River refuses to leave the room for the rest of the day. He snacks on his brownies that look thick and delicious, but he refuses to give me one. We watch some TV and finally break out his flask because we’re both so bored. I wanted to go to Miami Beach, but it was already so late in the day that I decided to push it off until tomorrow.

I pull out my list as we’re sitting on the floor around the coffee table, taking turns with the flask. I make sure I’ve marked off everything that I can, and study it for my next accomplishment.

“Hey, I know what we can do.”

“What’s that?” His eyes find mine.

“We can play truth or dare.” I flip the notebook around to show him number nineteen.

His brow wrinkles. “How have you gone your whole life and not played truth or dare?”

I set the list back down on the table. “I was always afraid I’d have to do or answer something embarrassing, so I never played.”

He shakes his head but agrees.

“Okay, truth or dare?” I ask him.

“Truth.”

I think up a question. I don’t want to get into anything too hard or deep just yet. I want to play nice so that maybe he will do the same with me. “What’s your last name?” I can’t believe I never thought to ask him that before.

“Wilce,” he answers.

“Hmmm. River Wilce.” Jovi Wilce? That sounds weird but I bet I could get used to it.

“Truth or dare?” he asks me.

I think it over, going with the ‘ease into it’ approach. “Truth.”

He places his hand on the floor behind him and leans back while watching me. “Did you enjoy being on that stage, stripping while all eyes were on you?”

My heart picks up, and my stomach fills with butterflies at the memory. I swallow down my fear with another shot. “I did. It was exhilarating, not that it is something I will ever do again.”

He smiles like he knew he was right the whole time.

“Truth or dare?”

“Dare,” he says, eyes darkening.

“I dare you to remove all your clothes…”

“Hell yeah!” He stands.

“Wait, I’m not done. I dare you to remove all your clothes and wear them backwards for the rest of the day.”

He scoffs. “Fine, that’s easy.” He pulls off his shirt and turns it around backwards. I stand to button up the back of it.

“Truth or dare?” he asks as he removes his boxers and jeans and spins them around.

I move around to the back of him and zip and button his jeans before fixing his belt. “Dare.” It only seems fair at this point. And as soon as I can get this out of the way, I can be done with the game and cross it off my list.

River faces me with an evil smile. “I dare you to strip and walk out that door for a swim. Then walk back.”

“What? No way, there are people still out there. The sun hasn’t even gone down yet!”

He laughs. “It’s a dare. You have to.”

Fuck. I take a deep breath before letting it out slowly. I turn for the door and stare out it while removing my clothes. River leans against the wall, snacking on another brownie as he watches.

Once I’m completely naked, I slide the door open and step out onto the warm sand. As I walk slowly across the beach, all the old men freeze and watch me. I turn to see River standing in the same spot, eating his brownie with a huge smile on his face.

“I hate you,” I mouth at him. I turn around and finish my journey to the water. I walk in until I’m deep enough, and dive under. I swim in a big circle and come out. As I’m starting my walk back, I realize that this only makes it look even more erotic since I’m soaking wet with water rolling down all my curves.

Every old man on the beach is frozen, all but their eyes that are following me. All the ladies at their sides are yelling at their men and slapping their arms to stop them from looking at me.

I rush back inside the door and smack him on the arm. “I hate you.”

He pulls me against his chest. “No you don’t.” His lips land on mine and, before I know what’s happening, he has my naked body lying back on the table while he’s driving deep inside me.

It’s hard, fast, and full of passion, but it doesn’t last long.

He holds out his hand and I take it in mine as he pulls me to my feet. “What got into you?” I ask with a smile.

He shakes his head. “I don’t know. I feel funny.”

I draw my brows together. “What do you mean? Are you getting sick?” I ask as I start pulling my clothes back on.

“No, nothing like that,” he says with his back to me.

“Well what’s the matter?” I latch onto his arm and spin him around. He’s completely naked, cupping his junk with his hands.

I look at the place his hands are hiding and then back up to his eyes. “Are— are you hard again?”

His Adam’s apple bobs as he nods, a little unsure of what is happening to his body.

Suddenly, I put two and two together. “I’ll be right back.”

“Wait! Where are you going? I need you,” he pouts.

“Two minutes,” I promise before rushing out the door.

I make the quick walk back to the main building and search through the casino, shops, and finally the game room. My eyes land on Ms. Pen and I rush to her side.

“Okay, old lady. What did you put in the brownies?” I put my hand on my hip.

She looks at me, taken back. “The same thing I put in all the brownies for the men around here. There’s cocoa powder, eggs, flour…”

“Cut the shit. What’s the special ingredient?”

“Just these little blue pills that the men pop like candy. Why? What’s the big deal?”

I burst out laughing, knowing exactly what little blue pill she’s talking about.

I rush back to the room to find River in the bathroom. I knock on the door. “Riv? Are you okay?”

I can hear his heavy breathing through the door.

“Are you taking care of your little problem?”

I hear the toilet flush before the water comes on. A few seconds later, he’s opening the door, his dick tenting his boxers. “Three times I’ve taken care of my “little” problem. It won’t go the fuck away. What’s going on?”

I get way too much pleasure telling him this. “Ms. Pen added a secret ingredient that all the men around here like.”

He shakes his head with a raise of his brows. “Which is?”

“Viagra!” I can’t hold back the laughter anymore. It’s completely taken over.

“Fuck! Are you serious?”

I nod while covering my mouth.

“It’s not funny, Jovi. It really hurts.”

His confession only makes it worse for me.

He flexes his jaw as he leans against the wall, not looking at me, but straight ahead. “Are you done?”

I hold up my finger and let out one more, loud round of laughter.

Finally when I have managed to calm myself down, I dry my face of all the tears. “Okay, what can we do?” I ask, still out of breath.

“I don’t know!” He’s pacing back and forth across the floor now.

“Ice! We’ll get you some ice.” I rush to the fridge and pull out an ice tray, emptying it into a bag.

He moves to sit on the couch, and I hand him the bag that he places on his crotch.

I sit down beside him and we both blankly stare at the TV. I turn to him. “So, three times?”

“Three fucking times! And that was after we had sex!”

“How many brownies did you eat?”

He breathes deep. “The whole plate.”

I turn my head away from him and cover my mouth to laugh.

“Ha ha ha,” he mocks bitterly, only making me laugh harder.

* * *

“It says here if you have an erection for four hours to seek medical attention. How long has it been?”

“Six hours,” he answers flatly.

I stand. “Let’s go.”

His eyes flash to mine, his eyebrows are drawn together, and his jaw is flexed with tension. “I can’t go out like this.” He lifts the bag of nothing but water now, showing me the tent in his boxers.

“If you like your little man you better. It says an erection lasting over four hours can permanently damage the penis.”

“What do you mean little? Look at this thing!” He raises his eyebrows indignantly.

I stifle back my laugh, knowing it will only anger him more. “Oh, I got an idea.” I rush around and grab my bag. I dig until I come up with a thin scarf. “Pull your boxers down.”

He rolls his eyes but pulls them down. I wrap the scarf around his thigh. “Okay, push it down against your leg.”

He does so and I wrap the scarf around it, tying it down. It tries to spring back up, but the scarf holds it in place. “There, now get your clothes on and let’s go.”

“I can’t stand up straight.”

“Why not?” I question.

“You try having your dick tied to your leg and see if you can stand up straight!”

I snicker but nod with understanding. “Okay, I’ll help you, sit down.”

He sits down and I grab his jeans and sit on the floor at his feet. “Slide your feet in.”

“You have them backwards.”

I look up at him. “A dare is a dare!”

His nostrils flair and he grounds his teeth together, but he allows me to put them on backwards.

I grab my purse and hold onto his arm, leading him to the car.

We get to the hospital a short while later and River tries turning around the second we’re inside and at the desk.

“What’s going on with you today?” the lady behind the glass asks as she takes in his backwards clothes.

“Umm.” He looks from me to her and then back. “Nothing. I’m fine.” He tries to turn again, but I grab hold of his arm and keep him in place.

“He accidentally ingested Viagra, and he’s had a litt— I mean, big problem for the last six hours.” I look over at River. “See, I didn’t say little this time.” I smile up at him as I nudge him with my elbow.

The lady behind the glass nods with wide eyes. “I see.” She slides us a clipboard of papers. “Please fill this out. The doctor will be with you soon.”

We don’t wait long before a doctor walks in and calls River’s name. We both stand but he stops and looks at me.

“Oh, do you want me to wait here?”

He offers up a sarcastic smile. “Yeah, it would be great if I didn’t have to listen to you laugh the whole time.”

“Completely understandable.” I sit back down and watch him walk away with the doctor.

* * *

A couple of hours later, River comes walking out. He’s standing up right, head held high and shoulders squared. “Let’s go.”

I grab my bag and rush behind him.

When we get into the car, I slide behind the wheel and start the engine. “So? What’d they say? What’d they do?”

He doesn’t look at me. He keeps his eyes straight ahead. “They had to drain it.” His hands are covering his groin.

I shift into drive. “Drain it? Like, with a needle?”

He doesn’t move his head, but he looks at me from the corner of his eye, confirming my guess.

I hold my breath to keep my laughter inside but it’s threatening to come out. I put the car back into park, turn my head toward the window, and cover my face with my hand. I’m trying so hard to keep it in, but a snort comes out, followed by a screeching sound.

He doesn’t say anything or move. He just waits for it to pass.

* * *

When we get back to the apartment, he doesn’t waste any time. He pulls off his backward clothes and falls into bed. I lean against the doorframe, watching him. He looks so innocent in his sleep. I pull off my clothes and join him. He wraps his arm around me in his sleep, and pulls me closer. His heat settles over me thicker than a blanket, and it soothes me into a deep dreamless sleep.

* * *

I wake the next morning and River is still sound asleep. He must have had a traumatic day yesterday.

I get up without waking him and slip into the shower.

When I step out, I set to work on making breakfast for him. I feel bad for laughing at him so much yesterday, but I couldn’t control it. I realize now how dangerous the situation could have been. I shake my head when I think about how this whole thing started: a few guys seeing me naked at the campsite. Hell a fish bowl drink and a day later, their show could have been a lot better.

My face heats up with those thoughts. That night, the one with the strip show, it’s getting filed into my ‘do not remember’ closet in my brain. It’s like the rules of Vegas. What happened that night, stays with that night.

I push the embarrassing thoughts from my head and scramble some eggs. I’m dancing and singing along with Tighten Up by The Black Keys when I hear a quiet tapping sound. I crane my neck to see River still passed out in bed. I move to the front door and open it to find plates with homemade goodies on the doorstep. There is even a fruit basket and flowers.

I laugh to myself but pick up the treats. I’m not sure if this is a sweet gesture or not, considering we didn’t get anything until we got naked.

I unload the arm full of treats onto the counter just as River walks into the room. “What’s all this stuff?” He uses his head to motion toward the gifts.

“Things our admirers left out on our front step. Are you hungry for some homemade cookies this time?” I tease him.

He picks up everything that’s not factory sealed and throws it in the trash. “What the hell? Since when is it okay to drug people?” He runs his hand through his blond hair, leaving it spiking in all directions.

I shrug. “If it makes you feel better, I don’t think that lady knew what the pills did. She just knew all the old men around here liked them.”

“It doesn’t make me feel better. It makes me feel dirty. It’s like she was hoping for that reaction and for my dick to lead me to her.”

I scoff. “Don’t be dramatic. Her hip couldn’t handle you.” I reach out and pinch his nipple.

He jumps and backs away. “Don’t do that.”

“Do what?” I ask with a smile as I step closer, reaching for anything I can grab.

“I don’t want to be touched while we’re talking about those dirty ladies.” He visibly shivers.

I let out a loud laugh. “How’s the big man in your pants feeling today, anyway?” I move back to the stove and scoop some eggs onto two plates for us.

“A little sore. Like he ran a marathon all night.” He cups his hand over his crotch.

I nod towards the couch. “Come on. Let’s take it easy before we head out for the day.”