Mia had frozen, a grape halfway to her lips. Her eyes darted to the rumpled mess of fabric Chloe dangled from one finger. Her confident smirk flickered. For a split second, Leo saw it: a flash of genuine, animal panic in her eyes. She was terrified.
The pale, soft body of a bookworm stared back, crisscrossed by the aggressive, screaming green of the suit. His shoulders were freckled, his chest flat. He looked ridiculous. Utterly, completely, gloriously ridiculous. bikini dare
Later, when the sun bled orange and purple into the lake, Leo sat on the dock, a towel around his shoulders, the bikini now a memory in a trash can. Mia sat beside him, her polka-dotted shoulder touching his. They weren’t talking about the dare. They were talking about the first issue of a comic book she’d secretly loved as a kid, and he was telling her he had a mint copy in his closet. Mia had frozen, a grape halfway to her lips
“And?” he said, his heart hammering against his ribs. “A dare’s a dare. You said ‘wear the Neon Nemesis.’ You didn’t specify who.” For a split second, Leo saw it: a
“I’m not scared of anything,” Mia shot back, but she didn’t reach for the suit.
“Scared?” Chloe teased, her eyes glinting.