Chapter 5
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Nick�s POV �So what shall you do with me now that you�ve dragged me inside?� My partner asked me, having apparently already forgotten who had been responsible for the retreat into the shade. I shook my head, considering how short her memory had gotten. We�d only made it to the room 30 minutes ago (just enough time to grab a bite of lunch and for me to indulge in that long awaited shower). �Well, I was thinking�� Allison quickly interrupted me. �Are you sure that�s safe?� she asked. Refusing to dignify a comment like that with a response, I simply stuck my tongue out at Ally. Point for her. �It�s pretty hot out there at the moment,� I continued, trying to ignore the triumphant grin on Ally�s face, �And I know how quickly you burn�� �Awww, you�re so sweet to be concerned with my comfort!� �I�m concerned with my own!� I retorted. �You�re really scary when your skin is burnt.� She was rendered briefly speechless. Point for me. �Alright, what is this plan to keep me out of the sun?� �We�ll siesta!� �Isn�t that a party of some kind?� She asked confused. I sighed. For a smart woman, Ally did come out with some rather blonde responses now and then. �Siesta, Ally, not fiesta. A siesta is a common practice in most hot countries. The inhabitants work in the morning and evening and do something restful during the hottest hours of the afternoon.� �You sound like an encyclopedia,� Ally criticized, as if it were a bad thing to be well-informed. Point for her. After a few minutes of silence, Ally�s curiosity got the better of her. �So, what do you propose we do for the next couple of hours then?� �Cards?� �Poker!� Ally enthused. �Not again! You always win!� I�d never once beaten her and I hadn�t brought that much money with me for this trip. Ally considered my refusal for a moment before making another suggestion, �Whist?� �Honeymoon?� It was the only variety of the game could think of that only required two people, but I found myself regretting that I had mentioned the h-word while alone in a Mexican hotel room with my gorgeous partner. Due to my distraction, I barely registered that Ally had continued speaking and was now looking at me as if expecting an answer. I had to say something. �Uh, sure.� The light in her eyes should have warned me that I�d made a mistake, but I didn�t particularly fancy admitting that I hadn�t been listening so I allowed her to forge ahead. �Great! For each trick won, winner gets to ask a truth/dare question. Nothing is taboo. And for each game lost, the loser takes a shot of tequila.� �Why not make it strip whist while you�re at it?� I asked sarcastically. �What a fantastic idea!� I cursed silently and rolled my eyes. Why couldn�t I have kept my mouth shut? I shuffled; Ally drew first. As I sat there, sorting through the hand I�d drawn, I realized I was going to be answering an awful lot of questions. Allison promptly won the first trick. �Least favourite skating partner?� she asked me. �You,� I replied sullenly. Within the next half hour, she�d learnt that my favourite movie was Pretty Woman (I�m a sucker for cute romantic comedies! What can I say? There�s enough tragedy and horror in real life.), my favourite actress was Shirley Temple, and that the first woman I�d slept with had been my original ice dance partner, Teryl (one of the many reasons that partnership didn�t work out). When I finally won the third trick, I decided to ignore Allison�s incessant giggling, and paid her back by asking, �So, to whom did you lose your own virginity.� Ally rolled her eyes, �Colin, duh.� After that, we quickly returned to my losing streak. �So, what happened with Teryl?� �We were never comfortable with each other after� It wasn�t the only reason the team broke up, but it was certainly a contributing factor. I�ve just been scared ever since that I�d ruin another partnership the same way.� Ally flipped through her cards quietly (a most unusual occurrence), contemplating my reply. �You know,� she said finally, �Sometimes it works. I mean, look at Jenny and Oliver, or Stasia and Dimitri. Even when things don�t work out, it doesn�t have to ruin the partnership. Nadia and Sergei are still together. Izzy and Lloyd went from being lovers to best friends without missing a beat.� How did she know all that anyway? I guess it was true that Allison really was the biggest gossip-monger in the skating world. �Sometimes the greater the risk, the greater the reward,� she murmured, the tone of her voice making me wonder whether she was trying to convince me, or herself. We returned to the game, the questions getting steadily more immature after Ally won the first game and I was forced to remove a sock. Finally, I thought of something I truly wanted to know. �Who was the last man you slept with and when?� �Colin. A couple of months ago.� �Why not more recently?� Please say it�s because of me� Shaking her head, Ally replied, �Only one question per win. Stop trying to cheat!� I promptly won the next trick, desperate to find out. �Why so long?� �We broke up a few weeks ago. It just got to the point where we didn�t have much to talk about anymore� And I was starting to have feelings for someone else.� Boo yah! That had to be a good sign! �Who?� I inquired, unable to resist. �You�re cheating again!� Ally protested. Ally�s POV I won the next three tricks, daring Dominic to do three fairly ridiculous and not even remotely imaginative stunts to wrap up that round. Thankfully, after choking down another shot of tequila and removing his remaining sock, Nick seemed to forget about wanting to know who it was I had feelings for. Two games later, Dominic downed his fourth shot of tequila. I thought it would be easy to win from that point on; after all, I was still sober, which was more than I could say for my partner� � but then Dominic removed his shirt. At that moment, any advantage I may have deluded myself into believing I had, vanished. It was the scene on the beach all over again, except this time I couldn�t just lie and stare. Well, I could, but I would almost certainly lose the card game. Snapping my mouth shut, I tried to hide my reaction by shuffling the cards. Several games later, I came to the conclusion that I was probably drunk. Deciding with any degree of certainty would have been pretty difficult at that point. Dominic was down to his boxers (plain gray, he really had no sense of imagination, but he did look good) and it was taking all of my remaining willpower not to jump him then and there. Of course, he probably wouldn�t have minded much if I had. �Dare,� he finally replied. It was about time! I had a lovely piece of torture I�d been saving ever since he�d dared me to place an anonymous call to our coach in Lake Placid telling her that Full-of-Pudding and Marshmallow (and yes, I�d used those names) would like to train with her in the upcoming season. In addition, I was forced to inform her, in my extremely poor Italian accent that her name sounded as though it ought to be sung by angels, and proceeded to demonstrate exactly what that would sound like. However, I doubt very much that my vocal styling was in any way angelic. Anyhow, since then the coward had been opting for truth, probably to avoid giving me a chance for revenge. I wondered briefly why he�d given in and came to the conclusion that he was either tired of my probing into his sex life or he thought I was too drunk to hold a grudge. I would show him that Allison Monroe can focus on retribution no matter what the situation! �Alright dahling,� I drawled in a phony English accent (admittedly much better than my Italian one), �Dance and sing �Man! I Feel like a Woman!� � on camera� I added for good measure. Nick looked at me, eyes wide in a suddenly pale face, but apparently was too drunk to realize that he�d never live down the video. In his defense, he did try to get out of it. �I don�t know the words,� he protested, his voice slurred. �No matter! I have my CD with me,� I crowed, grinning evilly. �I�ll give you a copy of the lyrics.� As he struggled in vain to wriggle his way out of the dare, I hummed happily. Ignoring him, I set up the video camera to the left of the sofa. If he actually went through with this (and he had better�) I was not going to let him forget it � ever. Perhaps one of the fan-site managers would post it on the net for me? Happy thoughts! A few minutes of set-up later I was sitting on the couch watching Dominic sing what has to be the least masculine song on the face of the earth (with the possible exception of Mary had a Little Lamb� maybe I should have had him sing that!). He started hesitantly, but the loss of his inhibitions quickly had him swinging to the beat. I missed most of the song due to a sudden inability to stop laughing and by the time Dominic had reached the end, I was a puddle of goo on the floor by the sofa. How we managed to get back to cards after that I�ll never know, but somehow we pulled ourselves together enough to go a few more rounds. We laid our cards on the table. �Crap� I thought to myself. Dominic had won. I was in for some serious revenge if I wasn�t careful. �Truth or dare?� �Truth.� �Who were you starting to have feeling for when you broke up with Collin?� he asked, quite clearly. How the hell had he managed to remember that? He was supposed to be drunk! Ten minutes ago he could barely speak! There had to be a way out� I could lie I suppose, but that would kind of defeat the purpose of �truth�. I could admit how I felt about him. Or not. When did tell him, I wanted to be sober enough to evaluate his reaction. �I change to dare.� I expected him to protest, which would have given me a chance to argue with him long enough that he�d forget again, but he didn�t. He actually smirked. Warning bells sounded in my already pounding head. Dominic never smirked. �I�ll be nice. I dare you to give me that kiss you promised earlier.� It could have been worse, I suppose. It wasn�t like I�d never searched for a ready made excuse to kiss my handsome partner. The question really was� how to kiss him. I considered giving him a quick peck on the cheek. His lips looked so soft though, so inviting. I was having a hard time remembering why I hadn�t jumped him earlier in the evening. The thought of contact sent warmth rushing through me and I decided to try something a little more interesting. I leaned forward, losing my balance, and tumbled into his arms. Dominic looked slightly startled but the expression turned to a grin as I tilted my head up and brushed my lips over his.
