasses— Me.

In my head, he was here, hovering over me, one rough hand pinning my wrist to the mattress while the other replaced mine.

“That’s it,” fantasy-Jeremy murmured against my ear. “Open up for me.”

I bit down hard on my lower lip and circled my clit faster, hips rolling up to meet my own fingers. The pressure built too fast. My thighs started to shake. I was right there, so close that the edges of the room were already going soft, and that was unfortunately when her voice ripped my bliss into pieces.

“Teyana! Tell me you are getting ready for the final-year students’ partyyyy!”

Carol’s voice blasted through the hallway like a foghorn.

“Shit.”

I jerked my hand away like I’d been burned, slamming my thighs shut so hard it almost hurt. The unfinished orgasm throbbed angrily between my legs as I scrambled upright, heart thudding.

I wiped my wetness over my sweatshirt, and snapped the book shut, shoving it behind a stack of textbooks on the shelf before Carol could barge in. No one- not even Carol- knew I read erotica books.

To the rest of the world I was the nerdy, saintly virgin who didn’t care about boys or parties or anything that wasn’t on the honor roll.

Nerdy and virgin? Sure. Saint? Hell no.

The books were my delicious, filthy little secret. And I would’ve given my virginity away to Liam in English class months ago if I weren’t so obsessively stuck on one particular person both in my head and in real life.

I hissed under my breath, still pressing my thighs together in a useless attempt to kill the ache. Why couldn’t she have waited five more minutes? Just five. I threw on my oversized hoodie, wiped my flushed cheeks with the sleeve, and tried to slow my breathing before the door flew open.

Which it did. Carol Rivers never knocked.

“Teyana!” she sang, tossing her short blonde curls as she stepped inside like a storm wrapped in glitter. “Why are you still in bed? The party is tonight, not fucking next year!”

Right. Always using the cursed words.

I blinked up at her, pushing my glasses up the bridge of my nose and hoping I looked innocent instead of wrecked. She looked pretty in that silver dress.

“You look… stunning, Car.”

She rolled her eyes. “I know I do. And you’re going to that party.”

I sighed. “I don’t know if I feel like…”

“Jeremy Carter will be there. That, I heard from a reliable source.” She arched a brow with the precision of someone who knew exactly which button to press.

My glasses almost slipped.

“Wait. Jeremy?”

Carol smirked. “The very one. Your ‘fine as hell’ obsession who’s sadly obsessed with bikes and not you.” She stuck her tongue out.

A dangerous flutter danced in my chest. Heat zipped down my spine again- this time mixed with panic. “I…I’ll get dressed. But… not because Jeremy will be there.”

She grinned like the evil temptress she was. Who was I kidding?

“I knew that’d work.”

I groaned and buried my face in my pillow for a second before dragging myself out of bed like a sinner heading to confessional. I headed for the bathroom while Carol made herself comfortable on my bed like it was hers. Which, of course, was the usual.

The moment the water hit my skin, the ache between my thighs reminded me exactly where I’d left off. I bit down on a moan and cursed my hormones to hell. He was going to be there tonight.

I needed a distraction from my sinful thoughts. “Carol! Do you think I should attend this dinner my mum invited me to with her big-shot CEO boyfriend?” I called through the door over the water spray.

“Billionaire,” she corrected with a snort. “Apparently he owns like half the town or something. And you’ll be living in a freaking mansion. Girl, if I were you, I wouldn’t hesitate. I mean… sorry to say, but it’s not like your dad is present.”

I could imagine her rolling her eyes.

I sighed, resting my forehead against the tile. “Sounds like a dream, right? But it’s not. I don’t even know the man. And now I’ll have a stepdad and a new house and probably a dozen rules about not breathing too loud. Mum said we’ll move in with him after I’m done with high school… Gosh, next year is so close.”

Carol’s voice softened. “You okay with it though?”

I hesitated. “No. But I’m the kid, so who cares? I don’t have a say. It’s just… I feel like I’m losing what little control I had.”

There was a pause before she called back with a teasing lilt. “Well, tonight you do have control. And I’m putting you in something that screams ‘I’m done being invisible.’ Haha”

She wasn’t kidding.

After my bath, Carol attacked my closet like it owed her money. She cursed under her breath at my rows of beige sweaters and dinosaur-print socks before finally yanking out a simple black skirt I didn’t even remember owning.

“Pair this with your tight white crop top,” she said.

I blinked. “The one that shows my…”

“Yes, that one.” She grabbed my shoulders. “Tey, we’re taking the nerd out of ‘nerdy hot.’ Just for tonight. Trust me.”

And just like that, I let her curl my hair, darken my lashes, gloss my lips. I barely recognized the girl in the mirror when we were done. She looked… wild. Reckless. Kind of like someone Jeremy Carter might actually notice. And that made my insides flutter.

—

A few hours later… The party was alive.

Not the “pin the tail on the donkey” kind. No. This was the kind of party where bodies pressed against walls, beer cans littered every surface, and someone was definitely getting fingered on the couch behind the snack table.

“Holy hell,” I muttered, clutching my solo cup.

Carol grinned, pulling me into the crowd. “Welcome to freedom, baby!”

Music thumped like it had a heartbeat. I watched two guys make out against a fridge and a girl with pink hair twerk in slow motion while someone poured tequila down her back. My cheeks burned, but I didn’t look away.

I took a big gulp of the drink in my cup. Then another. If I was gonna survive this night- or better, play games- I needed a little buzz. Maybe a full-on blackout. It was final-year season and the students had been throwing wild parties all week. This was the first one I was attending, and it might be the last.

My eyes have been scanning for Jeremy. God knows he was the main reason I was here tonight. Seeing him would make my entire night. That was how helpless I was when it came to him.

He was graduating too, and I might never see him again, which was so sad because he had never noticed me before.

By the time the circle started forming for Truth or Dare, I was warm, buzzing and slightly swaying.

“Let’s make this interesting,” someone shouted. “No chickening out!”

I plopped down between Carol and some senior with a nose ring. The game spun on—scandalous truths and wicked dares flying like confetti. A guy was dared to strip, a girl had to lick peanut butter off someone’s abs, and I was laughing so hard my cheeks hurt.

Then the bottle stopped in front of me.

“Oh, it’s nerdy Teyana’s turn!” someone called. “Truth or dare?”

I blinked.

I could feel Carol vibrating beside me. “Participate, babe. It’s fun.”

I swallowed hard. Okay.

“Dare,” I said boldly, because ‘drunk me’ was ten times braver than ‘real me’.

A few ooohs and whistles echoed.

“Alright,” the girl across from me said with a wicked grin, “kiss the hottest guy in the room.”

I choked. “What?”

“The hottest guy. Pick. Now.”

My eyes darted wildly, hoping I’d at least see Liam. Liam was the guy I’d been considering dating—not out of love, but because he was kind to me. He usually attended these parties, but he wasn’t here. Instead, my gaze landed on him.

My heart did that familiar flip thing upon seeing him.

Jeremy Carter.

He was leaning against the kitchen counter, black leather jacket gleaming under the disco lights. A glass of what looked like red wine in one hand, cigarette in the other. He wasn’t even part of the game, but he was watching…looking bored. Smoldering. God-tier hot.

My heart flipped again.

Without thinking- because if I did, I’d puke from fear—I stood up and walked through the crowd, straight to him. I could die after this and still be proud of myself for braving up to him this one time.

His brows rose in slow amusement, (or was it confusion?) as I stopped in front of him. “You lost?” His deep voice filled the space between us, making my pulse jump.

“I… I was dared to kiss the hottest guy in the room,” I said, barely above a whisper. I honestly couldn’t believe I was actually speaking to Jeremy. It felt like one of my many imagined scenarios, except this one was real.

He stared at me for a heartbeat. And I honestly thought he was going to call me bluff.

Instead, with the cockiest grin, he said, “Guess that’s me.”

And Jeremy pulled me close before I could rethink it and turn back. Because I was just about to do that before my pounding heart tried to climb out of my chest.

I couldn’t think.

Slowly, he joined his lips with mine like it was the easiest thing on earth. Jeremy Carter was kissing me, and I was burning in the fire of it. He kissed like a man who’d done it a thousand times but wanted me to remember this one forever.

His hand gripped my exposed waist- thanks to the crop top I had on. My insides went up in flames. His other hand brushed the base of my neck, raising goosebumps all over my skin.

I gasped, gripping his leather jacket as he deepened the kiss.

My legs wobbled. My body turned to jelly.

I didn’t want it to stop. I wasn’t ready when Jeremy finally pulled away. My lips felt raw. My body felt desired. People around us roared with excitement. I could feel angry girls’ stares. But I didn’t care. I had just kissed… Jeremy.

When I looked up at him, his oceanic blue eyes were on me, a curious frown marring his face, lips still parted—and me still yearning and shaking slightly. Then he smiled and said, “Nice dare.”

I couldn’t stomach the joy and reality of what just happened.

I stumbled back out of the party like I’d been hit by lightning.

And from that moment on, I was ten times more obsessed.

But I never saw him again.

Not until…