I Dare You by Lylah James

The moment Maddox fell asleep beside me, I sneaked out. No, I wasn’t running away. But I needed to breathe, without him stealing away all my breath, to think, without having him distract me with his touch, his mouth… his very impressive, very distracting cock.

I knew he didn’t play fair. He never did, but Mr. Coulter was such a dirty player. Using sex to turn me soft and have me sidetracked. Every. Single. Time.

I wasn’t exactly complaining… but I needed some time away from Maddox.

And I needed my friend. She’d be able to help me process these past seven days.

I found Riley on the couch when I walked into our apartment. Her head snapped up at the sound, and she gave me a curious look. “Is Maddox’s dick finally sore enough you guys couldn’t go on anymore, or did you happen to run away?”

She knew me too well. I plopped down on the couch beside her and stole some popcorn from her bowl. Her casted leg was propped up on the coffee table and YOU, on Netflix, was playing on the TV. Riley was mildly obsessed with Joe Goldberg.

“Isn’t this your third time watching season one?”

“It’s my fourth now,” she mumbled around a mouthful on popcorn. “You were gone for a week, and I had nothing interesting to do. Joe entertained me.”

“I’d think Colton was entertaining enough.” I spared her a sideway glance, watching her reaction.

Her face hardened, and she munched angrily on her popcorn. “He’s an asshole.”

“An asshole who helped you,” I reminded her.

Colton wasn’t exactly the bad guy, but he was too much of a shithead. Riley barely tolerated him, and he was making it worse on himself by spouting bullshit half the time. Why couldn’t he just say something nice for once…?

I shook my head. He was friends with Maddox, after all. Those two were absolutely impossible to deal with.

I’m going to woo you. Romance with a side of dick.

Okay, maybe Maddox wasn’t too bad. He sure did romance pretty well… and he, of course, was efficient with his err, male appendage.

I pinched myself in my leg, shaking myself away from my daydream. This was exactly why I had to get away from Maddox. I couldn’t stop thinking about how good he felt between my thighs, on top of me, and how perfect his lips felt against mine.

“Who cares about Colton,” Riley paused, before turning on her side to face me. “I need to know what happened in Paris.”

Of course, I had been waiting for that question. The suspense was probably killing her, as it would have if I were in her place.

I cleared my throat, dragging my nails across my thighs. The expectant look on her face was making me nervous. “Paris was… something else.”

“You know damn well I’m not speaking about the city. What happened between you and Maddox?”

“He… well, we succumbed to the tension between us. It kinda just happened, without us really even realizing it. But it was too late then.”

I let out a soft sigh and closed my eyes, leaning my head back against the couch. “I wanted him; he wanted me. We’re both adults, who I guess, couldn’t keep their hands off each other.”

Riley was silent for a minute, soaking in my words. She shifted beside me, and I popped one eye open, as she drew closer to my side. “And now?”

Now?

My heart slammed against my rib cage and… forget butterflies, I had the whole damn zoo fluttering around in my stomach. “I guess, we’re dating?”

Her eyes narrowed on me. “Was that a question or a statement?”

I swallowed, feeling the lump in the base of my throat. I dare you to be my girlfriend, little dragon.

“I’m his girlfriend,” I finally confessed out loud.

Holy shit! I. Was. Maddox. Coulter’s. Girlfriend.

The realization finally hit me, like an arrow straight through my heart. My head swam, the room became blurry and the world tilted, catching me off balance.

“Lila? Lila!” Riley grabbed my elbow, and I realized she was shaking me. “You look like you’re about to pass out.”

“Maddox is my boyfriend,” I choked.

“Oh. It looks like it finally hit you,” she deadpanned, with a trace of humor.

“I lost,” I mumbled.

“Huh?”

“Remember when I first bumped into him at Berkshire? I told you I wouldn’t fall for his charms. So, I basically lost.” My head fell into my hands, and I sucked in a shaky breath.

Four years later… I had fallen hard for the Maddox Coulter. Star quarterback, reckless bad boy, infamous playboy. Who was once my nemesis but now my best friend.

Riley fell back against the couch, howling with laughter. Tears spilled down her cheeks, as she choked back on her maniacal laughter when I glowered. “Oh, shut up!”

“I’m sorry,” she wheezed. “But this is actually hilarious. I remember how stubborn you were. You were so determined not to fall for him. Remember those days? Ah, the good ole days.”

I shoved my middle finger in her face, and she laughed even harder. Rolling my eyes, I elbowed her in the ribs.

She gasped and then grinned. Mischief flashed in her wide grey eyes. “How’s the sex? Please tell me his dick game is as good as it has been hyped up to be.”

I flushed, feeling the heat go up my neck and on my face. “Better than the hype,” I admitted hoarsely, my lips twisted in a rueful smile.

The sex was… mind-blowing.

But it was the intimacy that had my heart clenching and stomach fluttering like a silly teenage girl with a new crush.

It wasn’t just physical with Maddox; it wasn’t just sex – no – it was more. Maddox took his time to learn how I liked to be touched and to know my sensitive spots.

I was naked, vulnerable, and opened to him, body, scars and all, but he made me feel like I was the most beautiful, the most desired woman on the whole damn planet. The intimacy between us transcended the physical… it was all about the feel.

That made the sex mind-blowing.

That and his… very thick, very long, very girthy… distracting cock.

My sex clenched, at the reminder, and I squeezed my thighs together, feeling the pulsing need in the pit of my stomach.

“Well, at least you’re getting some,” Riley said, reaching for her popcorn again. She placed the bowl on her lap and shoved a fistful in her mouth. “My vagina is as dry as the Sahara Desert.”

“Maybe Colton can help with that.” I shot her a shit-eating grin, knowing full well it would grate on her nerves.

Riley was visibly outraged by my suggestion “Colton is going to keep that thing between his legs to himself.” Her nostrils flared, and she grunted in irritation. “If he brings his north pole anywhere near my south pole, he might have to say goodbye to his babymaker.”

“North pole?”

“Yeah, because it points up,” she explained, as if I was dumb.

I waggled my eyebrows at her. “I’d love to read a smutty scene of yours.”

Riley cleared her throat, straightened her shoulders and started in her best narrating voice, “As his north pole came close to my south pole, my center pooled with warm, creamy liquid. Our copulation was sweaty and hard. My rhythmic wails could be heard across the city as the wet friction of our sex grew louder. His bulbous rod jumped inside my sacred tunnel, as he found his release.”

I hollered. “Ew, no, stop!”

Riley winked, before bursting into laughter. “I think I cringed so hard my face is twitching.”

I nodded in agreement. That was absolutely awful. “Never mind. I don’t want to read your smutty scenes.”

She patted my knee, before turning back to the TV. “So, what are you going to do?”

“With Maddox?” I asked, although I already knew what she was asking. “I want to give us a chance. Maybe he’s right; maybe we could be good together.”

“Two souls don’t find each other by simple accident,” Riley murmured. “You two were meant to cross paths, Lila. As enemies, as friends… as lovers.”

“Since when are you a champion for Maddox?”

Her grey eyes snapped to mine, but they were smiling. “He makes you happy. I think that gives him plenty of bonus points.”

Maddox did make me happy. I curled my feet under me and settled back on the couch. “Thank you, I needed this talk.”

Riley offered me a handful of popcorn. “My pleasure, babe.”

She started episode nine of YOU, and we settled in, finishing up season one and starting season two right after.

Five hours later, although time had seemed to fly by, there was an insistent knocking on our door. Riley turned down the volume, and I walked over the door. I barely had it open before someone rammed into me.

Maddox–

My thought came to screeching halt at the raw expression on his face. Something akin to crazed desperation and…fear. His emotions wrapped around my chest and squeezed, until I couldn’t breathe.

His frantic gaze landed on mine, and they darkened almost dangerously. “You,” he accused, sounding out of breath. “You left.”

I swallowed the lump in my throat. “I came to see Riley.”

He prowled forward, his jaw hard and his expression tight. Maddox only had his boxer shorts on. He hadn’t even bothered to wear his clothes in his attempt to hunt me down.

“I wasn’t running away,” I whispered, pressing my palms over his chest.

His heart was racing, too fast, too hard, too wild. Oh, baby. I stood on my tiptoes, and my lips brushed against his, in my attempt to calm him down. “Take me back… home.”

Maddox let out a ragged breath, as if he could finally breathe again. His arm curled around my waist like a band of steel, and he practically dragged me back to his apartment next door.

His mouth moved with mine, and I kissed him. Taking control of the kiss, I nipped on his lips and then slid my tongue inside his mouth. He hoisted me up in his arms and closed his door, before slamming my back against it. He wasn’t careful, he wasn’t gentle, and, in this moment, I couldn’t find myself to care.

Maddox groaned into my kiss, and I could feel his thickness against my stomach. Could feel how hard…warm, how… heavy he was.

“I didn’t have a good dream,” he grunted like the words pained him.

My heart dropped, and my arms tightened around him.

“Woke up to an empty bed. It made it worse.” His confession surprised me.

Maddox had never let himself be vulnerable around me, not willingly. Sure, I had seen his bad sides, his worst sides. I had seen him at his breaking point, but he hid his pain with a perfected mask and would never admit to something like this. His tightly put together defenses were down.

Right now, Maddox Coulter was the rawest and truest version of himself.

Open to me and vulnerable in my arms.

My lungs squeezed, as I shuddered back a cry. “I’m never leaving you, Baby.” The endearment spilled from my lips before I could overthink it, but it felt… right.

“Lila.” There was so much pain contained in that single word, my name on his lips, whispered like he was a dying sailor at sea, seeking asylum from his impending demise.

“Pinky promise?” A little piece of my heart chipped off.

My Maddox: mine.

He always wanted to be my protector… and I wanted to return the favor.

Lips on lips, forehead against forehead, hearts thudding together, bodies entangled – I whispered, “Pinky promise.”

Four years ago, I met a cocky and selfish asshole. He was everything I despised and everything I thought I didn’t need in my peaceful life.

Today, I held the same man… a different version of him, in my arms.

And I kissed him.

Then, we made love.

Raw, passionate, crazy love…

It was everything I didn’t know I needed until now.