“Can I ask you, or is that against the rules?”
He shrugged. “Moira, she wants to know if she can toss it back at me.”
Moira looked at her friend and back at him. “Shoot, if she wants to waste a turn on you, let her.”
“Truth or dare?”
Although he wasn’t afraid of any dare she might come up with, he knew what she was looking for. “Truth.”
She looked back at Moira and then asked, “Why have you always harassed Moira?”
He laughed. “Because she makes it fun.”
Everyone else joined in his laughter. When Moira and Kathy shot him dirty looks, he continued. “When we were young, I pulled your ponytail because I liked you. It’s one of the stupid things little boys do. As we got older, you were such a fireball when you got mad, it became a game. You’re hot when you’re pissed.”
“Watch it,” Jimmy warned.
“I’m not saying anything new. Every guy in the neighborhood thought it.” Directly to Moira, he said, “You never gave me the time of day, so pissing you off was the best I could get.”
The look on Moira’s face softened.
“So you tease her because you like her?” Kathy asked. “That makes no sense.”
“Well, now that she’s marrying my brother, I get to tease her because she’s family. It’s how we show love.” The whole game was getting too personal at this point. In the past, it never bothered him because someone else was being grilled. He didn’t much like it when he was on the hot seat. “I’m getting a refill. Moira, you can have my turn.”
“Cool.”
He asked Kathy if she wanted more beer.
“I’ll come with you.” She followed him toward the O’Leary house. “I’m sorry about that. I just wanted Moira to hear your side of things.”
“It’s fine. I needed a break. Things were getting too serious. I don’t care that you asked me questions. I’ll tell you anything you want to know.”
He pumped the keg and poured her beer, then refilled his own. Instead of going back to the fire, he sat on the curb again. She sat beside him, her bare thigh dangerously close to his. “I’m really glad you came today,” he said.
“So am I.” She drank from her cup. “What would you have made me do if I said dare?”
“I don’t know. If I were smart, I’d have taken a page out of Moira’s book and dared you to kiss me. That had been her plan with Jimmy a couple of years ago, except, being Jimmy, he went for truth.”
Kathy gulped more beer and he watched her throat work as she tilted her head back. Springy curls had escaped her rubber band a long time ago and he wanted to play with them.
“I wouldn’t have done it though,” he added as she pulled her cup back. “You looked scared when I called your name. I wouldn’t force you to do anything. When I kiss you again, it won’t be because I dared you to, but because you want it as much as I do.”
“I wasn’t scared. A little nervous maybe. I don’t like to be the center of attention and that game forced it. I definitely wouldn’t want Ronan doing a body shot off me.” She chuckled nervously.
Kevin laid a hand on her thigh. “I wouldn’t let him touch you.”
She twisted, causing his hand to shift to the inside of her leg too close for him not to think about where he wanted to go. “What would you have done to stop him?”
“I wouldn’t have had to do anything. Just tell him to back off.” How could he explain the unwritten code they all lived by? You don’t fuck with another man’s woman. It just wasn’t done.
With a sigh, she lay down on the grass and stretched out her legs, so he lost contact with her thigh. He lay next to her. “Are you drunk?”
“Nope,” she said. “Buzzed pretty good though. Weird, since I don’t like beer much. Beautiful night.” She pointed up at the starry sky.
As she looked at the stars, he stared at her. She was so beautiful and relaxed, he wanted to kiss her, but he’d keep true to his word. It couldn’t happen until she was ready. The crappy part was that he had no clue what effect those words were having on her.
“About what you said earlier,” she began. She turned her head to face him. “I don’t know what to think or say.”
He waited. As much as he wanted to fill the silence with a joke, he waited.
“I really liked you. Part of me must still, but you hurt me. Whether you meant to or not doesn’t matter all that much. I felt betrayed by someone I cared about.” She blinked slowly. “Someone I was falling for and thought I had a future with.”
Kevin rolled to his side to fully see her face. “I was a dumb fuck for not seeing what I had.”
He stroked the inside of her arm. Her eyes fluttered closed and she whispered, “I’m scared.”
“It’s okay to be scared. I’m sorry I caused that. Like I said before. Take your time and think about it, but know that I’m not going to give up.” He rolled onto his back and took her hand. She didn’t pull from his grasp, but interlocked her fingers with his.
“Do you want to go back to the game?” she asked.
“Nope. I’m good.”
Maybe Jimmy did know a thing or two about how to get a woman.
Chapter Six
Kevin felt like he was losing his mind. It had been two days since the block party and he hadn’t heard from Kathy. Of course, he shouldn’t have been expecting a call since he’d told her to take her time and think about it. Him. That was it. He’d wanted her to think about him and them. When he’d said good-bye two nights ago, he’d had little doubt that she would give him another chance, but now he began to think that maybe his brothers had been right this whole
