Last True Hero by Diana Gardin Read Free Book Online

lazy?” Mea’s curls shake as she shoots me a stern look of disappointment.
    Ugh. I really do hate mornings. And if I’m not out of bed yet, it’s morning. No matter what time the clock says.
    “Fine.” I groan as I sit up and stretch my arms high above my head. “I’m up.”
    “That’s my girl. Now, on to more important topics. If you don’t tell me right the hell now who that delicious specimen of a man was last night, I’m going to start screaming bloody murder until your momma comes to check on us.”
    “Oh, no! Anything but that!” I playfully tickle her ribs until she crumbles into a heap of giggles at my feet.
    “Give! I give!” she screams.
    “Shush,” I whisper, because the last thing I want to do is face my mother this early in the morning. Lunchtime be damned.
    “What’s his name? How’d you meet him? I thought you didn’t date military dudes?”
    I decide to address her last question first. “I don’t. I mean, I’m not dating him. I only just gave him my number last night.”
    Her squeal of delight is enough to tease a reluctant smile out of me. “His name is Dare.”
    I go on to explain how Dare and Drake came into the restaurant that first night, and how I ran into him at the auto shop a few weeks later.
    “And now I want to know all about that hunk of deliciousness that was sitting across from him. Drake, was it?”
    I aim a knowing smile in her direction. “Ah. That’s what you really wanted, right? You don’t really care about my love life.”
    “Because I know you well enough to know you don’t have one. Hey, we’ve been apart for a few years, Berk, but I know you’re not going to jump into anything with a guy who practically wears the words BAD IDEA across the front of his shirt. Am I right?”
    I nod. “You’re probably right. But…I did give him my number, didn’t I? And I normally wouldn’t do that. If I wanted a military man, I’d just marry Grisham, like our parents want me to. I’d never just pass Grish over for a guy just like him.”
    She reaches over and pries my eyes open wider, using her fingertips to hold open my lids. “Are these working right? Did you not see Dare? There’s nothing about him that’s like Grisham, not a damn thing. Dare…even his name is dark and dangerous. And I didn’t spot a piece of expensive jewelry on him anywhere. And he doesn’t seem like a BMW type of guy, either. Oh, and one more thing. There was no silver spoon hanging out of his mouth. He’s not navy royalty, that’s for sure.”
    Everything Mea so eloquently stated is what was already rattling around inside my own head. Dare is clearly nothing like Grisham, or any other guy I’ve ever dated.
    And maybe it’s that hint of danger I can see in him from a mile away, or his intense, brooding demeanor that attracts me to him. Or maybe it’s the fact that he doesn’t look at me like I’m a princess sitting on her throne that he wants to put in a box and protect.
    He looks at me like I’m a goddess perched high on an idol that he wants to worship.
    And something buried very deeply inside of me, down where the most secret thoughts and feelings of my subconscious hide, wants to let him.
    As soon as I allow that thought to enter my brain, my phone begins to vibrate harshly against the wood of my nightstand.
    I pick it up with a growing sense of exuberance inside of me, and read it.
    INCOMING CALL FROM UNKNOWN
    It’s got to be Dare. Who else could it be? He’s calling me? Doesn’t he know the just-text-a-girl-you-barely-know rule? No one calls anymore! My eyes must be scarily wide, because Mea looks at me with panic.
    “What?”
    “It’s him…Dare’s calling me.”
    “Well, answer it, girl! Jesus, you scared me!” She clutches at her chest like an old lady having a heart attack.
    “Hello.” My voice is wobbly as I push the phone against my ear.
    “Hey, Berkeley.” His voice is the opposite of wobbly. His voice is strong, sure, deep. All of a sudden, that voice