Flame

  “No! We’re completely serious!” Emilia insists as I nod my agreement, popping the last bite of a cheeseburger into my mouth. “It’s been documented over and over again, all over the internet,” she continues. “Some jilted bride, who was left at the altar by her pussy-ass fiancé, hung herself in the grand ballroom, and now, her ghost lives on that floor.”

  “People claim that every night she plays the big-band music from the reception that never happened and dances around the floor while crying,” I add, embellishing a little about the dancing and crying. I’ve always been an excellent storyteller . . . which is totally different than a liar, by the way.

  Gunner rests back against the headboard of his hotel bed, where we’ve all gathered for a late-night meal. Neither of the guys are sold on my and Emilia’s idea to do a little late-night exploration. Much to our dismay. “Baby,” he reaches out and pats his wife’s hand, “Levi and I are exhausted. All day during those boring-ass meetings with the Donovan’s and then throughout the entire show, the only thing I’ve thought about is you, me, and this super comfy hotel bed.” Glancing over at me, he smirks. “But I am pleased to see we have connecting rooms, so we can continue to convince Sunshine of our endless amounts of energy.”

  I stick my tongue out at him as I crumple up the greasy wrapper covered in golden arches and toss it into the trashcan. I’m always the last one to finish eating. It never fails.

  “I think they’re scared, Em. Why don’t the two of us go alone?” When I question their manliness, they’re unable to refuse the bait, and just as I hope, they bite.

  “We aren’t scared,” Gunner argues. Hook.

  “And y’all aren’t going anywhere alone this late at night.” Protective Levi makes an appearance. “It’s after midnight.” Line.

  “Come on, dude. Let’s just go check it out. You know they’re not gonna stop pestering us until they get their way.” Gunner comes through like a champ. Sinker.

  Ten minutes later, the four of us enter the elevator shaft, equipped with flashlights and a couple of backpacks filled with supplies that Emilia and I went out and got. My finger trembles slightly as I extend my arm toward the bank of circular, numbered buttons and punch the number nineteen.

  “Going up,” the electronic voice announces, and my pulse responds.

  The mirrored doors open a short time later, and oh-so-cautiously, we empty out of the elevator and onto the allegedly haunted floor. Every hair on my body stands at full attention as we tiptoe through the dark hallway, doing our best not to run into the random pieces of furniture scattered about.

  “So where’s this ghost lady supposed to be?” Levi whispers, looping his finger in one of my belt loops and tugging me back to him.

  The heady combination of excitement and fear buzzes in my blood. I can’t stay still, bouncing on the balls of my feet. “The last room on the right down this hallway,” I answer quietly, but still loud enough for both him and Gunner to hear. “Back in the Depression-era, this whole floor was a ballroom, but a few decades later they renovated it into guest rooms. That’s when the reports of peculiar things happening really started. People began hearing footsteps in their room in the middle of the night, as well as the music.”

  I stop talking when we approach the room. My heart is slamming against my ribcage as we all stare at the closed door, no one wanting to be the first one in.

  Finally, I get up the nerve. “Last one has to do a shot,” I joke, turning the brass knob, pushing slightly, and stepping inside the empty room.

  “First one in is the body.” Emilia giggles as she slips in behind me, using my body as her shield.

  The guys follow, Levi purposely pulling up the rear. Each time we’ve loaded up for a new city so far this trip, I’ve been the first, and he’s been the last. We’re becoming body shot champs.

  “It just looks like a regular room to me,” Levi remarks as we explore the small area.

  I hate to agree with him, but he’s right. I don’t see or feel anything out of the norm. Even when I go into the walk-in closet, the believed spot of where the hanging took place, I feel a little disappointed.

  “Were you just expecting her to be hanging out waiting for us to show up?” Emilia chastises him. She unzips one of the backpacks and pulls out a blanket, opening it and spreading it out on the floor. Then, after lighting a couple of candles around the room, she drops to her knees and pats the floor. “Come on. Everyone, come sit down. We’re gonna hang out a while . . . talk, play a game, have a few drinks, whatever. We have to be patient.”

  Grabbing the other bag, I empty the contents of it—eight cans of beer, the half-drank bottle of tequila, and the storage bin of Grams’ desserts—and join the three of them in a circle on the floor. I hand everyone a beer then set the desserts and liquor in the middle before settling cross-legged between Levi and Emilia.

  “Did y’all bring a deck of cards? We could play some strip poker?” Gunner suggests, waggling his eyebrows at his wife as he leans over and pinches her boob.

  Laughing, she swats his hand away. “No, perv. I didn’t bring any cards. You just want to see Dakota’s nipple rings anyway. I may need to go get mine pierced when we’re in New Orleans.”

  “Ooh, that’s a terrific idea. I want my own to play with.” He nods excitedly, grabbing at her chest again.

  “You do know they take like six weeks to heal? No pulling or sucking or touching other than to clean them.” I lift my eyebrows accusingly.

  Gunner’s face drops at my revelation and he sticks his bottom lip out in a childish pout. “No, I didn’t know that. But now you’ll just have to show me yours instead.”

  “No.” Levi hooks his arm around my waist and scoots me closer to him. “Mine,” he growls.

  The possessiveness of that one word tremors through me like an earthquake, sending my brain on high alert and starting a fire in my belly. It’s the first time he’s said it aloud. Snapping my face to the side, my breath hitches when our gazes meet. The flame from one of the candles dances in his stormy blue eyes, illuminating the raw intensity smoldering inside this gorgeous beast of a man. I want so badly to smart off, to tell him I belong to nobody, especially not some guy I’ve known a week.

  But the words don’t come.

  “I have an idea!” Emilia claps her hands together. “While we wait for our ghost bride, let’s play Never Have I Ever. That’s always good for a few laughs and a nice buzz.”

  Ready to welcome any plan that makes me forget about my lack of reaction to Levi’s claim on me, I reach forward and grab the bowl of goodies. “I’m in. How do you play?”

  “Wow, I can’t believe you’ve never played this before,” she comments before repositioning herself to sit on her heels. “Okay, so it’s real easy. We take turns saying something we’ve never done, and if you’ve done what the person says, you have to take a drink of beer. If it’s your turn and you say something that no one has ever done, then you take a shot of tequila. Got it?”

  Nodding, I wipe the chocolate crumbles off my mouth. “Seems pretty simple.”

  “Cool. Okay, I’ll go first, and we’ll start with pretty tame stuff. I’m sure it’ll end up in the gutter pretty quickly anyway.” She rolls her eyes at Gunner then refocuses her attention forward. “Never have I ever been out of the country.”

  Levi, Gunner, and I all take a drink of our beer, and then we each take turns listing where we’ve been. Mine isn’t very exciting, just Canada, but the guys have been to all kinds of places in Europe, South America, and even the Middle East.

  Gunner’s turn. “Never have I ever used a fake ID.”

  Emilia and I drink after his, and then again after Levi’s, “Never have I ever worn pantyhose.”

  My turn. Hmmm. It’s amazing how before we started playing this game I could’ve listed a million things I’ve never done, but all of a sudden, I can’t come up with any. Maybe I ate that brownie too quickly.

  They’re all looking at me. Waiting. “Uhh . . . never have I e
ver, uh, been in a hot air balloon.” There. The first thing that popped in my head. That’s good.

  No one drinks, and after a pregnant pause, the three of them explode with laughter.

  “Dakota, honey,” Emilia says once she calms down a bit. “You’re supposed to say something you think one of us has actually done. Do we look like people who’ve been on a hot air balloon?”

  “Well, no,” I titter. “I just couldn’t think of anything, and the other day when I saw one, I really wanted to go up in it.”

  Levi snags the bottle of tequila and hands it to me. “Shot time, Sunshine. You and your hot air balloon,” he teases, kissing me on the cheek.

  Always a good sport, I gulp down the nasty liquid as fast as I can then chase it with my beer to get the taste out of my mouth. Now I’m ready to play.

  The game travels around the circle a couple of times, learning rather useless but interesting information about each other before it takes the southward turn Emilia predicted. Only it’s her, not Gunner, who starts it.

  “Never have I ever taken someone’s virginity.” Levi and Gunner both take a drink, and I’m a bit surprised that Emilia looks like this is news to her.

  Gunner steps it up a notch. “Never have I ever sucked a cock.” Emilia and I tip our cans back.

  A little stoned and a lot tipsy, a new rush of exhilaration sweeps through me as the sexual tension in the room expands rapidly. My thoughts are no longer on possible paranormal activity, but I’m now wondering where this game is going to lead us.

  “Never have I ever made a sex tape,” a smirking Levi drawls out.

  Giggling like school kids, Gunner and Emilia take a long drink. I make a mental note to ask her about that later.

  My turn again, and this time I don’t hesitate. “Never have I ever had a threesome.”

  At first, none of them make a move, and I’m about to call bullshit. I know . . . I just know that with all those nasty-ass track rats, either Gunner or Levi—my money says both of them—have had a threesome. But that’s not really what I’m after here . . .

  Emilia is the first to take a drink, followed by Gunner, and then Levi. The three of them exchange knowing looks, and for a little while, none of them will look me in the eye. And now that I have my answer, I wonder why I wanted to know in the first place.

  Emilia recovers first. “Oh, it’s my turn now.” She takes another quick sip while thinking of what she’s going to say. “Okay. Never have I ever . . . kissed a girl.”

  Of course, both guys guzzle back a swig of beer then everyone turns to look at me, once again waiting for me to say or do something. Apparently, we’ve moved on from the threesome awkwardness.

  “Uh, yeah . . . no. I’ve never kissed a girl either.” I chew on my bottom lip nervously, though I’m not sure why my stomach feels like a butterfly garden. The room is suddenly extremely warm. I need a drink, even though I’m not supposed to be drinking.

  “Y’all can totally take care of this problem right now, ya know?” Gunner suggests under his breath as he adjusts himself.

  I first look at Emilia to gauge her reaction, and she’s got the same maybe-I-want-to-do-this look in her eye. Twisting to get a glimpse at Levi, he answers my concerns silently. Whatever you’re comfortable with, Sunshine.

  This is why I shouldn’t play games like this or Truth or Dare. Backing down from a challenge is nearly impossible for me. I have to kiss her now. And it doesn’t hurt she’s pretty fucking sexy for a chick.

  Nodding, I turn back to Emilia and crawl over to her on my hands and knees. If I’m going to do this, I’m giving full effort for everyone involved. We all might as well enjoy it.

  Emilia lifts up on her knees to meet me face-to-face, and then, without second-guessing myself, I slide my hands around the back of her neck and bury them in her thick dark hair. Her arms slink around my waist as we lean into each other, and in what seems like slow motion, our mouths meet in the middle. Soft. Tender. Easy.

  Instinctively, my tongue sweeps across the seam of her lips and she parts them willingly, granting me access to explore her mouth. One of the guys groans—maybe both of them, I’m not sure—which only fuels the rather tame, but wildly sensual kiss. Why have I never kissed a girl before? This is hot as fuck, especially knowing Levi is getting all worked up watching us.

  She drops her hands from the small of my back to my ass, but right when she palms my cheek through my leggings, loud music blares through the room.

  THURSDAY, JUNE 21

  OH, FUCK . . . THE GHOST!

  I’m not sure I’ve ever lost a boner so fast in my life.

  Sprinting down the dark halls of the abandoned floor in the hotel, tripping over all kinds of shit while I try to keep Dakota safe next to me, the erotic images of her and Emmy Sue making out less than a minute ago are now replaced with ghosts and spirits chasing us to our death. I skid around the dead-end corner and shine my flashlight up ahead, relieved to see the elevators a few yards away.

  I pound on the button displaying a down arrow, hoping that’ll make it come faster. The music grows louder again as Gunner and Emmy Sue catch up with us, and that’s when I realize where the noise is coming from.

  “Gunner, you stupid fuck, it’s your phone,” I snarl, sidestepping over to the backpack dangling on Emmy Sue’s shoulder. Unzipping the front pocket, I pull out the rectangular device that’s lit up with Rhino’s name and vibrating with the beat of Skrillex.

  “Shit! I forget I changed my ringtone the other day!” he exclaims, ignoring the call. “Guys, I’m sorry. We can go back if you want. It just scared the shit out of me.”

  My pulse slows and my blood pressure drops a few hundred points as I shake my head. “Nah, man, I think we can call it a night.” Wrapping my arm around Dakota’s shoulders, I hold her close to me and kiss the top of her head. I can still feel her heart pounding up against my chest, but she relaxes in my embrace. “I think it’s time to make good use of those hotel beds. What do you say, Sunshine?”

  “Yep. We have a sex tape to make, Hulk.”

  MONDAY, JUNE 25

  TODAY OFFICIALLY MARKS THE HALFWAY point of the trip. We’re somewhere in Texas—Houston, I think, but I’m not a hundred percent positive. All I know is its hot and sticky, and every time I step outside, I’m drenched in sweat in a matter of minutes. It’s gross and I want to shower constantly, but I’m tired of being cooped up in this bus. The two nights we spent in the hotel a few days ago was a tease . . . just long enough to get me used to having space again before we piled back aboard Night Fury.

  Yes, I named the bus after a dragon in a kid’s movie. Like I told Levi and Gunner, get over it. I like it.

  Today is the first day I’ve been by myself for an extended period of time. Levi is at the track practicing for a few hours, and the newlyweds are meeting with someone about his upcoming retirement that’s supposed to take place after the X-games. Emilia was trying to explain it all to me yesterday, but most of it sounded as if she was speaking a foreign language. Flipping through the latest edition of Cosmo, I’d nodded and agreed in the right places . . . at least, I hoped it was.

  Nevertheless, she seemed satisfied with my input, though the entire time all I truly wanted to do was ask her about having a threesome with Gunner and Levi. There’s just not a good segue between the woes of transferring a 401k to asking what it’s like to be double penetrated by two smokin’ hot guys. I should probably ask Levi, but I’m afraid he’ll think I’m crossing some invisible this-is-none-of-my-business line. Because it’s truly not. I just want to know.

  Even as I lie here now, sunbathing in my bikini on top of the bus, the thought of it turns me on. I keep telling myself the twinge of jealousy I feel toward Emilia is because she’s actually experienced two gorgeous men worshipping her body—inch by inch, orgasm after orgasm—and not because Levi was one the guys involved. ’Cause as fun as it is to play this Mine game during the trip, that’s all it is. A temporary arrangement.

  One week from
today, I’ll be on a plane home to Denver, and he’ll keep going on the bus or go back to wherever he lives in California. Either way, we’ll continue on with our two different lives in two different places, maybe crossing paths again in the future through Emilia and Gunner, who are setting their home up in Breckenridge. No matter what’s happened between her and Levi in the past, I’m having a blast spending time with her, and I know we’ll get together for girl-time regularly once we’re in Colorado.

  “Sunshine, I’m home! Your ass better be naked and in that bed!”

  My eyes fly open as Levi’s deep voice intermingles with the music in my ears. Jackknifing straight up, I yank the headphones out and then wait to see if I hear him again. Maybe I was just floating on the inside edge of dreamland.

  “Dakota? Are you here, babe?”

  Nope. Definitely not dreaming. He’s inside the bus, looking for me.

  Grabbing my phone, I check the time to see if I accidentally fell asleep longer than I intended, but again, nope. He’s back early.

  “Dakota! Where in the hell are you? Are you playing some kind of sexy hide-and-seek game with me? ’Cause if so, I’m gonna spank your cute ass when I find it.” The chuckle doesn’t completely mask the worry in his voice, and my chest clenches when I hear him start opening and slamming doors.

  “I’m up here!” I yell as I bang on the roof, hoping he’ll hear me through all the ruckus he’s making. “Levi! Up here!”

  The noise stops for a few seconds, and then I hear the main door swing open.

  “Dakota?” he calls out, backpedaling so he can see the roof at an angle. “What the fuck are you doing up there?”

  I smile sheepishly, hanging my chin to my chest. “This is my spot to catch a few rays and a bit of quiet time.”

  Shaking his head, he doesn’t say anything else, just takes off for the ladder at the back of the bus. Less than a minute later, he’s sitting next to me on my beach towel, his hungry gaze roaming up and down my sweaty, nearly naked body.