Dare to Love (Young Adult Romance) Read Online Free PDF

do tend to get in the way when
we go target shooting,” Dare said, smiling, “but actually, she does seem to
know her stuff.”
    I found that hard to believe but
decided to get off the subject of Courtney.  She just wasn’t one of my favorite
people.  Apparently, Dare had the same idea.  “Anyway,” he continued, “let’s
not talk about her.  Let’s talk about you.”
    Suddenly, I felt very uncomfortable. 
“Let’s not,” I said with a nervous laugh.
    “Really,” he urged, “tell me about
yourself.”
    I turned toward him briefly and
heaved an exasperated sigh.  “What do you want to know?”
    “Whatever you want to tell me,” he
replied.  He was watching me intently, and I felt my face go red.  I glanced
away and he chuckled.  “Man, Laura, is that you or the sunburn?”
    Flustered, I stared straight ahead. 
    “Well?”
    “What?” I asked confusedly.  I knew I
was acting like a real air head, but he was making me so nervous.  
    “Tell me about yourself,” he urged
again.
    “Let’s talk about you,” I suggested
brightly, eager to divert the conversation away from me.
    He raised his eyebrows and watched me
speculatively.  “What do you want to know?”
    Do you have a girlfriend ?  The errant thought popped into my
mind.  Fortunately, my lips hadn’t formed the words but they had certainly come
close.  I swallowed over a lump in my throat. 
    “What do you want to know?” he asked
me again, smiling widely.  I glanced at him for a split second, then resumed
staring straight ahead.  If I didn’t know better, I’d think he’d read my mind.
    “Uh...well,” I mumbled, racking my
brain, “I know!   How did you get the name Dare?”
    He grinned.  “Everyone asks me that.”
    “Well?”
    “My dad named me.”
    I nodded.  “Is it short for
something?”
    “Nope.  I was named for a place. 
Dare County, North Carolina.  My mom says it was Dad’s favorite place in the
whole world.”
    “Oh.  I thought maybe you were named
for D.A.R.E.”  I spelled the word, and Dare’s brows furrowed into a frown. 
“You know, the acronym for Drug Abuse Resistance Education.”
    “Oh, right,” he said, smiling.  “But
no, I wasn’t named for that.”
    “Do the explorers do anything for the
D.A.R.E. program?” I asked, although I really didn’t care one way or another. 
It was simply my attempt to keep the conversation moving.
    Dare frowned.  “I don’t know.”
    “D.A.R.E. is one of my dad’s favorite
programs,” I told him, grateful to have something to talk about.  “He likes to
go around to elementary schools and talk to little kids about the dangers of
drugs.”
    “You know, that sounds really interesting,”
Dare acknowledged.  “If you’d like, you could talk to Lieutenant Hudson about
it.”
    I nodded, though I wasn’t especially
eager to talk to Lieutenant Hudson about anything.  He had arrested me for
speeding, after all, and because of him, I’d been forced to join the explorers. 
I was lost to my thoughts, so Dare’s next words startled me.
    “Why so quiet all of a sudden?”
    I shook my head, relieved to see we’d
reached the restaurant.  Hastily, I parked the car and got out.  I quickly
rounded the car and collided with Dare, who had also gotten out of the car in
record time.  “Oops,” I mumbled, “sorry.”
    “No problem,” he replied, grinning. 
I moved to step around him but he moved at the same time.  “What’s your hurry?”
    Glancing up at him, I realized he was
teasing me.  Flustered, I asked, “Are we going in or what?”
    “Or what,” he quipped. 
    I ignored him and hurried into the
pizza parlor.  I grabbed the first available table and promptly began studying
the menu.  Dare slid into the booth beside me.  I was surprised that he didn’t
take the seat across from me.
    “Interesting reading?” he asked,
after I’d spent a good five minutes with my nose in the menu.
    I glanced up and our eyes met.  He
grinned