The Rules by Nancy Holder Page A

finished blindfolding Kyle and moved away. He was sorry to see her go. A jumble of emotions he had not anticipated feeling tonight were flooding through him. He hadn’t expected outsiders. This kind of party was way out of her league. These people were pretty despicable. If Beth had dragged her here, then she was no friend of Robin Brissett. Of course, Beth didn’t actually have friends. She had people she used.
    He didn’t want to stumble around smelling perfume like a bloodhound. This was actually a fairly tame version of the hookup game, and Kyle wondered if August had decided to change the rating to “safe for all ages” because of Robin and that other chick. Thea. Of course, he’d heard that Thea had been around. None of the guys talked trash about Robin except to say that she looked hot with all that curly red hair and that she was probably too smart to go to bed with any of the losers who went sniffing around her. So to speak.
    She’ll definitely give me a run for my money tonight.
    To decrease his tension, he stuck his arms out and mimicked walking like the Frankenstein monster, which got a couple of laughs.
    “Okay, never mind the blindfolds,” August said. “Take ’em off. Let’s just move it along.”
    It wasn’t like August to move it along. He always seemed to get off on turning these games into contact sports. But it was fine with Kyle to switch gears. He pulled off his blindfold, to find Robin staring straight at him. She quickly looked away.
    “So I don’t get Morgan?” Cage said.
    “Depends,” August replied. “Now listen. Here are the rules.”
    “We
know
the rules,” Cage said.
    “For the new girls,” August shot back. “Rule number one: No cheating. None. Cheating does not happen.”
    Everyone cheered and laughed as if he’d told the best joke. Everyone except Kyle. He wasn’t into cheating. Never had been. And he hoped that Robin Brissett didn’t think he was.
    “I’m serious. No cars, no cell phones, no help. You go past the perimeter, you are done. I have spies this time. They will report you and you will be disqualified.”
    “That would be horrible,” Larson drawled.
    August ignored him. “Rule
dos.
Once you open your envelopes, match your clue up with your partner’s. Each of you has half and together you will go after one object. And, please, the object is not to fulfill your lust. So try to restrain yourselves from running off and finding a dark corner before you even solve the first clue.”
    “Yeah, baby,” Larson said.
    Kyle glanced over at Robin. As the night went on and people got loaded, she was not going to believe what she was seeing. And it would only get worse….
    August continued. “The answer to the clue will be a
solid
object, since Beth’s attempt to use ‘concepts’ last time didn’t pan out so well.”
    Beth turned beet-red. August was definitely not feeling the love for her tonight. Kyle wondered what was up.
    “The envelope for your second item will be attached to your first object. Do
not
touch other people’s objects. Do
not
steal or mix up their clues.”
    “Watch your objects, girls,” Robin deadpanned, and Kyle flashed her a grin. She saw it, blushed, and looked down at her shoes. She was
adorable.
    “Rule the third: bring back your items
in the order you find them
to this warehouse. Each of you will have a clearly marked place to pile your loot. I will check it in. At that time you will get the dreaded Truth or Dare.”
    “I hate that part,” Heather muttered.
    “That’s because girls with lots of naughty secrets always have to pick Dare,” Larson said.
    “Shut up,” Heather snapped.
    “That’s like six rules, August,” Cage said.
    “Rule number
four,
” August continued, ignoring him. “Everybody must follow their clues to the end. No detours or going backward.”
    “Rule number four is redundant,” Larson said.
    “Tough crowd,” said Robin, and Kyle chuckled.
    “Rule number five: feel free to misdirect,