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Amelia

“C’mon, Amelia, don’t be a stick in the mud Pick a dare instead of truth”

I wanted to stothree-inch spiky heels when I usually ith flats or wedges The only thing worse was the sparkly halter top and skinny jeans she’d forced me to pour as for her bachelorette party Unfortunately, agreeing to stuff I didn’t want to do had been the theme of the day, which didn’t bode well for ood the stuff she wanted et worse as time went on

Being the only sober one in the bunch was turning out to be a lot less fun than I’d expected—and my bar had already been set pretty low But I was Maria’s maid of honor, so I couldn’t skip out on the trip

“Are you sure you want to keep playing truth or dare?” I asked for about the tenth time in the past hour “We’re al day”

“No excuses!” cried one of Maria’s friends froe

“Yeah, pick a dare!” the others chimed in

“Fine,” I huffed “Dare”

Maria’s eyes lit up, and she rubbed her hands together in exciteet back to the suite”

Kiss a guy?! I figured whatever she’d dareto be outside my comfort zone, but I hadn’t expected her to tell er Especially when she knew darn well that I was a virgin Not that she was daring uy I picked up off the street, but still Maria kneell enough to knoeird I’d feel going up to sohtened as I had an idea—maybe if I kept the kiss PG, I wouldn’t die of embarrassment

Maria crushed my hopes when she added, “And it has to be a real kiss on the lips with tongue”

I wrinkledas I trudged along with Maria and the rest of her bridal party The next six blocks were torture My feet were killing ht I should kiss By the time ere less than a block away fro to seriously worry about how much they’d all had to drink because their picks were terrible The last one had been walking into an attorney’s office whose awning advertised quickie divorces He’d been wearing a tux, and the wouy had gottenhim in front of the woman he was about to divorce was out of the question because I definitely didn’t need that kind of drama in my life

“There’s no way she’s going to do it,” one of the bridesmaids mumbled

“Probably not,” Maria agreed before lifting the bottle of the one hundred and ninety-two proof Polish vodka she’d snagged at the ice bar we’d hit up before calling it a night “But I’m cool with that too because then she’ll have to take a shot in a forfeit That will be almost as funny because Amelia isn’t much of a drinker, and this stuff is like jet fuel”

I gri myself thatit in the best way at the mo with several other drinks tonight Bla on the alcohol, I was al from the bottle when I spotted hiht…or any night, for that matter

He strode out of the hotel and casino directly next door to the one where ere staying He earing a black suit that looked as though it had been tailored to fit his tall body His dark hair was overdue for a cut, and h it, and I could practically feel the scruff on his face scraping againstabout thisto life

As his head turned in our direction and his dark eyesto need the vodka”

“Huh? What’d you say?” Maria asked, her brorinkling in confusion

“You’re not going to get the chance to seeas carefully as I could in the shoes that were bound to land ain Glancing over o through with it”