The Sun in My Eyes

3 Dare in the Daylight

Lottie turned to Lili and her look was every bit as demanding as Hope's. He could practically hear what was going on inside of Lottie's head. She wanted Lili to choose Noah just to spite Hope.

"Well since I've already sent him a horrid picture, I choose Bobby to go." Lili gave Lottie an apologetic shrug. Lottie crossed her arms, and sucked on her teeth.

Alright. This was going to be miserable. He stood up. "I don't know if I'm ready for any of those sexy dares yet. I feel like sucking on someone's toes in public is a big commitment." Everyone laughed. He turned to Marisol. "At least let me take you out for a drink first, right?" Marisol rolled her eyes and laughed too.

Gary shook his head. "No one's mentioned toe-sucking apart from you, mate."

"And that's a shame. Anyway, I choose 'truth.'"

Hope held up a card. "'What was your most embarrassing sexual experience?'"

Oh god.

Lili leaned forward. "Oh, I can't wait to hear this."

"Uh, well," he stalled. Ugh. This stuff always made him so uncomfortable. "I don't know if I want to get into that yet, but there was this time when I was going to bake a cake for this girl and I thought it would be sexy if I uh, shaped it. In my...image. You get me?"

Lili raised her eyebrows. "Don't get you. Please clarify."

"My..." he swirled his hand around his groin region.

"Your zipper?"

He swirled his hand more forcefully.

"Ooooh. You mean your tallywacker?" Her eyes sparkled with mischief. She'd known damn well what he was talking about, the minx.

"Yes. Turns out I don't have a clue what sexy is. She was not impressed. And uh, I think that's all I'm going to say about that." He sat back down, his face burning.

"So what I'm hearing," Lili said. "Is that you can bake."

Everyone cracked up and the embarrassment of the story blew by. He shot her a grateful look and chose Marisol to go next.

Her question, "Have you ever kissed someone of the same gender on a night out?" led to Marisol giving what amounted to a thesis on her bisexuality. Yes she had. And she found women more intimidating than men.

"I feel kinda reassured knowing you get nervous talking to girls the same way I do," he said.

"I can't be the only one, can I?" Marisol cast a look around the group.

Lili shrugged. "I'd try it for the right person. I don't really think we should limit ourselves when it comes to love."

"Me too!" Marisol's eyes sparkled. "I see the person, not their gender."

"I like that you're both unconventional girls," Rocco said. "You do have to be open to all kinds of love. I bet Bobby and Ibrahim would be open to—"

"I'm going to stop you there," Lottie said, "Before I vomit bees directly in your face."

Marisol shook her head. "Ibrahim has been awfully quiet. I choose him to go next."

Ibrahim groaned. "Dare."

Marisol tilted her head. "But you told Lili that truth was the brave option."

"It is," he said. "So I choose dare."

"Hmm," Marisol looked him over. "Interesting Ibrahim. Very interesting."

Hope picked up a card from the nearly depleted dare pile. "'Kiss the Islander you fancy the most,'" she read.

Ibrahim lit up. "I don't even have to think about this one." He walked straight over to Lili who blinked prettily up at him and smiled. He went in for the kiss. It was soft at first, but Lili grabbed his face and deepened it.

There were no words for how much Bobby hated what he was seeing.

"Wow," Ibrahim said. "I love that you went there." She gave him a little nuzzle, her nose against his. The man's face could hardly contain the width of his smile as he sat down and pulled her even closer. Another minute or two and he'd have the girl on his lap.

Hope rolled her eyes and Bobby totally shared her feelings on the matter.

The game continued on for a while. Finally, Rocco smirked. "I choose Lili," he said. "If she dares."

Hope held out empty hands. "Actually, we're all out of cards."

"Oh come on." Rocco smirked. "You're game for us to make something up, aren't you?"

Lili shrugged. "Sure."

"Ok," Hope said. "Truth or dare then?"

"Let's be brave." Lili elbowed Ibrahim gently. "Truth."

Rocco barely masked his disappointment. Bobby would bet all the pints Big Jonno owed him that the sleazy guy was going to dare her to kiss Marisol.

Hope jumped in, before Rocco could come up with a slimy truth. "Have you ever hooked up with someone you knew your friend fancied?"

Lili shook her head. "No. Never."

Lottie smiled. "I knew you understood girl code."

"Well, I mean, obviously, life is more complicated than a truth or dare question," Lili said. "But I can't imagine myself ever doing that to a friend."

"Well thankfully we're all in official couples," Hannah said. "So everyone is safe."

Marisol caught Bobby's eye and then looked over at Lili. "Yes, but we're not all friends yet, are we?"

"Aren't we?" Hannah asked innocently.

The sun was high in the sky and they were all budged up together on the bench, sweating profusely. So when Hope declared the game over, most of the couples fled the fire pit to cool off in the pool.

Ibrahim stood with his hand on Lili's lower back. "Do you want to go for a swim?"

"Honestly, I'm too tired. I'm going to take a nap on one of the daybeds."

Ibrahim hesitated before nodding and leaving. Lili turned to grab her water bottle and accidentally kicked it. It rolled across the floor and Bobby picked it up.

His heart was pounding hard enough to knock away his breath. This was killing him. She thought he was fit. She laughed at his jokes. They'd both been grafting from the moment they spoke. Why hadn't she chosen him? Was she playing some kind of emotional game?

He handed her the bottle. She smiled and looped the strap around her wrist. "Thank you."

"Fancy a chat?" he asked, his voice raw. "I'm sure Ibrahim won't mind."

She was silent for a long moment. Wariness seemed to have taken over her good humor. "Sure," she said finally. "Let's chat."

**NOTE

Scottish shoe sizes differ from US shoe sizes. A size ten in the UK is a size twelve in the United States. So don't worry, ya'll. He's got big...feet 😂