"Hmm, thoughtful," I said, "if not a little conceited."
"I'll take that as a thank you." Dare rolled his eyes. "But seriously, I can go to the locker room and get the spare I keep in there. No big deal."
He lifted his hand again.
"Just take the shirt, Vi."
I did. Maybe it was because my mind was addled by the way his forearms flexed as he held the shirt out to me or how his beautiful body moved with such masculine grace. Holy wow, one glimpse of Dare's amazing upper body, and I was a freaking poet. My reaction was strange, though, since I'd seen my share of shirtless guys on book covers, TV, and even sometimes when I had to go see dad as his team practiced. I'd never been quite this close to one before, though. And none of those guys had stared at me the way Dare did now, as if he were drinking in my reactions to him, couldn't get enough.
"Can you turn around?" I mumbled.
It was stupid really. Dare had been perfectly comfortable stripping in front of me. But I didn't think I'd ever have that kind of courage.
Dare blinked, and then I swear I saw his cheeks flush.
"Yeah," he said and flipped right around. "Yeah sure, sorry."
If it had been any other situation, I might've laughed. Dare hardly ever sounded embarrassed.
I checked one more time to make sure he wasn't looking before grabbing the edge of my shirt. With a deep breath, I started to slowly raise it up over my stomach, my ribs, chest—
"Are you done?" he said.
"No," I said quickly. "Please don't turn around."
Dare's voice sounded a bit strained. "No worries, flower. I'll be good."
Would he? Dare was known for a lot of things, but "being good" wasn't one of them.
Checking once more, seeing his back—his gorgeous, muscled back—was still to me, I tugged my shirt the rest of the way off. A feeling of adrenaline rushed through my body, goosebumps appearing on my skin at the chill in the room. Yeah, Dare wasn't looking, but…something about our proximity was heady. If he decided to turn, he would see me in just my bra. Thank goodness it was a pretty black one I'd bought for myself last year. I smiled as I tugged Dare's shirt open and ducked my head through. Wow, his shirt smelled good, I thought, taking a deep breath. Like soap, evergreen and something uniquely him. As my head cleared the hole, I noticed movement near the door and caught my reflection in the glass.
I also caught Dare's eye for a moment, and my jaw dropped.
Oh my gosh.
He could totally see me.
I wished the Earth would swallow me whole. I wanted to find my voice and scream or reprimand him, something. But before I could do anything, the door to the classroom suddenly flew open, the lights flipped on.
"Oh," Mrs. Clemmons said, who was quickly followed by Ingrid and a few other students. "What are you two doing in here?"
"Nothing," Dare said, moving slightly and doing his best to cover me while I struggled to pull his shirt down the rest of the way. It took only seconds, but that was more than enough. "We were just talking."
Nobody bought it, least of all Ingrid whose stare shifted back and forth between the two of us.
"Ah." Mrs. Clemmons nodded. "And what happened to your shirt, Mr. Frost?"
Dare looked down. "Well, Mrs. Clemmons, I got a little hot last period."
The girls in the room sighed while I held back an eyeroll.
"That actually happens a lot. Viola was just telling me the best ways to cool off."
Mrs. Clemmons's eyes moved to me.
"Is this true, Viola?" she asked. "Were you two just talking?"
My forehead began to sweat. I'd never lied to a teacher before in my life, and I didn't want to start now. I focused on the question, though, and realized with relief that I wouldn't have to.
I nodded. "We were," I said.
"Well, the late bell's about to ring," the teacher said. "You'd better get to class."
"Yes, ma'am," I said.
As I went to walk past her, she leaned in and whispered, "I saw the video, Viola, went straight to the office to have it taken down. It's why I'm running late. I'm so sorry. That shouldn't have been put out there like that."
I nodded. "Thank you," I murmured.
"But this is your only pass. I don't want to catch you in my classroom alone with a boy again," she said quietly. "Understand?"
"Yes, ma'am," I said again.
In a louder voice, she said, "And Mr. Frost…please do find a shirt."
My cheeks flushed as I remembered the reason he didn't have one.
"You got it, Mrs. Clemmons," Dare said.
"Try not to cause a riot in the halls," Mrs. Clemmons said wryly.
"I'll do my best." He threw her a wink as he walked past, strolling down the halls, not seeming to be shy at all about his state of undress.
Mrs. Clemmons leaned down once more. "Be careful with that one," she said.
I could only nod.
My heart was still racing from our bizarre encounter. I'd gone from humiliated about the video to moved when Dare offered me his help to stunned when he'd removed his shirt. And I was still trying to figure out how I felt about him watching me change through the glass. Part of me was absolutely embarrassed but another part was excited that he'd wanted to look at all? Gah. I didn't know what I was feeling.
But I did know one thing. Mrs. Clemmons was right.
I'd definitely have to be careful where Dare Frost was concerned.
My still racing heart told me that much.
