Read Online Dare: A Stepbrother Romance by Caitlin Daire - Free Book Online Page A

on the far side of the kitchen before heading out to get the kids in for lunch.
    The rest of the day, Drew continued to be nice. He even went out of his way to plan out and set up the entire scavenger hunt that he’d come up with earlier for the next day. It was like aliens had abducted the Drew I now knew and replaced him with a clone of the old Drew, the awesome friend I’d grown up with all those years ago. I hated to admit it, but I actually really liked him when he wasn’t in his douchebag mode.
    Just after dinner, the head volunteer stood up at the front of the dining room and clapped his hands together.
    “Listen up everyone! I just need to quickly go over some details for the scavenger hunt which our friendly new volunteers have set up for tomorrow. You all need to be awake and at breakfast by eight-thirty so we can get started first thing, so make sure you’re all dressed and ready by then.”
    He went through some more details, and at the end of his speech, he flashed everyone a big grin.
    “Now…who wants some toasted marshmallows around the campfire?”
    The kids loudly approved of that, and Drew and I headed outside with everyone. We all sat around munching on s’mores as the kids chatted between themselves, and one of the older ones caught everyone’s attention a while later.
    “Guess what? It’s time for scary stories!” she said. The rest of the kids cheered her, and she launched into an urban legend about a girl who’d been babysitting when the phone rang, and she quickly realized the call was coming from inside the house.
    A chill ran down my spine as I listened. I knew it was just a silly tale, but I’d never liked scary stories. The only horror movies I’d ever watched were ones I’d seen with friends, and even then I hid under a blanket half the time.
    Another boy got up and told his own imaginative story about ghosts and monsters in the woods on this very land, and he finished by holding a flashlight under his chin and making a scary face. “And that’s why you don’t go near these woods at night. You never know what could be lurking out there!”
    There were a few giggles, and one of the other volunteers stood up.
    “Okay, I think that’s enough scary stories for tonight. I don’t want you to all end up having nightmares. Time for showers and bed, I think.”
    There were several groans, but almost everyone was pretty tired after the long day, and soon it was just me and Drew left at the campfire.
    “You cold?” he asked, noticing the goose bumps on my arms.
    “A bit. Mostly just freaked out.”
    “What, by a bunch of twelve-year-old’s stories?” he said with a smirk. “Don’t be ridiculous. There’s no monsters out in the forest.”
    “I know, I know, it just creeps me out to hear stuff like that,” I said. “Especially the part about Bigfoot living in the woods here. When I was here a few years ago, I swear I saw something out of the corner of my eye running around in there.”
    I gestured towards the trees, and Drew laughed. “Probably an animal or something. Anyway, we better go clean up the kitchen.”
    “True.”
    We headed into the main cabin again, and I stacked the dishwasher with dirty plates, cups and utensils as Drew wiped down the bench. The other volunteers had already gone to bed, but for some reason I wasn’t tired at all. When the kitchen was spotless, I glanced over at him.
    “Well, I guess it’s time for bed,” I said reluctantly, wishing I’d brought my laptop so I could keep writing my story until I actually got tired.
    “Yeah, I guess so,” he replied. “I better shower before I…”
    His sentence was cut off by a strange cracking sound from outside.
    “What the hell was that?” I said, my mind instantly conjuring up memories of the Blair Witch movie.
    “Probably just a tree branch in the wind,” he said with a shrug before the sound came again, louder this time. I almost jumped out of my skin.
    “Are there any bears in this area?”