of her teeth as she smiled and said with little bits of sarcasm, “That wasn’t that dumb. You might not believe me, but they told me to make-out with a stranger, too.”
“No,” I said in a scandalized tone, as if this was shocking information. “And that was another dumb dare, then?”
She slowly shook her head, looking me straight in the eyes, not seeming the least bit shy. This was a woman who possessed confidence, and until I’d met her, I didn’t know just how insanely attractive that was. My dick twitched and I swallowed.
“No, making out wasn’t dumb,” she said in a whisper.
Fuck me. Whispers. Smiles. Steady eye contact.
Tori.
I was a fucking goner.
“I’d have to agree,” I said, leading her out of the room. I needed to get us out of dark corners before things escalated. It wouldn’t do to kiss her senseless in front of my extremely inebriated friend. “It wasn’t dumb. It was probably one of the better things to happen to me all year.”
Tori paused in the hallway, and I turned. She looked unsure, as if I was feeding her a line or something. “Is that a line?” she asked, totally reading my mind.
“I guess it sounds like one.” I shrugged. “But it’s the truth. I’ve made a lot of dumb decisions lately.”
“Played too many games of truth or dare with my friends?” she asked teasingly.
“No,” I said, sobering. “Made promises I didn’t keep. Didn’t take chances, or risks, that I should have.”
“Ah.”
I nodded my head toward Vince’s door. “He calls me Boring Liam Best these days.”
“Your last name is Best?” she asked. After I nodded, she narrowed her eyes, taking me in. “I don’t know, you seem pretty unboring to me. You received my declaration and didn’t make me feel stupid about it.”
“I’ve thought of you ever since you said that,” I told her honestly.
Tori looked suspicious and maybe a little bit flattered. It, like the statement I’d made a minute earlier, were spoken honestly. I’d just met this girl—I didn’t know what would impress her or what wouldn’t. I just know that it’d been a mistake to let her go the first night without getting her number at the very least.
“Are you always this forthright?” she asked.
“It’s safer that way, isn’t it?”
“Is it? Seems like a good way for people to get hurt.”
The conversation had begun innocently enough, but I could tell she was guarded about something. Despite appearing to be a carefree, spontaneous person, Tori was more than just those things. I’d need to be careful with my answers. “I work with risks all day long. It’s hard for that not to bleed over in my everyday life. So, yes, I think it’s safer to know what you’re jumping into before you take that metaphorical leap. Thus, being honest from the jump is the best way forward. You called me forthright, but I believe in being direct.”
She nodded, squeezed my hand. “Okay, that makes sense. And I respect that. You said you work with risks?”
“Technically, I’m a commercial inspector, working as an independent contractor for insurance companies. Really exciting stuff,” I joked.
She whistled and I tried not to be distracted by the shape her lips made in doing so. “Let me guess, when you were five years old you said, ‘When I grow up, I want to determine construction classifications for buildings’?”
“How’d you guess?” I asked. “And that is a pretty accurate description of one of the aspects of my work. Do you work in insurance?”
“God no,” she said and, for the first time, blushed slightly. “No offense. My dad worked as an independent insurance agent for years. So, I know more than I’d like to.”
I laughed. “That’s how I feel most days.”
“So, what’s a guy who assesses risk doing in Vegas?”
“I grew up here.” It was the simplest answer. Part of me felt like I was betraying Will for not saying everything, but Tori and I barely knew one another. “And you’re here for a bachelorette party?”
“Was it the glowing penis necklace that gave it away the night I confessed my love for you?”
“Oh, those aren’t a part of your usual aesthetic?” I asked as we made it to the bank of elevators.
“Maybe sometimes,” she said, giving me a smile that made me feel like leaning in and kissing her again. But being under the yellow lights and surrounded by terrible elevator music dampened the romance a bit.
“So, back to the dares,” I said. “The dare you’re refusing is to marry someone? Seems