My eyes whipped open. I immediately sat up and looked at her. She was still in her house shorts and singlet, her blonde hair a mess – clearly she’d been dragged out of bed to answer the door.

“What does he look like?” I asked, even though I already had an inkling of who it was.

“Tall, black hair, blue eyes – has this wicked smirk and bedroom eyes.” She paused, recapping his image with a look of lust on her face.

“Jamie.”

I jumped out of bed, uncaring about my own state of undress and ran past her. I hurried down the stairs and met him on the porch. I was a little awed by the way he looked, dressed in a black pinstriped suit with his hair slicked back. Filling Ben’s shoes had him looking like a dynamite businessman.

“Hey,” I said, opening the door and ushering him inside.

He stepped inside, replying with, “Hey, yourself.”

Too excited to make small chat, I immediately asked, “What’s going on? Are you here because of him? Did you give him the letter? What did he say? Did he get it? Is he alright? How’s he doing –”

“Slow down,” he cut in, chuckling. “Just relax. Take a deep breath. In and out –”

“I don’t have time to breathe. I need you to talk!”

His blue eyes roamed me, and that smile intensified as he turned on that charm. I couldn’t give a fuck about it. Nor did I care that I was in a pathetically small nightgown, looking like a tousled caveman. None of that mattered to me. What mattered right now was the words that were about to come out of those lips.

“Alright,” he said, talking slowly on purpose, “I did send the letter. Not physically, mind you. I faxed it to him. It was quicker that way. You just never know how long sending something across the world will take, you know? It’s… very long.”

I nodded repeatedly, wanting him to hurry the hell up.

“And,” he continued, clearing his throat, “he told me he received the letter, and that he read it.”

“And?” I urged.

“Aaaand that’s it.”

I froze, knitting my brows together in confusion. I was instantly disheartened and on the verge of tears. My soul started to douse itself with petrol, getting ready to burn at this awful, anticlimactic ending. That was it? He just read it? He didn’t… care?

“Really?” I let out incredulously.

He eyed my sad face and burst out laughing. Tucking his hand into his pocket, he replied, “No, actually, that’s not it. But your face! Fuck, that was great. For me, anyway.”

“What?”

He pulled out a card and gave it to me. “He wanted me to give you this.”

I took the card that had a four letter word in thick, black font on the front.

DARE

He gave me a… dare card?

My heart spiked. I glanced at Jamie, but he was too busy checking out Emily, and Emily was practically humping the wall behind me to get closer to him.

Uncaring about their session of eye-fucking, I turned the card around and read six words. Six small, easy to understand words that made my being soar with every happy feeling I’d ever felt combined.

I dare you to follow me.

“What does he mean by that?” I wondered out loud in confusion. “Is this all he gave me?”

When I received no response, I looked back up and puffed out in irritation. “Stop looking at her! Emily is off limits and you’re in a relationship!”

“I’m not in a relationship,” he retorted. “It’s complicated.”

“Yeah, and until you’re in an uncomplicated situation, leave Emily alone.”

“I’ll be alright,” replied Emily. “I’m not some easy girl that’ll bend over to some guy in a suit.” Liar.

Ignoring her, I took hold of Jamie’s face and directed it back to me. “Focus, was this all he gave you?”

“Hmm?” He looked back at me. “Oh, right. No, that’s not all. He also gave me this very important thing right here.”

He reached into his pocket again and produced a folded piece of paper. I took it from him and unfolded it. I looked it over, trembling from adrenaline.

“This is information for a flight,” I muttered, “with my name booked in.”

“Mhm, indeed it is,” he replied.

“To…” I felt my lips curve up. “To Morocco.”

“Mhm.” Something then occurred to him, and he tapped the paper quickly. “About that, see, I was supposed to give this to you last night so that you had better time preparing.”

“What do mean?”

When he didn’t answer, I focused on the details of the flight. Then I looked up and glared at him. “Are you fucking serious? This flight leaves in three hours, you asshole!”

He shrugged. “That’s not so bad. Just grab a few pairs of clothes and… whatever it is you girls do and you should be alright. Right?”

Ignoring him, I whipped around and ran to my room. I tore apart my closet, pulling random clothes off hangers until every surface of my bedroom was covered. It was absolute madness! Unable to find a suitcase, and too panicked to even give a shit, I grabbed the biggest purse I owned and stuffed it with random crap. My brain was going a million miles an hour, and I was shaking harder with every passing second.

Was this really happening? Was I seriously leaving the country in three hours’ time?

If you hurry the fuck up, Claire, then yes!

While Jamie waited downstairs, Emily came in and helped pack some clothes while I hunted down my passport and wallet.

“I can’t believe you’re doing this,” she exclaimed. “I’m so excited for you, babe. I can’t imagine how you’re feeling.”

I was too busy packing and getting my things in order to properly digest my feelings. It was surreal. I threw on the first thing I saw – skinny jeans and a plain white tee – and grabbed the bag Emily had packed for me. I took off back down the stairs, and she followed closely behind, yammering away in my ear about how much she envied me.

“I’m taking you to the airport,” Jamie told me once he saw me. He’d been patiently waiting in the kitchen, and was munching away on an ice cold chocolate bar he’d stolen from the fridge.

I snatched the bar out of his hands. “I need breakfast. Now let’s get out of here. I have to be gone in two and a half hours.”