He grumbled good-naturedly. Who was he to argue with her if she wanted to play truth or dare? After the last time they’d played, he was open to damn near any game she wanted to play.
“There are some rules.” She mentioned, once again grinning from ear to ear.
God he loved when she smiled at him like that. For the last week, he had feared it wouldn’t happen ever again. And standing before her now, he felt like he was in an episode of the Twilight Zone, not knowing what was going to happen.
“And those would be?” He asked, taking a seat in the chair across from her, fully expecting her to lay into him for not having called for a week.
“We each get two truths and three dares.” She began. “And like always, you have to be honest. It doesn’t matter what order you take them in either.”
He had expected to be inundated with questions and for the two of them to hash out their differences. Never would he have expected to be trying to come up with the two most important questions that he wanted her to answer for him.
Nodding his head in agreement, he waited for her to start.
“Truth or dare?” Ashleigh asked him, leaning back as though she didn’t have a care in the world.
“Dare.” He figured that was the easiest at the moment, although the gleam in her eye said he should’ve picked truth.
“I dare you to take your shirt off.”
Well, that was easier than he thought. He untucked his polo shirt, lifting it over his head by gripping the collar behind his neck and gently sitting it on the edge of the chair beside him.
“Your turn.” Ashleigh said, her gaze caressing every inch of his chest, making his dick twitch.
“Truth or dare?”
“Dare.” She answered easily, albeit much faster than he expected.
“I dare you to take your shirt off.” He said, mirroring her dare.
Alex watched as she unlatched the small buttons on her shirt before sliding the cotton down her arms, leaving it to drop behind her. Clad in a sexy as hell red satin bra, his dick was no longer twitching, it was throbbing.
“Truth or dare?” She asked.
“Truth.” He held his breath, unsure of where this would lead them.
“Did you mean what you said to Jessie the other day?”
Alex didn’t have to dig hard to remember what she was talking about. When he had said the words out loud, he’d shocked himself with the admission. “Yes.” He answered firmly, not taking his eyes off of hers.
“Truth or dare?”
“Truth.” She answered, and for the first time, Alex noted a little unease in her amber eyes.
“Did it scare you? What I told Jessie?”
Ashleigh’s gaze didn’t waiver, but her bottom lip trembled just slightly. “No.”
Ok, they were two truths and two dares down. Alex’s body was hard as steel, aching to get close enough to touch her, but he remained where he was, hoping to make it through the next round of questions.
“Truth or dare?” She asked.
“Dare.” Figuring they had to let the roundabout declarations simmer for a moment, Alex opted for the harder of the two.
He was stunned when Ashleigh’s eyes turned glassy, unshed tears welling up. For a moment, his heart stopped beating in his chest.
“I dare you to tell me you love me.” She whispered.
Alex launched across the small space between them, pulling her into his arms and pressing his mouth to hers, eager to feel her skin beneath his fingers, to feel her heartbeat against his chest. He didn’t take her fiercely, but rather licked her tongue while he cradled her head in his hands.
Pulling away from her, he glanced down, drowning in her whiskey brown eyes. “I love you. I love you with everything that I am, everything that I ever will be.”
A tear slipped down her cheek, and he brushed it away with his thumb. “Truth or dare?”
“Truth.” She whispered, her hands cupping his neck.
“How do you feel about me? About us?”
“I love you, Alex. I loved you the moment you stepped foot in my grandfather’s house. I’ve loved you every single second in between. You are my heart, my soul, my everything. You make me stronger than I thought possible and wilder than I could have dreamed.” The last was said with a small grin.
Her admission had tears welling up in his own eyes. To think he’d kept himself away from her for so many years, because of this. This emotion she filled him with, the foreign feeling of wanting to protect someone, to love them unconditionally today and forever. He was overwhelmed with it.
“Truth or dare?” He asked, although it was technically her turn.
“Dare.” She said, her eyes resting on his lips.