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Dare You To(15)

By:Riley Hart
 
"I can't do this. I have to-" Austin's hand squeezing his knee stopped him. Dare turned and looked at him. He was beautiful. Dare had always known that, but it was different today. It was more.
 
"What's your real name?" Austin asked.
 
Oh shit. Not that again. "I can't tell you that. Top secret information. If I told you, I'd have to kill you."
 
Austin countered with, "I don't know that I want to close the door to something like this happening again. Maybe I'm not supposed to admit shit like that. Jesus, I'm bad at this hookup thing, but this, being with you, didn't feel like a hookup and I think we should just let things go … see what happens. Not push anything but not close out any possibilities either. Do you want that? If you don't, if these confusing emotions rushing through me are mine and mine alone, tell me now."
 
They weren't. They so fucking weren't. He didn't know how to deal with them, but he also couldn't lie to Austin … and he didn't want to shut out any possibilities either. Being with Austin was different. "I'm with you. I can't make you any promises, Austin, but I'm with you."
 
And he hoped like hell he didn't lose him.
 
 
 
 
 
CHAPTER EIGHT
 
 
 
 
 
The next few weeks were both typical and out of the ordinary for them. Austin was busy at the center. The prom was getting closer and closer, so he spent a lot of extra time there, getting ready and making plans. He had quite a few late nights, which weren't anything new. What was a little different was the fact that when Dare wasn't at the bar, he was with Austin more often than not. They'd ordered Chinese and sat out on the balcony talking one night. Austin had gone to Dare's only to discover he was doing paperwork for Wild Side, and he'd ended up reading his book while Dare ran numbers. And yesterday Dare had stopped by the center and brought Austin a coffee. It wasn't the first time he'd come in, but it wasn't something that happened often. Dare seemed to feel uncomfortable there, but Austin didn't know why.  
 
Every time they were together, Austin worked on getting Dare's real name out of him. It was suddenly even more important to know than it used to be, but Dare still wasn't budging. He'd taken to making guesses, which Dare continued to shoot down.
 
He often caught himself looking at Dare differently, too. No two ways about it, the man was gorgeous. Austin had always thought that, but now his smile felt more contagious and his laugh more addictive. He'd always felt like he'd known Dare-despite not being privy to much of his past or even knowing his real name-he knew who Dare was, but that didn't mean he hadn't found himself wanting to learn more. To peel back Dare's layers because damned if he didn't suddenly want every piece of Dare there was.
 
And that was a hard pill to swallow.
 
And frightening.
 
It might have gotten lodged in his throat a few times.
 
Had all of this really started from a blowjob/jerk off session?
 
No, he wondered if it didn't start six years ago when they met, but both men hadn't been able to admit it. Or hell, maybe they hadn't known it. Another possibility was that his feelings were starting to transform into something that was completely one-sided, meaning Austin was fucked. Knowing his luck, that was the case.
 
It was early Saturday morning when Austin's phone buzzed beside his bed. He snapped his eyes open-always having been a light sleeper-to find that the sun wasn't even out yet.
 
He fumbled for his phone to see a text from Dare with two words-Wake up.
 
It's not even dawn, Austin responded.
 
It will be when we get there, Dare replied.
 
Austin was about to argue when another text from Dare came in. You wanted something different, I'm giving you something different. Come with me, Austin.
 
How could he deny that? The truth was, he didn't want to. From the second he saw the first text, he knew he would follow Dare in whatever he had up his sleeve.
 
It only took him a few minutes to get dressed, wash his face and brush his teeth. When he stepped outside of his apartment, Dare was there waiting for him, wearing a wetsuit.
 
Austin's nerves immediately set on edge. He loved the ocean. Loved to listen to it and watch it but that was where his love of the water left him. There were too many things that were unknown for him to feel comfortable. "There are sharks out there," he told Dare.
 
"I'll protect you."
 
"From a shark?"
 
Dare rolled his eyes. "Fine. I'll distract him while you swim to shore. I'll let him eat me instead. Come with me, Austin. I want to show you why I love it out there. That water is me. I found myself in the ocean. Surfing is more a part of me than anything I do."