Chapter 2

2

D ali

The Past

The Dare

The music was loud but not so loud they couldn’t hear each other. What started as a typical sleepover for Dali, Dynasty, Kennessy, and Everett had turned into an exciting and dangerous game of Truth or Dare. Dangerous because, at thirteen, the young hoodlums were more prone to accepting dares than revealing embarrassing truths.

Up until that point, Everett had been dared to bite the head off a lizard, Dynasty had to run down the street naked, and Kennessy had to steal his father’s unopened bottle of whiskey and take a large swig. Dali’s leg bounced as he waited anxiously to hear what he would have to do. Since he’d dared Everett to bite the lizard, he was sure Everett was going to take that moment to get even. When Everett looked between him and Kennessy, Dali’s head flung back.

“I dare you to go and kiss Kas.”

Dali’s head snapped back as Kennessy groaned.

“Leave my sister out of this, idiot.”

“Nah. He’s always talking about how he has a way with the girls. I want to see. Besides, he acts like she’s his little girlfriend anyways.”

Dynasty scoffed before nudging Dali’s shoulder playfully. “Don’t do it, bro. He’s only daring you because he likes Kas and knows she doesn’t like him.”

“Agreed,” Kennessy said. “She’s going to beat your ass if you kiss her. Don’t do it.”

While Dali couldn’t quite process what he felt for Kassadee, he wouldn’t shy away from it either. He didn’t want to be with her, but Dali wouldn’t deny her power to make his stomach flutter and make his arms cover with chill bumps. At thirteen, he’d had several crushes that led to relationships that faded over the course of a couple of weeks. However, what he felt for Kas was lasting longer.

Regardless of if Dali liked Kas or not, he’d never let her be with Everett. It was that determination that had him standing with a huff. Everett may have thought he was about to be embarrassed, but there was something that told him Kas wouldn’t be too hard on him if she knew what was going on.

As Dali charged out of Kennessy’s room, his friends followed behind, hyping him up and laughing along the way. He knocked on her door and balled his fists at his sides. While he didn’t know if she’d ever kissed someone before, he hadn’t. For some reason, kissing Kassadee felt fitting.

When she opened the door and saw all four boys, her brows wrinkled and mouth twisted to the side.

“Hmm… What do you guys want?” the ten-year-old asked, gaze landing on her brother skeptically.

“Dali has to kiss you. Everett dared him,” Ken said, crossing his arms over his chest. “I told him you’d beat him up. You don’t have to let him do it.”

Kassadee’s eyes rolled as she looked Dali from his head to his toes. Using a tight grip on his shirt, she tugged him into her room and slammed the door, ignoring the others complaining that they had to see it to believe it.

“Um… You don’t have to let me kiss you,” Dali assured her quietly, avoiding her eyes and squeezing the back of his neck.

“I’m going to kick Everett in the balls for putting me in your game.” Dali chuckled and she smiled. “Do you… want to kiss me?” His mouth opened and closed. “’Cause I’ve never… I’m only ten.”

When she covered her mouth and snickered, it made Dali’s heart skip a beat. “I haven’t either,” he admitted, just above a whisper. Nibbling his bottom lip, he looked at the door, as if he could see his friends through it. “It’s okay, Kas. We don’t have to—”

She closed the space between them, silencing him. “If we’re going to do this, I want it to be a secret for the first time.”

“Whoa.” His head nodded before he released a nervous roar of laughter. “For sure.” He cleared his throat and licked his lips. “I-It can be a secret. J-Just between us.”

Kassadee giggled but it turned into a sharp intake of breath when he closed the space between them. He wrapped his pinky around hers and pushed her puffy hair out of her face. Their eyes remained locked as he swallowed hard and lowered his face to hers. After pecking her lips twice, their eyes simultaneously closed. He pulled away quickly when his body heated, and he felt something growing that should have remained flaccid.

His hand shook as he opened the door. Kassadee’s trembling hand slid down her mouth as she stared at him.

“Are you two gonna do it or what?” Everett griped.

“We’re getting to it!” Dali roared, landing a punch to the middle of Everett’s chest that caused him to groan and double over in pain.

“Are you sure, Kas?” Ken asked.

She nodded and licked her lips.

Dali palmed her small waist and pulled her forward. He covered her lips with his and let them linger for three Mississippis. At the sound of whooping and hollering, he pulled away, smiling in pride at what he’d accomplished.

“You owe me!” Everett said as they walked away. “I really thought she was going to pound your ass.”

They all laughed until Kennessy said, “If either of you ever kiss or touch my sister again, I’m going to cut your lips off and feed them to Old Man Thomas’s pet snake.”

Before going back into Ken’s room, Dali looked back in the direction of Kassadee’s. She was still standing there, frozen, until he shot her a wink that caused her to jump and slam her door.