Fate (Steel Brothers Saga 13)

“Sorry,” Patty said, “did we wake you?”

“Nah. What’s up?”

“Is your roommate here?”

Dirk shook his head. “He should be back soon, though. You want to leave a message for him?”

“No,” Patty said. “We’re actually here to see you. Daphne needs a favor.”

Dirk smirked. “Sure thing. What do you need?”

“We need you to leave your room for one minute so we can do something.”

“Say what?”

“It’s silly, really,” I said. “We’re playing truth or dare, and Flo dared me to come down here to the guys’ floor and take my shirt off for one minute. Technically, the inside of your room is on the guys’ floor, so if you’ll step out for a minute, I can take my shirt off inside your room and make good on the dare.”

Dirk’s lips curved upward in a sly smile. “Sure. You can use my room.”

“Great,” Patty said. “We’ll just be a minute. Literally.”

“One condition.”

“What’s that?” she asked.

“I stay.”

I lifted my eyebrows as Patty said, “Sure, you can stay.”

“Pat—”

“You just have to turn around so you don’t see Daphne.”

“Sorry. I get to look. Either that or no room.”

“You’re a perv. We’ll find someone else,” Patty said. “Or we take our chances in the laundry room. Come on, Daph.”

I sighed. “No, let’s just get it done. I don’t have to take off my bra.”

“You want this guy ogling you?”

“No, I don’t, but if we don’t get back up there soon, Flo and Stacey are going to come looking for us. Ennis isn’t home, so what other choice do I have?”

“Good thinking,” Dirk said.

“You shut up,” Patty said.

“Come on. Let’s get it done.” I entered Dirk’s room. “Close the door, Dirk. And for God’s sake, put some pants on.”

He pulled on a pair of jeans and smirked again. “Satisfied?”

“Let’s get this over with. Patty, start timing.” I pulled off my shirt.

Dirk sucked in a breath. “Nice.”

I still had a bra on, but it was a lacey black one. I should have changed first.

I closed my eyes. If I didn’t have to see Dirk seeing me, I could deal with it better. “For God’s sake, Pat, how much longer?”

“Forty-seven seconds.”

A minute was supposed to be short. I opened my eyes. Dirk was still looking at me, but at least he wasn’t salivating. I zeroed in on his crotch. If he was hard, I couldn’t tell. That made me squeak out a giggle.

“Thirty more seconds,” Patty said.

Only halfway there? This was the longest minute in history. I crossed my arms over my chest. No rule against that. I wished I’d thought of it at the beginning.

Dear Lord, how long could a minute take?

“Fifteen seconds,” Patty said.

I closed my eyes again and inhaled. Almost done. Almost done.

“Ten,” Patty said. “Nine, eight, seven, six, five, f—”

“Daphne!”

I dropped my arms to my side. “That’s Brad!”

“What’s he doing here?” Patty said. “Three, two, one. Get your shirt on. Quick.”

I threw my shirt back over my head and tucked it into place.

“Thanks for the peep show,” Dirk said.

“This isn’t for public broadcast,” Patty said. “You keep your trap zipped.”

“Maybe I will and maybe I—”

“Daphne! Where are you?”

I opened the door to Dirk’s room and stepped out. “I’m right here, Brad. What are you doing here?”

“Your friends upstairs told me where to find you. What are you doing down here?”

“Patty and I were just talking to Dirk.” Thank God Dirk had put jeans on. “Dirk, this is Brad Steel.”

“Hey,” Dirk said.

Brad ignored him.

“I’m going back up,” Patty said. “I’ll tell Flo and Stacey you did it.”

“Did what?” Brad asked.

“Nothing.”

“She stripped, man,” Dirk said.

“I did not! Shut up, will you?”

Brad went rigid. “What were you doing in his room?”

“It was a dare,” Dirk said.

“I told you to shut up!”

“No,” Brad said. “I want to hear this.”

“She took off—”

“Be quiet, Dirk. I’ll handle this.” I turned to Brad. “It was a stupid truth or dare game. I took the dare, so I had to come down here to this floor and take off my shirt for one minute. I did it in Dirk’s room with Patty timing me. No big deal.”

His face turned red. Was he really angry about this? It was so minor.

“We couldn’t find a closet to use, and someone was in the laundry room. I just had to do it somewhere on the guys’ floor. The other girls didn’t think it through.”

“You saw her topless?” Brad said through clenched teeth.

“No, no,” I answered for Dirk. “I had my bra on. Ask Patty.”

Brad advanced on Dirk. “I ought to—”

“Brad, please.” I stepped in front of him. “He was a perfect gentleman.” A little white lie, but he hadn’t tried to touch me, so I’d give it to him.

Brad turned to Dirk. “You breathe a word of this to anyone, and I’ll crush your skull. You hear me?”

“You don’t scare me,” Dirk said, though his demeanor said otherwise.

“Good. Don’t be scared. Be confident. I don’t give a shit. But if you tell anyone you saw her in her bra, you’ll get scared real quick. Come on, Daphne.” He grabbed my arm and yanked me to the stairs.